As the battle raged, Shalva unleashed a terrible weapon, blazing across the sky like a meteor and flooding the quarters with its light. But Shauri—Krishna—met this threat with his arrows, shattering the weapon into a hundred pieces. Then, Krishna pierced Shalva with sixteen arrows and struck the moving aerial city of Saubha, raining down arrows as the sun showers its rays. In response, Shalva targeted Krishna’s left arm, the arm that wielded the Sharnga bow, and, with a mighty blow, broke the bow from Krishna’s hand—a wondrous sight that startled all who witnessed it. A great outcry arose among the assembled beings, and Shalva, king of Saubha, roaring loudly, addressed Janardana—Krishna—with bitter words: “Fool! Because of you, our friend, my brother-in-law, was slain in the assembly, his wife abducted, while you acted recklessly. Today, I will send you, who think yourself invincible, on a path of no return with my sharp arrows—if you dare stand before me!” Krishna, the Blessed Lord, replied calmly: “In vain you boast, dull-witted one; you do not see Death standing near. True heroes show their valor in deeds, not in many words.” With these words, Krishna, furious, struck Shalva’s chest with his dreadful mace. Shalva trembled and vomited blood, but when the mace was repelled, Shalva vanished from sight. Moments later, a man approached Krishna, bowed, and, weeping, spoke: “I am sent by Devaki. Krishna, Krishna, mighty-armed one, your father, who loves you dearly, has been bound and carried away by Shalva and his men, like a beast.” Hearing this grievous news, Krishna was overcome by affection and assumed a human disposition; he became dejected and compassionate, speaking as an ordinary man: “How could my father, mighty and unconcerned Rama—unconquered by gods and demons—be carried away by Shalva, a mere lesser man? Such is the power of fate.” As Govinda spoke thus, Shalva suddenly appeared and, bringing Krishna as Vasudeva had been brought, declared, “Here is your father, the one for whom you live in this world. I will kill him before your eyes. If you are the Lord, protect him, O foolish one.” Rebuking Krishna, the deceiver drew his sword, seized Anakadundubhi’s head, and, taking it, entered the Saubha fortress in the sky. For a moment, Krishna was overcome by his natural affection, surrounded by his own people. But soon he realized that this was a demonic illusion, conjured by Shalva at Maya’s instruction. Awakened on the battlefield, Krishna saw neither the messenger nor his father’s body. Like a man waking from a dream, he beheld his enemy in the sky, stationed on Saubha, ready to strike. Some sages speak thus, O royal sage, but if their words contradict themselves, surely they do not truly remember. Where are grief and delusion, affection or fear—born of ignorance—and where is Krishna’s unbroken wisdom, his undiminished knowledge and lordship? By serving his feet and gaining self-knowledge, the wise destroy the beginningless grip of self-delusion. They attain their own infinite lordship—how could confusion touch one who has reached the Supreme? Then, as Shalva attacked with a multitude of weapons, Krishna, whose valor never fails, struck him with arrows, shattered his armor, bow, and crown, and smashed the Saubha fortress with his mace. Struck by Krishna’s mace, the Saubha, crushed by his hand, fell into the water in a thousand pieces. Abandoning his destroyed city, Shalva took up his mace, stood on the ground, and swiftly rushed at Krishna. As Shalva charged with his mace, Krishna severed his arm with a razor-sharp arrow, then took up his wondrous discus, blazing like the sun at the end of time, to slay Shalva, who shone like the sun rising from the eastern mountain. With that discus, Hari struck off the head of the master of illusions, adorned with earrings and crown, just as Indra slew Vritra with his thunderbolt. Cries of “Alas!” arose among men. When that wicked one fell and Saubha was destroyed by the mace, celestial drums resounded in the sky, played by the hosts of gods. Dantavakra, in anger, came forward to avenge his friend. Thus ends the seventy-seventh chapter, called “The Slaying of Shalva,” in the tenth book, second half, of the great and sacred Bhagavata Purana. Now begins the seventy-eighth chapter. Shuka said: The wickedness of Shishupala, Shalva, Paundraka, and others, even after they had departed this world, was met by Krishna with transcendental friendship. Then, a single foot-soldier, furious and wielding a mace, shaking the earth as he came, was seen approaching with immense strength. Seeing him advance, Krishna quickly seized his mace, leapt down from his chariot, and confronted him like the ocean meets the shore. Raising his mace, the Kārūṣa, arrogant with pride, spoke to Mukunda: “By fortune, by great fortune, you have today come within my sight. You are our maternal uncle, O Krishna, yet you seek to kill me, your friend and ally. Therefore, O fool, I shall strike you down with my mace, hard as a thunderbolt. Then I shall be free of my debt, O friend of friends, by slaying an enemy who appears as a relative—just as one destroys a disease dwelling in the body.” With harsh words that stung like goads, he assailed Krishna as one would prod an elephant, and struck him on the head with his mace, roaring like a lion. Though struck on the battlefield, Krishna did not move; and with his own mace Kaumodakī, he struck Dantavakra in the chest. Dantavakra’s heart shattered, blood gushed from his mouth, and he fell lifeless to the ground, spreading out his hair, arms, and legs. Then, a most subtle and wondrous light entered Krishna, as all beings looked on—just as happened at the slaying of Shishupala. Viduratha, Dantavakra’s brother, overwhelmed with grief, came forward with sword and shield, breathing heavily, intent on killing Krishna. As he rushed forward, Krishna, with his discus whose edge is sharp as a razor, cut off his head—along with its crown and earrings. Thus, having slain Shalva, Saubha, Dantavakra, and his brother—foes unbearable to others—Krishna was praised by gods and men, by sages, perfected beings, Gandharvas, Vidyādharas, great serpents, Apsarās, hosts of ancestors, Yakṣas, Kinnaras, and Cāraṇas.