Krishna, with his profound wisdom, spoke to the assembled sages: “Fire, sun, moon, stars, earth, water, sky, wind, speech, and mind—even when worshipped separately—cannot remove sin. Only the wise, through service to the enlightened, even if only for a moment, can destroy it.” He continued, “One who identifies the self solely with the body made of three elements, regards wife and kin as his own, worships earth as sacred, and sees holy places only as water, but never seeks out the wise—such a person is no better than a cow or donkey.” Śuka narrated that, upon hearing Krishna’s words, the sages sat in silence, their minds perplexed by the depth of his teaching. After much deliberation, they smiled at the Lord of the universe and acknowledged that his sovereignty was meant to gather people together. They said, “By your māyā, O highest knower of truth, even we, the lords among the creators of the world, are bewildered. Your mastery is hidden by your own mysterious power—how wondrous are the Lord's actions! Though without desire, you create, maintain, and withdraw the world in countless ways, yet you are not bound—just as the earth, though appearing in many forms and names, remains unchanged. How marvelous and mysterious are the acts of your greatness!” They continued, “At the proper time, for the protection of your own people and the subjugation of the wicked, you assume the mode of goodness. By your own play, you uphold the eternal path of the Veda, O Supreme Person, who are the soul of the varṇāśrama order. O Brahman, your heart is pure, attained through austerity, study, and self-restraint; in it is realized that which is manifest, unmanifest, and beyond both. Therefore, O Brahman, you honor the community of Brahmins, the very source of the scriptures and of yourself, thus becoming the foremost among those devoted to Brahman. Today, our birth, our learning, our austerity, and our vision have borne fruit, for by meeting you, who are the highest goal, we have attained the supreme good.” They offered their obeisance: “Obeisance to that Lord Krishna, whose intellect is unfailing, whose greatness is concealed by his own yogamāyā, and who is the Supreme Soul. He whom these kings and even the Vṛṣṇis, who delight in him alone, do not know—He is the Lord of time and the Self, hidden by the curtain of māyā. Just as a man lying asleep, though perceiving the elements and qualities, does not know his own true self, which is distinct from mere names and sense-objects, so too, by the delusion of māyā, the mind bewildered by attachment to names, objects, and senses, does not know you, due to the disturbance of memory. Today, we have seen your feet, which remove the mass of sins, which are the very abode of holy places, established in the heart by those whose yoga is fully matured. O Lord, whose devotees, their inner coverings pierced by overflowing devotion, attain your path—please grant them your grace.” Śuka continued: After taking leave of Krishna, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Yudhiṣṭhira, the royal sage, the sages set their minds on returning to their own hermitages. Seeing them depart, the illustrious Vasudeva approached, bowed, honored them, and spoke these well-controlled words: “O sages, I bow to you, who are all the gods. Please tell us how, by action, the bondage of action may be destroyed.” Śrī Nārada replied, “O Brāhmaṇas, it is not surprising that Vasudeva, out of eagerness to know, asks us about the highest good for himself, considering Krishna as his own child. Here, among mortals, close association leads to disregard, just as one, leaving the Ganges, seeks other water for purification. He whose realization, by time, creation, dissolution, and so on, is never diminished by himself, by others, or by qualities, from anywhere. That Lord, who is undivided, whose experience is unobstructed by the flows of suffering, karma, and qualities, yet is concealed by his own powers such as life-force—one may mistake him, as one mistakes the sun covered by clouds, mist, or eclipse.” Then, O King, the sages, having addressed Anakadundubhi (Vasudeva), spoke before all the assembled kings and the two descendants of Acyuta. They declared, “The destruction of karma by action is thus established by the wise: with faith, one should worship Vishnu, the Lord of all sacrifices, through sacrificial rites. This tranquility of the mind has been shown by poets with the eye of scripture; the path of yoga is easy and brings joy to the self. This is the auspicious path for the twice-born householder, which a person should worship with pure means and faith, according to his acquired wealth. The wise should renounce the pursuit of wealth through sacrifices and charity, the pursuit of wife and children through household life, and the pursuit of self through spiritual worlds, O Lord, in due time; those who have abandoned all pursuits in the village have gone, steadfast, to the forest of austerity.” “O Lord, the twice-born is born with three debts—to the gods, sages, and ancestors; by sacrifices, study, and sons, he repays them; if he departs without settling them, he falls. Today, you are freed from two debts, O wise one, to the sages and ancestors; having discharged the debt to the gods with sacrifices, become free from debt and without refuge. O Vasudeva, surely you have worshipped Hari, the Lord of the worlds, with supreme devotion, and He has become your son.” Śuka then described how Vasudeva, hearing these words, bowed his head, pleased the sages and priests, and chose them. Those sages, chosen by him in righteousness, performed sacrifices for him in that field with excellent rituals. When the consecration began, the Vrishnis, wearing lotus garlands, bathed and dressed well, and the kings were splendidly adorned. Vasudeva’s queens, joyful, without necklaces, in fine garments, approached the consecration hall, anointed and bearing offerings. Drums, mridangas, kettledrums, conches, trumpets, and other instruments resounded; dancers and performers danced; bards and genealogists praised; Gandharva women with sweet voices sang music together with their husbands. The priests, according to the ritual, anointed Vasudeva, already bathed and smeared, with his eighteen wives, as the king of Soma is anointed by stars. Adorned by them with silk, bracelets, necklaces, anklets, and earrings, he shone, consecrated and clad in a sacrificial garment. His priests, dressed in silk and adorned with jewels, together with the assembly, shone like Indra at the sacrifice. Then Rama and Krishna, accompanied by their own relatives, shone with their sons and wives, lords of life with their own splendor. Vasudeva worshipped, according to the ritual, with sacrifices marked by agnihotra and others, both ordinary and special, the Lord of sacrifice, knowledge, and action.