Once, two pigeons, devoted householders, ventured out into the forest in search of food for their young. They wandered for a long time, intent on providing for their offspring. Meanwhile, a hunter happened to be roaming that same forest. Spotting the young pigeons near their nest, he quickly spread his net and captured them. Unaware of this calamity, the male and female pigeons returned to their nest after gathering food, eager to nourish their beloved children. But when the mother pigeon saw her young trapped in the net, she rushed toward them, crying out in distress as her children cried for help. Overwhelmed by affection and sorrow, bewildered by illusion, she lost all awareness and, seeing her young bound, became ensnared in the hunter’s net herself. The male pigeon witnessed this tragic scene: his dear children, bound and helpless, and his beloved wife—equal to himself—caught in the net. He lamented deeply, mourning his misery, feeling himself of little merit and foolish mind. His householder’s pursuit of the three aims of life—dharma, artha, and kāma—was left unfulfilled and ruined. He grieved for his wife, who had been his devoted companion, his goddess, now gone from his empty home, ascending to heaven with their virtuous sons. Left alone, bereft of wife and children, miserable in his empty house, he wondered why he should wish to live, afflicted by such sorrow. Surrounded by his own offspring, seized by the grip of death and writhing helplessly, the pitiable bird, though seeing the arrows, fell down in ignorance. The cruel hunter, satisfied with his catch, took the pigeon, his mate, and their young—householders all—back to his home. Thus, one whose mind is not at peace, who delights in dualities and maintains his family with attachment, sinks down, bound by his connections, just as the birds did. And he who, having attained the human world where the door to liberation stands open, remains attached to household life like a bird—they know him as one who, having climbed up, has fallen down. Meanwhile, Sūta continued: Desiring to offer water for their departed relatives, the women, led by Kṛṣṇā, went to the sacred Gaṅgā. There, after offering water and lamenting intensely once more, they bathed in the river sanctified by the lotus feet of Hari and by Brahmā, the unborn. At that place, Madhava—Kṛṣṇa—saw the king of the Kurus, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, seated with his younger brother, along with Gāndhārī, stricken with grief for her sons, Pṛthā, and Kṛṣṇā. Kṛṣṇa, along with the sages, consoled those who had lost their relatives and were overwhelmed with sorrow, showing them the inevitable course of time among all beings, which cannot be countered. Having restored Ajātaśatru—Yudhiṣṭhira—to his own kingdom, which had been taken by gamblers, and having slain the unrighteous kings whose lives were stained by the touch of Kaca, Kṛṣṇa accomplished his purpose. He had Yudhiṣṭhira perform three horse sacrifices with excellent arrangements, spreading his pure fame in all directions, like Indra. After taking leave of the sons of Pāṇḍu, accompanied by Sātyaki and Uddhava, and honored by Vyāsa and other sages, Kṛṣṇa honored them in return. Resolving to depart, he mounted his chariot to return to Dvārakā. At that moment, Uttarā came running toward him, overwhelmed by fear. She cried out, “Protect me, protect me, O great yogin, God of gods, Lord of the universe! I see no other refuge but you, where death threatens on all sides. O Lord, a blazing iron arrow is rushing toward me! Let it burn me if it must, but, O master, do not let my unborn child be destroyed.” Hearing her desperate plea, the Lord, affectionate to his devotees, understood that the weapon of Droṇa’s son was intended to destroy the Pāṇḍava line. The five Pāṇḍavas, seeing the blazing arrows coming toward them, took up their own weapons for defense. Seeing the calamity that had befallen those whose minds were fixed on him alone, the Lord protected his own people with his Sudarśana discus. Hari, the master of yoga, who dwells within all beings as their very self, by his own power covered the embryo in Uttarā, the descendant of the Kurus. Although the Brahmaśiras weapon is unfailing and cannot be counteracted, it was subdued upon encountering Kṛṣṇa’s Vaiṣṇava power. This is not astonishing, for in Acyuta, who is full of all wonders, the unborn one creates, maintains, and destroys this world by his divine illusion. Freed from the power of Brahma, along with her sons and with Kṛṣṇa, the virtuous Pṛthā spoke these words to Kṛṣṇa, who was about to depart. Kuntī said: “I bow to you, the original Person, the Lord, who is beyond material nature, invisible to all beings, yet present within and without. Covered by the veil of illusion, unknowable and imperishable, you are not seen by those with deluded vision, just as an actor is hidden by his costume. For the sake of establishing devotion among the supreme renunciants, sages of pure heart, how can we women possibly perceive you? Salutations to Kṛṣṇa, to Vāsudeva, to the son of Devakī, to the boy of Nanda and the cowherds, to Govinda—again and again, I bow. Salutations to the lotus-naveled, salutations to the lotus-garlanded, salutations to the lotus-eyed, salutations to you whose feet are like lotuses. Just as Hṛṣīkeśa freed Devakī, who had long suffered grief, imprisoned by the wicked Kaṃsa, so too, O Lord, you have repeatedly delivered me and my sons from many dangers: from deadly poison, from the great fire, from the sight of the man-eater, from the assembly of the wicked, from hardships in the forest, from battle after battle with many mighty warriors, and from the weapon of Drauṇa, O Hari, you have protected us. May those calamities always befall us, O Guru of the world, so that we may see you again and again, for seeing you means we shall not see repeated birth. A person who grows proud from birth, wealth, learning, and beauty cannot truly address you, for you are accessible only to those who possess nothing. Salutations to you, the wealth of those who have nothing, whose activity is free from the modes, who delights in the self, who is peaceful, and who is the Lord of liberation.