After seizing his prey, the cruel hunter, satisfied with his success, carried away the pigeon, his devoted mate, and their young—householders all—back to his own dwelling. In this way, those householders whose minds are restless, who delight in the dualities of life like birds, and who maintain their families out of attachment, become bound by their connections and sink into suffering. Even one who has attained this rare human birth, where the door to liberation stands wide open, if he remains attached to household life like a bird, is known as one who, having climbed high, has fallen down. Meanwhile, Sūta continued, the women of the Kuru dynasty, led by Kṛṣṇā, went to the sacred Gaṅgā, desiring to offer water for their departed relatives. After making their offerings and lamenting deeply, they bathed in the holy river, sanctified by the touch of Hari’s lotus feet and by Brahmā, the unborn creator. There, Madhava beheld the king of the Kurus, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, seated with his younger brother, accompanied by Gāndhārī, overwhelmed with grief for her sons, as well as Pṛthā and Kṛṣṇā. Together with the assembled sages, he consoled those who had lost their loved ones and were overcome by sorrow, explaining to them the irresistible and inescapable workings of time that affect all beings. Having restored to Ajātaśatru—Yudhiṣṭhira—his rightful kingdom, which had been deceitfully taken by gamblers, and having slain the unrighteous kings corrupted by the touch of Kaca, Kṛṣṇa fulfilled his purpose. He arranged for Yudhiṣṭhira to perform three great horse sacrifices with splendid arrangements, spreading the king’s pure fame in all directions, like Indra himself. After taking leave of the sons of Pāṇḍu, accompanied by Sātyaki and Uddhava, and having been honored by Vyāsa and the other sages, Kṛṣṇa honored them in return. Then, O brāhmaṇa, having resolved to depart for Dvārakā, he mounted his chariot. At that moment, he was approached by Uttarā, who came running toward him, overwhelmed by fear. In desperation, Uttarā cried out, “Protect me, protect me, O great yogin, God of gods, Lord of the universe! I see no other refuge but you, for death threatens me 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 words, the Lord, ever affectionate to his devotees, understood that the weapon of Droṇa’s son, Aśvatthāmā, was intended to destroy the Pāṇḍava line. At once, the five Pāṇḍavas, seeing the fiery arrows approaching, took up their own weapons in defense. But Kṛṣṇa, seeing the calamity that had befallen his devotees, those whose minds were fixed on him alone, protected them with his Sudarśana discus, his own divine weapon. Hari, the master of yoga who dwells within all beings as their very self, by his own power shielded the embryo in Uttarā, the descendant of the Kurus. Though the Brahmaśiras weapon is unfailing and cannot be counteracted, O best of the Bhṛgus, it was subdued when it encountered your Vaiṣṇava power. Do not consider this 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’s weapon, along with her sons and with Kṛṣṇa, the virtuous Pṛthā—Kuntī—spoke to Kṛṣṇa, who was about to depart. With deep reverence, Kuntī said, “I bow to you, the original Person, the Lord 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 whose vision is deluded, just as an actor is hidden by his costume. “Thus, for the sake of establishing devotion among the supreme renunciants, the 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 one, to the one garlanded with lotuses, to the lotus-eyed, and 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 man-eater’s gaze, from the assembly of the wicked, from hardships in the forest, from battles with many mighty warriors, and now from the weapon of Drauṇa—O Hari, you have protected us all. “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 is proud of birth, wealth, learning, and beauty cannot truly approach you, for you are accessible only to those who possess nothing. Salutations to you, the wealth of those who have nothing, whose activity is beyond the modes of nature, who delights in the self, who is ever peaceful, and who is the Lord of liberation. “I consider you to be Time itself, the supreme ruler, beginningless and endless, all-pervading, moving equally among all beings, and the source of their mutual discord. No one knows your intention, O Lord; your actions in this world are a mystery to men. You have no one whom you favor or hate, yet people imagine partiality in you. “The birth and deeds of the soul of the universe, of the unborn, non-acting self, among beasts, humans, and aquatic creatures—these are the highest mysteries. When the gopī took a rope to bind you for your mischief, and your eyes, troubled by fear, were smeared with tears and ointment, and you bowed your face in dread—this bewilders me, for even the fearful fear you. “Some say the unborn was born for the fame of the virtuous, in the line of Yadu, his beloved, just as sandalwood grows in the Malaya mountains. Others say that, being requested by Vasudeva and Devakī, you, the unborn one, appeared for the protection of this world and the destruction of those who hate the gods. Some say you were born at the request of Brahmā, when the earth, weighed down by a heavy burden, was sinking like a boat in the ocean, to relieve her load. Others say you have come to perform deeds worthy of being heard and remembered by those suffering in this world from ignorance, desire, and action. “Those who constantly hear, sing, praise, remember, and rejoice in your deeds soon behold your lotus feet, which bring an end to the cycle of worldly existence. O Lord, will you now abandon us, your devoted friends and dependents, for whose sake there is no other refuge but your lotus feet, though we are bound to kingship and its sins?