Garuda, mighty and fierce, swept through the battlefield with the force of a storm, scattering the assembled gods as easily as the wind tosses blades of grass. Witnessing this, Indra, the king and lord of the gods, was seized by fury. In a sudden burst of anger, he hurled his blazing thunderbolt, aiming to slay Krishna. But Krishna, with effortless grace, caught the thunderbolt in one hand. Indra, astonished and fearful, descended from his perch atop the lord of serpents. Standing before Krishna—Janardana—with joined palms and bowed head, Indra spoke in a trembling voice, offering hymns of praise. Indra said, “O Krishna, the Parijata tree is meant for the gods; you once gave it to me and to all the gods. How can it now remain among humans?” Then Mahadeva spoke: The Blessed Lord addressed Indra, the thousand-eyed one, who had come before him. “O Lord of the gods, your wife Satyabhama was slighted by Shachi in your house. Shachi, daughter of Puloma and your beloved, wore the Parijata flowers on her own head without offering them to Satyabhama. For this reason, O Indra, I have taken the Parijata. I promised to give it to Satyabhama, O leader of the gods. “O Vasava, I will place the Parijata in your house; therefore, today it should not be given, O Lord of the gods. For the welfare of the gods, I will send it to earth; until then, let the Parijata remain in my abode. When I return to heaven, O Shakra, you may claim it as you wish.” Having spoken thus, Krishna, the best of the Yadus, returned the thunderbolt to Indra. Indra, accepting Krishna’s words, bowed to Govinda and departed for his celestial city, surrounded by the hosts of gods. Krishna, together with Queen Satyabhama, seated upon Garuda and praised by sages, entered Dvaraka. There, Hari—the all-pervading Lord—placed the divine Parijata tree near Satyabhama, delighting all his wives. During the nights, Madhusudana, glorious and assuming all forms, dwelled in the homes of each of his wives, bringing them happiness. Thus, in the glorious Padma Mahapurana, Uttarakanda, in the dialogue of Uma and Maheshvara, within the story of Krishna, this is the two hundred and fifty-first chapter, named “The Account of the Marriage of Shri Vasudeva.” Shri Rudra continued: Then Paundraka Vasudeva, the king of Kashi, worshipped Mahesha in seclusion at Varanasi for twelve years, fasting and reciting the five-syllable mantra. During his austerity, he worshipped Shankara with a lotus plucked from his own eye. Shulapani, the Lord of Uma, was pleased and said to him, “Choose a boon.” Paundraka replied, “O gracious Shiva, Lord of all beings, five-faced one, grant me a form equal to Vasudeva.” Shiva granted him everything: a form with four arms holding conch, discus, mace, and lotus; eyes like lotus petals; a crown like Vasudeva’s; lovely locks; yellow garments; the Kaustubha jewel; and all other divine marks. Paundraka, now bearing this form, proclaimed, “I am Vasudeva,” and deluded all the worlds. Once, Narada approached the mighty king of Kashi in heaven and said, “Without defeating the son of Vasudeva, one cannot attain the status of Vasudeva.” At that moment, Paundraka mounted a chariot adorned with Garuda banners, assumed a formidable form, and, with an army of four divisions, arrived at Dvaraka. Stationed at the city gate in a golden chariot, he sent a messenger to Vasudeva, declaring, “I have come for battle; unless you defeat me, you cannot claim the status of Vasudeva.” Vishnu, hearing this, mounted Garuda and rode out to the city gate to confront Paundraka. There he saw Paundraka, seated in his chariot with his army, holding conch, discus, mace, and lotus in his hands. Krishna, taking up the Sharnga bow, unleashed a torrent of arrows, burning up Paundraka’s great army—horses, elephants, and infantry—in a moment, as if it were the fire of destruction. With a single arrow, Krishna playfully severed the conch, discus, mace, and other weapons attached to Paundraka’s hands. Then, with the pure Sudarshana discus, he cut off Paundraka’s lotus-like head, adorned with crown and earrings, and cast it down within the city of Varanasi. The people of Kashi were astonished and fearful, wondering at this extraordinary event. Hearing that his father Paundraka had been slain by the blessed Vasudeva, Paundraka’s son, Dandapani, urged by his mother and commanded by fate, was instructed by his family priest to perform a great Shaiva sacrifice to Shankara. Shiva, pleased by this devotion, granted him, out of affection and for the purpose of destroying Krishna, a powerful Maheśvarī Kṛtyā—a magical being. The king of Kashi, seeing this terrifying Māheśvarī, whose form was enveloped in flames, with blazing hair, tawny eyes, a gaping fiery mouth, holding a trident, smeared with ashes, adorned with a garland of human heads, and terrifying to all the gods, sent her, along with his sons, wives, and relatives, to destroy Krishna. This being, bringing terror to all worlds, burned the earth with her own radiance, roaring with the thunder of dissolution, and reached Dvaraka. The people, seeing her, believed the great dissolution had come, and cried out in distress, reporting to Krishna. Krishna, reassuring them not to fear, saw the terrible Kṛtyā standing at the city gate and immediately released the thousand-spoked Sudarshana discus, capable of repelling all weapons and missiles, against her. She saw the great Sudarshana—equal in brilliance to millions of suns at the end of an age, rising a hundred yojanas high, filled with all blazing weapons, golden, radiant, capable of destroying and sustaining the worlds, worshipped by all the gods, the refuge of the universe. Overwhelmed, she lost her power, was seized by fear, and, crying out, fled back toward Varanasi. Sudarshana pursued the Kṛtyā relentlessly. Terrified and crying out, she entered the inner palace of the king of Kashi. Sudarshana, reaching the city, reduced the Māheśvarī city—with its palaces and mansions—and Dandapani, the king and son of Paundraka, along with his servants, army, and vehicles, to ashes. Then, worshipped by all the gods and sages, Sudarshana returned once more to the gentle hand of Krishna in Dvaraka, as if to the world-tree itself.