After being courteously dismissed by Krishna, a certain man left, thinking to himself, “Krishna has not given me any garment or wealth,” and returned to his own city. But upon entering his house, he was astonished to find it overflowing with riches and grain. Recognizing this abundance as Krishna’s grace, his heart filled with delight. He enjoyed every happiness with his wife, who was adorned in divine garments and ornaments, and, grateful for his blessings, performed many sacrifices to please Hari. Through this devotion, he attained supreme and everlasting heavenly happiness. In time, Duryodhana, son of Dhritarashtra, through the deceit of a rigged dice game, deprived the sons of Pandu of their kingdom and exiled them from his realm. Thus Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, along with their noble wife Draupadi, entered the great forest. They lived there for twelve years, and for one year more dwelled in disguise in the palace of King Virata of Matsya. When their exile ended, and with Vasudeva Krishna as their ally, they prepared to battle the sons of Dhritarashtra. On the sacred field of Kurukshetra, a terrible war erupted between the sons of Dhritarashtra and the sons of Pandu, joined by kings from many lands—a war so dreadful that even the gods were afraid. There, Sri Krishna, serving as Arjuna’s charioteer, infused Arjuna with his own divine power. Together, they slew Duryodhana, Bhishma, Drona, and all the assembled kings with their eleven divisions of troops. Krishna thus established the Pandavas in their rightful kingdom and relieved the earth of its great burden. His mission fulfilled, Krishna returned to his own city. Some time later, a Vedic Brahmin, stricken with grief, brought the lifeless body of his five-year-old son to the king’s gate. There he lamented bitterly, speaking many words of reproach to Krishna. Hearing these harsh words, Krishna remained silent. The Brahmin cried, “My five sons were previously killed; this is the sixth. If Krishna does not bring him back to life, I will die here at the king’s gate.” At this moment, Arjuna arrived to see Krishna and beheld the Brahmin’s sorrow. Moved by compassion, Arjuna assured the grieving father, “I will bring your son back to life.” The Brahmin, comforted by Arjuna’s promise, was filled with hope. Arjuna invoked many powerful, life-restoring weapons over the child, but life did not return. Failing in his vow, Arjuna was overcome with sorrow and resolved to give up his own life. But Krishna, knowing all, came forth from his chambers. He comforted the Brahmin, saying, “I will give you all your sons.” After reassuring him, Krishna mounted Garuda with Arjuna and journeyed to the Vaishnava world. There, in a divine jeweled pavilion, they saw Narayana seated with the goddess. Krishna and Arjuna bowed before him. Narayana embraced them both and asked the reason for their coming. Krishna replied, “Lord, grant me the sons of this Vedic Brahmin.” Narayana then returned the Brahmin’s sons to Krishna, all of them the same age as before. Overjoyed, Krishna placed the children on Garuda’s shoulder, and together with Arjuna, returned to Dvaraka, praised by the hosts of gods. He gave the six five-year-old sons to the Brahmin, who, overwhelmed with joy, blessed Krishna, saying, “May you prosper.” Arjuna, having fulfilled his vow, bowed to Krishna and returned to the city ruled by Yudhishthira. From Krishna’s sixteen thousand wives, ten thousand sons were born, and the number of their sons and grandsons was beyond reckoning. As the scripture says: “Eight hundred sons, and also ten thousand, were born; Pradyumna, the son of Rukmini, was the foremost among them.” By these countless Yadavas, the earth became filled. But again, perceiving that the earth was burdened, Krishna decided to destroy the Yadavas under the pretext of a sage’s curse. One day, all the young men went to play on the banks of the Narmada River. There, they saw the great sage Kanva engaged in austerities. Mischievously, they made Samba, Jambavati’s son, appear as a woman by magic and tied an iron club in his belly. Bowing to the sage, they mockingly asked, “Tell us, will this one bear a boy or a girl?” The sage, seeing through their intent and angered, declared, “All of you will be destroyed by this very club.” Alarmed, the Yadavas went to Krishna and told him everything. Krishna ordered the iron club to be ground into powder and cast into the water. From these iron seeds, mighty reeds, hard as thunderbolts, sprang up. A fish swallowed the remaining piece of the club, which was the size of a little finger. Later, a hunter caught the fish, retrieved the iron piece from its belly, and fashioned it into an arrowhead. Once, all the Yadavas—Rama, Krishna, Pradyumna, and others—drank the Varuni liquor sent by Indra and became intoxicated. They began to quarrel, hurling harsh words at one another, and soon a terrible fight broke out among them. In the end, they destroyed each other. Krishna, weary from the strife, lay down beneath the shade of a wish-fulfilling tree, while a hunter, bow and arrows in hand, stood nearby as a protector. Thus, all the Yadavas, having departed from this world, attained their respective divine realms. In this way, after all was destroyed by the club, the one God alone—Vasudeva—remained, surrounded by the remnants of his followers. Lying beneath a great tree, he contemplated his own true self, arranging his knees on the ground and preparing to abandon his human body. At that moment, a hunter, compelled by the force of time, saw the lotus foot of Hari, marked with the discus, thunderbolt, banner, and goad, and glowing red. Mistaking it, the hunter pierced it with his arrow. Immediately realizing he had struck Sri Krishna, the hunter was overwhelmed with fear and, trembling, bowed before Krishna with folded hands, begging forgiveness. Sri Krishna, seeing the hunter’s distress, raised him up with hands full of nectar and said, “You have not committed an offense,” thus comforting him and dispelling his fear.