Kṛṣṇa, the very embodiment of the universe, engaged in playful yet fierce combat with the mighty wrestler Cāṇūra. As their struggle intensified, Kṛṣṇa, feeling both fatigue and anger, shook his lion-like mane. Observing the ebb and flow of strength between Cāṇūra and Kṛṣṇa, Kaṃsa, overcome with wrath, ordered the musicians to cease their playing at once. The drums and instruments fell silent, but in that moment, wondrous sounds arose from the heavens—celestial instruments resounded together in the sky. From above, the unseen gods joyfully cried out, "Victory to Govinda! Slay the demon Cāṇūra, O Keśava!" Encouraged by these divine acclamations, Madhusūdana—the slayer of Madhu—tormented Cāṇūra relentlessly. Intent on his destruction, Kṛṣṇa seized Cāṇūra and began to whirl him around. After spinning the demon wrestler a hundred times, Kṛṣṇa dashed him to the ground with such force that Cāṇūra’s life departed before his body struck the earth. The impact shattered Cāṇūra into a hundred pieces, and the arena became a pool of blood. At the same time, mighty Baladeva fought the demon wrestler Muṣṭika, just as Hari had with Cāṇūra. Baladeva struck Muṣṭika with his fist on the head and chest, and with his knee, then threw him to the earth, crushing him as his life left him. Kṛṣṇa then turned to the powerful wrestler king Tośalaka, striking him with his left fist and bringing him down as well. With Cāṇūra and Muṣṭika defeated and Tośalaka felled, the remaining wrestlers fled in terror. Kṛṣṇa and Saṃkarṣaṇa—the two brothers—joyfully leapt into the arena, seizing cowherds of their own age by force, celebrating with their friends. Kaṃsa, his eyes red with rage, bellowed commands to his guards: "Drive these two cowherds and the crowds from this assembly by force! Seize Nanda, the wicked one, and bind him with iron chains! Bind Vasudeva as well, with a punishment fit for the unaged! Restrain the cows of these cowherds who are with Kṛṣṇa, and seize all their wealth!" As Kaṃsa barked his cruel orders, Madhusūdana laughed. In a swift and powerful motion, he sprang up, mounted the royal platform, and seized Kaṃsa. Grasping Kaṃsa’s hair so that his crown fell to the ground, Kṛṣṇa threw him down and fell upon him. Struck by the mighty bearer of the world, Kaṃsa—the son of Ugrasena—was deprived of life. Kṛṣṇa then dragged Kaṃsa’s body by the hair into the midst of the arena, his form battered and limp. By the force of the blow and the dragging, Kaṃsa’s body resembled a great river surging with speed. Seeing Kaṃsa seized, his brother Sunāma, enraged, rushed forward, but Balabhadra struck him down effortlessly. The entire assembly was filled with cries of "Alas!" as they witnessed the lord of Mathurā slain by Kṛṣṇa without hesitation. Then Kṛṣṇa, with mighty Baladeva beside him, quickly approached Vasudeva and Devakī, humbly grasping their feet. Vasudeva and Devakī, recalling the words spoken at Kṛṣṇa’s birth, raised Janārdana and stood before him with joined hands in reverence. Śrī Vasudeva spoke with deep devotion: "Be gracious, O Lord, to us who bow before you. The boon once granted to the gods has now, by your favor, been fulfilled, O Keśava. Because you, O Lord, have descended into my house for the destruction of the wicked, our lineage has been purified. You abide within all beings as the very essence of all. Everything that exists, past and future, proceeds from you, the soul of all. You are worshipped by sacrifices, O inconceivable one, composed of all the gods, O Acyuta. You are the sacrifice, the offerer, and the supreme lord of those who perform sacrifice. O Janārdana, you are the origin of all creation. "This denial that arises in my mind toward you, and the affection for a son born of Devakī, is the highest delusion. You are the creator of all beings, without beginning or end; yet whose tongue is this, O Lord, that would call you 'son' of a human? O Lord of the universe, from whom all this world has arisen, by what reasoning, apart from your illusion, could you be born from us? In whom all the world, moving and unmoving, is established—how could that one, who lies in the cosmic womb, be born as a human to you? "Therefore, be gracious, Supreme Lord, protector of the universe; by your partial descents you are not truly my son. O Lord, from you this entire world, from Brahma down to the trees, arises—why do you delude us, O Supreme Person? Because my vision was clouded by your illusion, I considered you my son and feared Kaṃsa; but now, with that fear gone, you have been taken to Gokula by our family, grown up, and I no longer possess that sense of 'mine,' O Lord. The actions of Rudra, the Maruts, the Ashvins, Indra, and the Sadhyas are not accomplished without your glance. You, O Vishnu, Lord of the worlds, have come to us for the sake of benefit; now that you are recognized, delusion has departed." Having thus spoken, Vasudeva and Devakī, having witnessed the wondrous deeds of the Lord, attained true understanding. Yet, by the will of Hari, his divine illusion once again covered them, for the sake of the Yadu clan; thus, he spread his Vaishnava Māyā. Kṛṣṇa then addressed his parents with gentle words: "Mother! Father! After so long, I, who was kept apart from you out of fear of Kaṃsa, have now seen you both, and Saṃkarṣaṇa as well. For those who neglect to honor their mother and father, the time spent in such neglect is a wasted portion of life, truly arising among the unrighteous. But for those who honor their teachers, gods, twice-born, and parents, O father, the birth of embodied beings becomes fruitful." Thus, the Lord restored peace and joy to his parents, fulfilling the purpose of his descent and the prayers of the gods, while the world rejoiced at the end of Kaṃsa’s tyranny.