ampaign, accusing Krishna of
making away with the jewel. Krishna hears of the slander and at once
decides to search for the missing man, recover the jewel and thus silence
his accuser for ever. As he goes through the forest, Krishna finds a cave
where the dead lion is lying. He enters it, grapples with the bear but is
quickly recognized by the bear as Krishna himself. The bear bows before
him and begs him to accept his daughter Jambhavati in marriage. He
includes the jewel as part of the dowry. Krishna marries the girl and
returns. Back at the court he upbraids Sattrajit for falsely accusing him.
'I did not take the jewel,' he says. 'The bear took it. Now he has given
the jewel to me and also his daughter. Take back your jewel and be
silent.' Sattrajit is overwhelmed with shame and by way of amends gives
Krishna his own daughter, Satyabhama. Krishna marries her and Sattrajit
begs him to take the jewel also. Krishna refuses and the jewel remains
with its owner. A little later, Sattrajit is murdered and the jewel once
again stolen. The murderer thief is tracked down by Krishna and killed,
but only after many delays is the jewel at last recovered from Akrura--the
leading Yadava who earlier in the story has acted first as Raja Kansa's
envoy to Krishna and later as Krishna's envoy to Kunti. Krishna orders him
to return it to its owner, Sattrajit's grandson. Akrura places it at
Krishna's feet and Krishna gives it to Satyabhama. The upshot, then, is
that the slander is ended, the jewel is regained and in the process
Krishna acquires two further wives.

These extra marriages, however, by no means end the tally of his consorts,
for during a visit to his relatives, the Pandavas, now returned from exile
and for the moment safely reinstalled in their kingdom, he sees a lovely
girl, Kalindi, wandering in the forest. She is the daughter of the sun and
has been sent to dwell by a river until her appointed bridegroom, Krishna,
arrives to claim her. Krishna is delighted with her youth, places her in
his chariot and on his return to Dwarka, celebrates their wedding. A
little later other girls are married to him, in many cases only after a
fierce struggle with demons. In this way, he obtains eight queens, at the
same time advancing his prime purpose of ridding the world of demons.

At this point, the _Purana_ embarks on an episode which, at first sight,
appears to have very little to do with its main subject. In fact, however,
its relevan