7 / The Meeting of Uṣā and Aniruddha
The meeting of Aniruddha and Uṣā, which caused a great fight between Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Śiva, is very mysterious and interesting. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was anxious to hear the whole story from Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and thus Śukadeva narrated it. “My dear King, you must have heard the name of King Bali. He was a great devotee who gave away in charity all that he had—namely, the whole world—to Lord Vāmana, the incarnation of Viṣṇu as a dwarf  brāhmaṇa . King Bali had one hundred sons, and the eldest of all of them was Bāṇāsura.”
This great hero Bāṇāsura, born of Mahārāja Bali, was a great devotee of Lord Śiva and was always ready to render service unto him. Because of his devotion, he achieved a great position in society, and he was honored in every respect. Actually, he was very intelligent and liberal also, and his activities are all praiseworthy because he never deviated from his promise and word of honor; he was very truthful and fixed in his vow. In those days, he was ruling over the city of Śonitapura. By the grace of Lord Śiva, Bāṇāsura had one thousand hands, and he became so powerful that even demigods like King Indra were serving him as most obedient servants.
Long ago, when Lord Śiva was dancing in his celebrated fashion called  tāṇḍava-nṛtya , for which he is known as Naṭarāja, Bāṇāsura helped Lord Śiva in his dancing by rythmically beating drums with his one thousand hands. Lord Śiva is well-known as  Āśutoṣa , very easily pleased, and he is also very affectionate to his devotees. He is a great protector for persons who take shelter of him and is the master of all living entities in this material world. Being pleased with Bāṇāsura, he said, “Whatever you desire you can have from me because I am very much pleased with you.” Bāṇāsura replied, “My dear lord, if you please, you can remain in my city just to protect me from the hands of my enemies.”
Once upon a time, Bāṇāsura came to offer his respects to Lord Śiva. By
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