Krishna pointed and said, 'Look, the ball is over there, on top of the deep pool, at the crown of the kadamba tree.' He showed them the ball reflected in the water of the deep pool. Looking into the water dizzied their sight. The Lord of the World said, 'This will not do.' 'The ball in the water is only a shadow. Fix your attention upward, on the real one.' They all looked up and saw the real ball in the tree. 'O Gopala, what shall we do now?' they cried. 'How can we bring it down?' The pool was terrifyingly deep and dark. They all shrank back in fear. The One for whose purpose all this was arranged knows the secret. Hari asks each one, according to their understanding, what should be done. Narayana told them to wait below. He climbed the tree Himself. As He climbed higher, the cowherds watched from below. They said, 'We do not understand what You are doing.' 'Our mothers will scold us,' they protested. They covered their own ears and washed their hands of it. Says Tuka, beneath the surface they do not know the true intent. God within does not let them see.

He tells them with His own mouth: look, the ball is over there, on the deep pool, at the top of the kadamba tree. At the crown, in a hard place, He shows it reflected down in the water. Looking into the water makes their sight reel. The Lord of the World says, this will not do. The ball in the water is not the true one; it is only a shadow seen inside; the real one is up there, fix your attention on it. They all see it overhead with their eyes, and cry, O Gopala, what now? How to bring it down? Seeing the pool, they are all afraid. The pool is very deep, with Kaliya inside; every one of them shrinks back. The one for whose purpose this is done, He alone knows it; Hari asks each according to their feeling. Narayana tells them, wait below, and Vanamali climbs the tree. As He goes up the cowherds watch from below and say, we know nothing of this. They say, what are You doing? Your mother will scold us. They put their hands over their own ears and wash their hands of it. For the sake of a pretext He has made the whole occasion, and Narayana goes up onto a branch. He set His foot on the branch, meaning to drop the ball below. Tuka says: those below do not know His intent; the God within does not let them see.