This chapter recounts the meeting of Aniruddha and Usha, and also Aniruddha's battle with Banasura.

Of the one hundred sons of King Bali, the oldest was Banasura. He was a great devotee of Lord Siva, who favored Bana so much that even demigods like Indra would serve him. Banasura once satisfied Siva by playing musical instruments with his one thousand hands while Siva danced his tandava-nritya. In response, Siva offered Bana whatever benediction he chose, and Bana asked Siva to become the guardian of his city.

One day when Bana was feeling an urge to do battle, he told Lord Siva: "Except for you, in the whole world there is no warrior strong enough to fight me. Therefore these thousand arms you've given me are merely a heavy burden." Angered by these words, Lord Siva replied, "Your pride will be crushed in battle when you meet my equal. Indeed, your chariot flag will fall to the ground, broken."

Banasura's daughter, Usha, once had an encounter with a lover in her sleep. Several nights in a row this occurred, until one night she failed to see Him in her dreams. She suddenly awoke, speaking aloud to Him in a state of agitation, but when she noticed her maidservants around her, she felt embarrassed. Usha's companion Citralekha asked her who she had been addressing, and Usha told her everything. Hearing of Usha's dreamlover, Citralekha tried to relieve her friend's distress by drawing pictures of Gandharvas and other celestial personalities, as well as various men of the Vrishni dynasty. Citralekha asked Usha to pick out the man she had seen in her dreams, and Usha pointed to the picture of Aniruddha. Citralekha, who had mystic powers, knew at once that the young man her friend had pointed out was Lord Krishna's grandson Aniruddha. Then, using her mystic powers, Citralekha flew through the sky to Dvaraka, found Aniruddha and brought Him back with her to Sonitapura, Banasura's capital. There she presented Him to Usha.

Having obtained the man of her desires, Usha began serving Him very affectionately within her private quarters, which were supposed to be strictly off limits to men. After some time the female guards of the inner palace noticed symptoms of sexual activity on Usha's person, and they went to Banasura to inform him. Greatly disturbed, Banasura rushed to his daughter's apartments with many armed guards and, to his great surprise, saw Aniruddha there. As the guards attacked Him, Aniruddha took up His club and succeeded in killing a few before the powerful Bana could capture Him with his mystic naga-pasa ropes, filling Usha with lamentation.