Within the river
Yamuna
there was a great lake, and in that lake the black serpent Kaliya used to live. Because of his poison, the whole area was so contaminated that it emanated a poisonous vapor twenty-four hours a day. Due to the poisonous effect of the Yamuna’s vapors, the trees and grass near the bank of the Yamuna had all dried up. Lord Krishna saw the effect of the great serpent’s poison: the whole river that ran before
Vrindavana
was now deadly.
Krishna, who advented Himself just to kill all undesirable elements in the world, immediately climbed up into a big kadamba tree on the bank of the Yamuna and jumped into the midst of the poisonous lake with a tumultuous sound, which the great black serpent Kaliya could hear. The tumult was intolerable for him, Therefore he immediately came before Krishna. Kaliya saw that Krishna was indeed worth seeing because His body was so beautiful and delicate; its color resembled that of a cloud, and His feet resembled lotus flowers. He was decorated with
Shrivatsa,
jewels and yellow garments. He was smiling with a beautiful face.
But in spite of Krishna’s beautiful features, Kaliya felt great anger within his heart, and thus he grabbed Krishna with his mighty coils. Seeing the incredible way in which Krishna was enveloped in the coils of the serpent, the affectionate cowherd boys and other inhabitants of Vrindavana immediately became stunned out of fear.
As soon as Nanda and Yashoda and the cowherd men heard this news, they became even more anxious. All the inhabitants of Vrindavana came out of the village to see Krishna. When mother Yashoda arrived, she wanted to enter the river Yamuna, and being checked, she fainted, she remained still, as if dead, because her consciousness was concentrated on the face of Krishna.
When He saw that all the inhabitants of Vrindavana—including His mother and father, the gopis, the boys and the cows—were just on the point of death and that they had no shelter for salvation from imminent death, Krishna immediately freed Himself. He began to expand His body, and when the serpent tried to hold Him, he felt a great strain. On account of the strain, his coils slackened, and he had no alternative but to let loose the Personality of Godhead, Krishna, from his grasp. Kaliya then became very angry, and his great hoods expanded. He exhaled poisonous fumes from his nostrils, his eyes blazed like fire, and flames issued from his mouth. Krishna immediately pounced upon him, just as
Garuda
swoops upon a snake. Thus attacked, Kaliya looked for an opportunity to bite Him, but Krishna moved around him.
Krishna immediately pressed down the serpent’s hoods and jumped up on them. He who is the original artist of all fine arts, such as dancing, began to dance upon the hoods of the serpent, although they were moving to and fro. Upon seeing this, the denizens of the upper planets showered flowers, beat drums, played different types of flutes and sang various prayers and songs. In this way, all the denizens of heaven, such as the
Gandharvas,
Siddhas and
demigods,
became very much pleased. Kaliya had about a hundred hoods, but Krishna took control of them. Gradually, Kaliya was reduced to struggling for his very life. He vomited all kinds of refuse and exhaled fire. While throwing up poisonous material from within, Kaliya became reduced in his sinful situation. Kaliya then began to vomit blood instead of poison; he was completely fatigued. His whole body appeared to be broken by the kicks of the Lord. Within his mind, however, he finally began to understand that Krishna is the
Supreme Personality of Godhead,
and he surrendered unto Him. He realized that Krishna is the Supreme Lord, the master of everything.
The wives of the serpent, known as the Nagapatnis, saw that their husband had been subdued by the Lord’s kicking and that he was almost at the point of death due to bearing the heavy burden of the Lord, within whose abdomen the whole universe remains. Kaliya’s wives also surrendered unto the Supreme Lord and began to pray. The Nagapatnis knew that Krishna is the shelter of all surrendered souls, and they desired to release their husband from the impending danger by pleasing the Lord with their prayers.
The Nagapatnis were astonished that, although Kaliya had the body of a serpent as the result of grievous sinful activities, at the same time he was in contact with the Lord to the extent that the Lord’s lotus feet were touching his hoods.
The Lord was pleased with Kaliya and his wives. Immediately after hearing His order, the snake and his wives began to worship Him with great offerings of nice garments, flowers, garlands, jewels, ornaments, sandal pulp, lotus flowers and nice eatable fruits. In this way they pleased the master of Garuda, of whom they were very much afraid. Then, obeying the orders of Lord Krishna, all of them left the lake within the Yamuna.
The Lord also assured Kaliya: “You came here out of fear of Garuda, who wanted to eat you in the beautiful land by the ocean. Now, after seeing the marks where I have touched your head with My lotus feet, Garuda will not disturb you.”
