English
Krishna Subdues Kaliya
Source: Shrimad Bhagavata Purana, 10th Skandha (chapters 15–17)
Near Vrindavan there was a deep pool in the Yamuna. In it lived a huge serpent named Kaliya, with his family. His poison kept the water of the pool seething. Even birds flying overhead fell from its poisonous vapour, and the trees and plants on its banks had withered.
One hot day the thirsty cowherd boys and cows unknowingly drank from that very pool, and all of them fell lifeless on the bank. Shri Krishna brought them back to life with his nectar-filled glance.
But Krishna knew that as long as Kaliya stayed there, the water of the Yamuna would remain poison. He resolved that this serpent had to be removed from that place.
He climbed a tall kadamba tree on the bank, tightened his waistcloth, slapped his arms and leapt into the poisoned water. The water of the pool splashed up and fell a hundred bow-lengths away.
Hearing the commotion, Kaliya came out hissing with rage. He saw a dark, tender boy in yellow garments playing fearlessly in the water. Kaliya bit him in his vital spots and wrapped him tightly in his coils.
On the bank, the cowherd boys fainted at the sight. The cows began to low. Nanda Baba, Mother Yashoda and all the people of Vraja came running, weeping. Yashoda was ready to jump into the pool herself. Only Balarama was calm; he knew his brother's power, and he held everyone back.
And in the water, bound in the serpent's coils, Krishna seemed not to move at all...
Krishna saw that because of him the people of Vraja, who had no refuge but him, were ready to give up their lives. For a few moments he stayed bound like an ordinary child, then he began to expand his body. The coils loosened, and Kaliya had to let him go.
Hissing, Kaliya raised his hoods and looked for a chance to strike, while Krishna circled around him the way Garuda plays with a snake. When the serpent was exhausted, Krishna sprang up onto his lofty hoods.
And there, on the serpent's hoods, Shri Krishna began to dance. The gods showered flowers, the gandharvas sang, drums sounded. Whichever hood Kaliya raised, Krishna pressed down with his feet. Blood flowed from the serpent's mouths, and all his pride was crushed.
Then Kaliya's wives came to Krishna for refuge. With folded hands they praised him: "Lord, even this punishment of yours is grace, for it has washed away his sins. But now his life is about to leave him. Have mercy on us and spare our husband."
Pleased, Krishna released Kaliya. Coming to his senses, Kaliya too folded his hands: "Lord, we serpents are wrathful by birth. Now I will do whatever you command."
Krishna said, "Leave this pool with your family and go to the island of Ramanaka in the sea, so that the cows and the people can drink the Yamuna's water. Your hoods now bear the marks of my feet; seeing them, Garuda will not harm you."
Why had Kaliya lived there? The Bhagavata explains: to escape Garuda. Because of a curse of the sage Saubhari, Garuda could not enter this pool, so it had become the refuge of Kaliya, who feared him.
Kaliya worshipped Krishna with his family and went to Ramanaka. From that day the water of the Yamuna became pure again. When Krishna came out of the pool, it was as if the people of Vraja had got back their lost lives. Yashoda held him tightly to her heart.
What this story teaches
However great the poison and the pride, it grows calm the moment it bows at God's feet. Even when the Lord punishes, it is to set right, not to destroy.
The popular story that Krishna jumped into the Yamuna to fetch a ball is not in the Bhagavata; it comes from later tradition. In the Bhagavata he leaps in to free the Yamuna from poison. The famous Nag Nathaiya leela is staged every year in the month of Kartika at Tulsi Ghat in Varanasi.
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