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KB 1970-1-16 / Subduing Kaliya
16 / Subduing Kaliya
When He understood that the water of the Yamuna was being
polluted by the black serpent Kaliya, Lord Krsna took action
against him and made him leave the Yamuna and go elsewhere, and
thus the water became purified.
When this story was being narrated by Sukadeva Gosvami,
Maharaja Pariksit became eager to hear more about Krsna's
childhood pastimes. He inquired from Sukadeva Gosvami how Krsna
chastised Kaliya, who was living in the water for many
years. Actually, Maharaja Pariksit was becoming more and more
enthusiastic to hear the transcendental pastimes of Krsna, and
his inquiry was made with great interest.
Sukadeva Gosvami narrated the story as follows. 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. If a bird happened to even pass over
the spot, he would immediately fall down in the
water
and die.
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
Krsna saw the effect of the great serpent's poison: the whole
river that ran before Vrndavana was now deadly.
Krsna, who advented Himself just to kill all undesirable
elements in the world, immediately climbed up in a big
kadamba tree on the bank of the Yamuna. The kadamba is a
round yellow flower, generally seen only in the
Vrndavana area. After climbing to the top of the tree, He
tightened His belt cloth and, flapping His arms just like a
wrestler, jumped in the midst of the poisonous lake. The
kadamba tree from which Krsna had jumped was the only tree
there which was not dead. Some commentators say that due to
touching the lotus feet of Krsna, the tree became
immediately alive. In some other Puranas it is stated
that Garuda, the eternal carrier of Visnu, knew that Krsna
would take this action in the future, so he put some nectar
on this tree to preserve it. When Lord Krsna jumped into the
water, the river overflooded its banks
, as if something very large had fallen into it.
This exhibition of Krsna's strength is not at all uncommon
because He is the reservoir of all strength.
When Krsna was swimming about, just like a great strong
elephant, He made a tumultuous sound which the great black
serpent Kaliya could hear. The tumult was intolerable for him,
and he could understand that this was an attempt to attack his
home. Therefore he immediately came before Krsna. Kaliya saw
that Krsna was indeed worth seeing because His body was so
beautiful and delicate; its color resembled that of a cloud,
and His legs resembled a lotus flower. He was decorated with
Srivatsa, jewels and yellow garments. He was smiling with a
beautiful face and was playing in the river Yamuna with great
strength. But in spite of Krsna's beautiful features, Kaliya
felt great anger within his heart, and thus he grabbed Krsna
with his mighty coils. Seeing the incredible way in which Krsna
was enveloped in the coils of the serpent, the affectionate
cowherd boys and inhabitants of Vrndavana immediately became
stunned out of fear. They had dedicated everything to Krsna,
their lives, property, affection, activities -- everything was
for Krsna -- and when they saw Him in that condition, they
became overwhelmed with fear and fell down on the ground. All
the cows, bulls and small calves became overwhelmed with grief,
and they began to look at Him with great anxiety. Out of fear
they could only cry in agony and stand erect on the bank,
unable to help their beloved Krsna.
While this scene was taking place on the bank of the Yamuna,
there were ill omens manifest. The earth trembled, meteors fell
from the sky, and the bodies of men shivered. All
these are indications of great immediate danger. Observing the
inauspicious signs, the cowherd men, including Maharaja Nanda,
became very anxious out of fear. At the same time they were
informed that Krsna had gone to the pasturing ground without
His elder brother, Balarama. As soon as Nanda and Yasoda and
the cowherd men heard this news, they became even more anxious.
Out of their great affection for Krsna, unaware of
the extent of Krsna's potencies, they became overwhelmed with
grief and anxiety because they had nothing dearer than Krsna
and because they dedicated their everything -- life,
property, affection, mind and activities -- to Krsna. Because
of their great attachment for Krsna, they thought, "Today Krsna
is surely going to be vanquished!"
All the inhabitants of Vrndavana came out of the village to see
Krsna. The assembly consisted of children, young and old men,
women, animals and all living entities; they knew that Krsna
was their only means of sustenance. While this was happening,
Balarama, who is the master of all knowledge, stood there
simply smiling. He knew how powerful His younger brother Krsna
was and that there was no cause for anxiety when Krsna was
fighting with an ordinary serpent of the material world. He did
not, therefore, personally take any part in their concern. On
the other hand, all the inhabitants of Vrndavana, being
disturbed, began to search out Krsna by following the
impression of His footprints on the ground, and thus they moved
towards the bank of the Yamuna. Finally, by following
the footprints marked with flag, bow and conchshell, the
inhabitants of Vrndavana arrived at the river bank and saw
that all the cows and boys were weeping to behold Krsna
enwrapped in the coils of the black serpent. Then they became
still more overwhelmed with grief. While Balarama was smiling
to see their lamentation, all the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi
merged into the ocean of grief because they thought that Krsna
was finished. Although the residents of Vrndavana did not know
much about Krsna, their love for Him was beyond comparison. As
soon as they saw that Krsna was in the river Yamuna enveloped
by the serpent Kaliya and that all the boys and cows were
lamenting, they simply began to think of Krsna's friendship,
His smiling face, His sweet words and His dealings with them.
Thinking of all these and believing that their Krsna was now
within the clutches of Kaliya, they at once felt that the three
worlds had become vacant. Lord Caitanya also said that He was
seeing the three worlds as vacant for want of Krsna. This is
the highest stage of Krsna consciousness. Almost all of the
inhabitants of Vrndavana had the highest ecstasy, love for
Krsna.
When mother Yasoda arrived, she wanted to enter the river
Yamuna, and being checked, she fainted. Other friends who were
equally aggrieved were shedding tears like torrents of rain or
waves of the river, but in order to bring mother Yasoda to
consciousness, they began to speak loudly about the
transcendental pastimes of Krsna. Mother Yasoda remained still,
as if dead, because her consciousness was concentrated on the
face of Krsna. Nanda and all others who
dedicated everything, including their lives, to Krsna, were
ready to enter the waters of the Yamuna, but Lord Balarama
checked them because He was in perfect knowledge that there was
no danger.
For two hours Krsna remained like an ordinary child gripped in
the coils of Kaliya, but when He saw that all the inhabitants
of Gokula -- 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, Krsna
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 other
alternative but to let loose the Personality of Godhead, Krsna,
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.
The great serpent remained still for some time, looking at
Krsna. Licking his lips with bifurcated tongues, the serpent
looked at Krsna with double hoods, and his eyesight was full of
poison. Krsna immediately pounced upon him, just as Garuda
swoops upon a snake. Thus attacked, Kaliya looked for an
opportunity to bite Him, but Krsna moved around him. As Krsna
and Kaliya moved in a circle, the serpent gradually became
fatigued, and his strength seemed to diminish considerably.
Krsna immediately pressed down the serpent's hoods and jumped
up on them. The Lord's lotus feet became tinged with red from
the rays of the jewels on the snake's hoods. Then 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, denizens from the upper
planets began to shower flowers, beat drums, play
different types of flutes and sing various prayers and songs.
In this way, all the denizens of heaven, such as the Gandharvas,
Siddhas and demigods, became very pleased.
While Krsna was dancing on his hoods, Kaliya tried to push Him
down with some of his other hoods. Kaliya had about a hundred
hoods, but Krsna took control of them. He began to dash Kaliya
with His lotus feet, and this was more than the serpent could
bear. 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. Out of great anger, he began
to struggle for existence and tried to raise one of his hoods
to kill the Lord. The Lord immediately captured that hood and
subdued it by kicking it and dancing on it. It actually
appeared as if the Supreme Personality of Godhead Visnu was
being worshiped; the poisons emanating from the mouth of the
serpent appeared to be like flower offerings. 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
Krsna was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he
began to surrender unto Him. He realized that Krsna was
the Supreme Lord, the master of everything.
The wives of the serpent, known as the Nagapatnis, saw that
their husband was being subdued by the kicking
of the Lord, within whose womb the whole universe
remains. Kaliya's wives prepared to worship the Lord, although,
in their haste, their dress, hair and ornaments became
disarrayed. They also surrendered unto the Supreme Lord and
began to pray. They appeared before Him, put forward their
offspring and anxiously offered respectful obeisances, falling
down on the bank of the Yamuna. The Nagapatnis knew that Krsna
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 began to offer their prayers as follows: "O dear
Lord, You are equal to everyone. For You there is no
distinction between Your sons, friends or enemies. Therefore
the punishment which You have so kindly offered to Kaliya is
exactly befitting. O Lord, You have descended especially for
the purpose of annihilating all kinds of disturbing elements
within the world, and because You are the Absolute Truth, there
is no difference between Your mercy and punishment. We
think, therefore, that this apparent punishment to Kaliya is
actually some benediction. We consider that Your punishment is
Your great mercy upon us because when You punish someone it is
to be understood that the reactions of his sinful activities
are eradicated. It is already clear that this creature
appearing in the body of a serpent must have been overburdened
with all kinds of sin; otherwise, how could he have the body of
a serpent? Your dancing on his hoods reduces all the
sinful results of actions caused by his having this body of a
serpent. It is, therefore, very auspicious that You have become
angry and have punished him in this way. We are very
astonished to see how You have become so pleased with this
serpent who evidently performed various religious activities
in his past lives. Everyone must have been pleased by
his undergoing all kinds of penances and austerities, and
he must have executed universal welfare activities for
all living creatures."
The Nagapatnis confirm that one cannot come in contact with
Krsna without having executed pious activities in devotional
service in his previous lives. As Lord Caitanya advised in His
Siksastaka, one has to execute devotional service by humbly
chanting the Hare Krsna mantra, thinking oneself lower than the
straw in the street and not expecting honor for himself but
offering all kinds of honor to others. 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. Certainly this was not the
ordinary result of pious activities. These two contradictory
facts astonished them. Thus they continued to pray: "O dear
Lord, we are simply astonished to see that he is so fortunate
as to have the dust of Your lotus feet on his head. This is a
fortune sought after by great saintly persons. Even the goddess
of fortune underwent severe austerities just to have the
blessing of the dust of Your lotus feet, so how is it that
Kaliya is so easily getting this dust on his head? We have
heard from authoritative sources that those who are blessed
with the dust of Your lotus feet do not care even for the
highest post within the universe, namely the post of Lord
Brahma, or the kingship of heavenly planets, or the
sovereignty of this planet. Nor do such persons desire to rule
the planets above this earth, such as Siddhaloka; nor do they
aspire for the mystic powers achieved by the yoga process. Nor
do the pure devotees aspire for liberation by becoming one with
You. My Lord, although he is born in a species of life which is
fostered by the most abominable modes of material nature,
accompanied with the quality of anger, this king of the
serpents has achieved something very, very rare. Living
entities who are wandering within this universe and getting
different species of life can very easily achieve the greatest
benediction only by Your mercy."
It is also confirmed in the Caitanya-caritamrta that the living
entities are wandering within the universe in various species
of life, but by the mercy of Krsna and the spiritual
master, they can get the seed of devotional service, and
thus their path of liberation can be cleared.
"We therefore offer our respectful
obeisances unto You," the Nagapatnis continued, "our dear Lord,
because You are the Supreme Person, You are living as the
Supersoul within every living entity; although You are
transcendental to the cosmic manifestation, everything is
resting in You. You are the personified indefatigable eternal
time. The entire time force is existing in You, and You are
therefore the seer and the embodiment of total time in the
shape of past, present and future, month, day, hour, moment --
everything. In other words, O Lord, You can see perfectly all
the activities happening in every moment, in every hour, in
every day, in every year, past, present and
future. You are Yourself the universal form, and yet You are
different from this universe. You are simultaneously one
and different from the universe. We therefore offer our
respectful obeisances unto You. You are Yourself the whole
universe, and yet You are the creator of the whole universe.
You are the superintendent and maintainer of this whole
universe, and You are its original cause. Although You are
present within this universe by Your three qualitative
incarnations, Brahma, Visnu, and Mahesvara, You are
transcendental to the material creation. Although You are the
cause of the appearance of all kinds of living entities --
their senses, their lives, their minds, their intelligence --
You are to be realized by Your internal energy. Let us
therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto You, who are
unlimited, finer than the finest, the center of all creation
and knower of everything. Different varieties of philosophical
speculators try to reach You. You are the ultimate goal of all
philosophical efforts, and You are actually described by all
philosophies and by different kinds of doctrines. Let us offer
our respectful obeisances unto You, because You are the origin
of all scripture and the source of knowledge. You are the root
of all evidences, and You are the Supreme Person who can bestow
upon us the supreme knowledge. You are the cause of all kinds
of desires, and You are the cause of all kinds of satisfaction.
You are the Vedas personified. Therefore we offer You our
respectful obeisances.
"Our dear Lord, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Krsna, and You are also the supreme enjoyer now
appeared as the son of Vasudeva, who is a manifestation of the
pure state of goodness. You are the predominating Deity
of mind and intelligence, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, and
You are the Lord of all Vaisnavas. By Your expansion as
catur-vyuha -- namely Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Aniruddha and
Pradyumna -- You are the cause of the development of mind and
intelligence. By Your activities only, the living entities
become covered by forgetfulness or discover their real identity.
This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (Fifteenth Chapter)
: the Lord is sitting as the Supersoul in everyone's heart, and
due to His presence the living entity either forgets himself or
revives his original identity. We can partially
understand that You are within our hearts as the
witness of all our activities, but it is very
difficult to appreciate Your presence, although every one of us
can do so to some extent. You are the supreme controller of
both the material and spiritual energies; therefore You are the
supreme leader, although You are different from this
cosmic manifestation. You are the witness and creator and the
very ingredient of this cosmic manifestation. We
therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto You. "Our dear
Lord, in the matter of creating this cosmic manifestation,
personally You have nothing to exert; by expending Your
different kinds of energy -- namely the mode of goodness,
the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance -- You can
create, maintain and annihilate this cosmic manifestation. As
the controller of the entire time force, You can simply glance
over the material energy, create this universe and energize the
different forces of material nature which are acting
differently in different creatures. No one can estimate,
therefore, how Your activities are going on within this world.
Our dear Lord, although You have expanded into the three
principal deities of this universe -- namely Lord Brahma, Lord
Visnu and Lord Siva -- for creation, maintenance and
destruction, Your appearance as Lord Visnu is actually for the
benediction of living creatures. Therefore, for those who are
actually peaceful and who are aspiring after the supreme peace,
worship of Your peaceful appearance as Lord Visnu is
recommended. O Lord, we are submitting our prayers unto You.
You can appreciate that this poor serpent is going to give up
his life. You know that for us women our lives and everything
are our husband's; therefore, we are praying unto You that You
kindly excuse Kaliya, our husband, because if this serpent
dies, then we shall be in great difficulty. Looking upon us
only, please excuse this great offender. Our dear Lord, every
living creature is Your offspring, and You maintain everyone.
This serpent is also Your offspring, and You can excuse him
although he has offended You, undoubtedly without
knowing Your potency. We are praying that he may be excused
this time. Our dear Lord, we are offering our loving service
unto You because we are all eternal servitors of Your
Lordship. You can order us and ask us to do whatever You
please. Every living being can be relieved from all kinds of
despair if he agrees to abide by Your orders."
After the Nagapatnis submitted their prayers, Lord Krsna
released Kaliya from his punishment. Kaliya was already
unconscious from being struck by the Lord. Upon regaining
consciousness and being released from the punishment, Kaliya
got back his life force and the working power of his senses.
With folded hands, he humbly began to pray to the Supreme Lord
Krsna: "My dear Lord, I have been born in such a species that
by nature I am angry and envious, being in the darkest region
of the mode of ignorance. Your Lordship knows well that it is
very difficult to give up one's natural instincts, although by
such instincts the living creature transmigrates from one body
to another." It is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita that it
is very difficult to get out of the clutches of material nature,
but if anyone surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Krsna, the modes of material nature can no longer act
on him. "My dear Lord," Kaliya continued, "You are therefore
the original creator of all kinds of modes of material nature
by which the universe is created. You are the cause of the
different kinds of mentality possessed by living creatures by
which they have obtained different varieties of bodies. My dear
Lord, I am born as a serpent; therefore, by natural instinct, I
am very angry. How is it then possible to give up my acquired
nature without Your mercy? It is very difficult to get out of
the clutches of Your maya. By Your maya we remain enslaved. My
dear Lord, kindly excuse me for my inevitable material
tendencies. Now You can punish me or save
me as You desire."
After hearing this, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was
acting as a small human child, ordered the serpent thus: "You
must immediately leave this place and go to the ocean. Leave
without delay. You can take with you all your offspring, wives
and everything that you possess. Don't pollute the waters of
the Yamuna. Let it be drunk by My cows and cowherd boys without
hindrance." The Lord then declared that the order given to the
Kaliya snake be recited and heard by everyone so that no one
need fear Kaliya any longer.
Anyone who hears the narration of the Kaliya serpent and his
punishment will need fear no more the envious activities of
snakes. The Lord also declared: "If one takes a bath in the
Kaliya lake, where My cowherd boy friends and I have
bathed, or if one, fasting for a day, offers oblations to
the forefathers from the water of this lake, he will be
relieved from all kinds of sinful reaction." 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."
The Lord was pleased with Kaliya and his wives. Immediately
after hearing His order, the 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 Krsna, all of them left the lake within the
Yamuna.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Sixteenth Chapter of
Krsna, "Subduing Kaliya."
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KB 16: Subduing Kaliya
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Subduing Kaliya
When He understood that the water of the Yamuna was being
polluted by the black serpent Kaliya, Lord Krsna took action
against him and made him leave the Yamuna and go elsewhere, and
thus the water became purified.
When this story was being narrated by Sukadeva Gosvami,
Maharaja Pariksit became eager to hear more about Krsna's
childhood pastimes. He inquired from Sukadeva Gosvami how Krsna
chastised Kaliya, who had been living in the water for many
years. Actually, Maharaja Pariksit was becoming more and more
enthusiastic to hear the transcendental pastimes of Krsna, and
his inquiry was made with great interest.
Sukadeva Gosvami narrated the story as follows. 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. If a bird happened to even pass over
the spot, it would immediately die and fall down into the water.
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
Krsna saw the effect of the great serpent's poison: the whole
river that ran before Vrndavana was now deadly.
Krsna, 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. The kadamba is a tree
bearing round yellow flowers that is generally seen only in the
Vrndavana area. After climbing to the top of the tree, He
tightened His belt cloth and, slapping His arms just like a
wrestler, jumped into the midst of the poisonous lake. The
kadamba tree from which Krsna jumped was the only tree
there which was not dead. Some commentators say that due to
being touched by the lotus feet of Krsna, the tree
immediately became alive. In some other Puranas it is stated
that Garuda, the eternal carrier of Visnu, knew that Krsna
would take this action in the future, and so he put some nectar
on this tree to preserve it. When Lord Krsna jumped into the
water, the river overflooded its banks to a distance of one
hundred yards, as if something very large had fallen into it.
This exhibition of Krsna's strength is not at all uncommon,
because He is the reservoir of all strength.
When Krsna was swimming about just like a great strong
elephant, He made a tumultuous sound, which the great black
serpent Kaliya could hear. The tumult was intolerable for him,
and he could understand that this was an attempt to attack his
home. Therefore he immediately came before Krsna. Kaliya saw
that Krsna 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
Srivatsa, jewels and yellow garments. He was smiling with a
beautiful face and playing in the river Yamuna with great
strength. But in spite of Krsna's beautiful features, Kaliya
felt great anger within his heart, and thus he grabbed Krsna
with his mighty coils.
Seeing the incredible way in which Krsna was enveloped in the
coils of the serpent, the affectionate cowherd boys and other
inhabitants of Vrndavana immediately became stunned out of fear.
They had dedicated everything to Krsna: their lives, property,
affection, activities -- everything was for Krsna -- and when
they saw Him in that condition, they became overwhelmed with
fear and fell down on the ground. All the cows, bulls and small
calves became overwhelmed with grief, and they began to look at
Him with great anxiety. Out of fear they could only cry in
agony and stand erect on the bank, unable to help their beloved
Krsna.
While this scene was taking place on the bank of the Yamuna,
there were ill omens manifest. The earth trembled, meteors fell
from the sky, and the left side of men's bodies shivered. All
these are indications of great immediate danger. Observing the
inauspicious signs, the cowherd men, including Maharaja Nanda,
became very anxious out of fear. At the same time they were
informed that Krsna had gone to the pasturing ground without
His elder brother, Balarama. As soon as Nanda and Yasoda and
the cowherd men heard this news, they became even more anxious.
Out of their great affection for Krsna, and being unaware of
the extent of His potencies, they became overwhelmed with
grief and anxiety because they had nothing dearer than Krsna
and because they had dedicated their everything -- life,
property, affection, mind and activities -- to Krsna. Because
of their great attachment for Krsna, they thought, "Today Krsna
is surely going to be vanquished!"
All the inhabitants of Vrndavana came out of the village to see
Krsna. The assembly consisted of children, old men,
women, animals and all living entities; they knew that Krsna
was their only means of sustenance. While this was happening,
Balarama, who is the master of all knowledge, stood there
simply smiling. He knew how powerful His younger brother
was and that there was no cause for anxiety when Krsna was
fighting with an ordinary serpent of the material world. He did
not, therefore, personally take any part in their sorrow. On
the other hand, all the inhabitants of Vrndavana, being
disturbed, began to search out Krsna by following the
impression of His footprints on the ground, and thus they moved
hastily toward the bank of the Yamuna. Finally, by following
the footprints marked with flag, bow and conchshell, the
inhabitants of Vrndavana arrived at the riverbank and saw
that all the cows and boys were weeping to behold Krsna
enwrapped in the coils of the black serpent. Then they became
still more overwhelmed with grief. While Balarama was smiling
to see their lamentation, all the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi
merged into the ocean of grief because they thought that Krsna
was finished. Although the residents of Vrndavana did not know
much about Krsna, their love for Him was beyond comparison. As
soon as they saw that Krsna was in the river Yamuna enveloped
by the serpent Kaliya and that all the boys and cows were
lamenting, they simply began to think of Krsna's friendship,
His smiling face, His sweet words and His dealings with them.
Thinking of all these and seeing that their Krsna was now
within the clutches of Kaliya, they at once felt that the three
worlds had become vacant. Lord Caitanya also said that He was
seeing the three worlds as vacant for want of Krsna. This is
the highest stage of Krsna consciousness. Almost all of the
inhabitants of Vrndavana had the highest ecstatic love for
Krsna.
When Mother Yasoda arrived, she wanted to enter the river
Yamuna, and being checked, she fainted. Her friends, who were
equally aggrieved, were shedding tears like torrents of rain or
waves of the river, but in order to bring Mother Yasoda to
consciousness, they began to speak loudly about the
transcendental pastimes of Krsna. Mother Yasoda remained still,
as if dead, because her consciousness was concentrated on the
face of Krsna. Nanda and all the other cowherd men, who had
dedicated everything, including their lives, to Krsna, were
ready to enter the waters of the Yamuna, but Lord Balarama
checked them because He was in perfect knowledge that there was
no danger.
For two hours Krsna remained like an ordinary child gripped in
the coils of Kaliya, but when He saw that all the inhabitants
of Gokula -- 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, Krsna
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, Krsna,
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.
The great serpent remained still for some time, looking at
Krsna. Licking his lips with bifurcated tongues, the serpent
looked at Krsna with double hoods, and his eyesight was full of
poison. Krsna immediately pounced upon him, just as Garuda
swoops upon a snake. Thus attacked, Kaliya looked for an
opportunity to bite Him, but Krsna moved around him. As Krsna
and Kaliya moved in a circle, the serpent gradually became
fatigued, and his strength seemed to diminish considerably.
Krsna immediately pressed down the serpent's hoods and jumped
up on them. The Lord's lotus feet became tinged with red from
the rays of the jewels on the snake's hoods. Then 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.
While Krsna was dancing on his hoods, Kaliya tried to push Him
down with some of his other hoods. Kaliya had about a hundred
hoods, but Krsna took control of them. He began to dash Kaliya
with His lotus feet, and this was more than the serpent could
bear. 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. Out of great anger, he began
to struggle for existence and tried to raise one of his hoods
to kill the Lord. The Lord immediately captured that hood and
subdued it by kicking it and dancing on it. It actually
appeared as if the Supreme Personality of Godhead Visnu was
being worshiped; the poisons emanating from the mouth of the
serpent appeared to be like flower offerings. 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
Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he
surrendered unto Him. He realized that Krsna 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 prepared to worship the Lord, and
in their haste their clothes, hair and ornaments became
disarrayed. They also surrendered unto the Supreme Lord and
began to pray. They appeared before Him, put forward their
offspring and anxiously offered respectful obeisances, falling
down on the bank of the Yamuna. The Nagapatnis knew that Krsna
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 began to offer their prayers as follows: "O dear
Lord, You are equal to everyone. For You there is no
distinction between Your sons, friends or enemies. Therefore
the punishment which You have so kindly offered to Kaliya is
exactly befitting. O Lord, You have descended especially for
the purpose of annihilating all kinds of disturbing elements
within the world, and because You are the Absolute Truth, there
is no difference between Your mercy and Your punishment. We
think, therefore, that this apparent punishment of Kaliya is
actually some benediction. We consider that Your punishment is
Your great mercy upon us because when You punish someone it is
to be understood that the reactions of his sinful activities
are eradicated. It is already clear that this creature
appearing in the body of a serpent must have been overburdened
with all kinds of sin; otherwise, how could he have the body of
a serpent? Your dancing on his hoods has reduced all the
sinful results of actions caused by his having this body of a
serpent. It is therefore very auspicious that You have become
angry and have punished him in this way. We are very much
astonished to see how You have become so much pleased with this
serpent, who evidently performed various religious activities
in his past lives that pleased everyone. He must
have undergone all kinds of penances and austerities, humbly
honored others and executed universal welfare activities for
all living creatures."
The Nagapatnis confirm that one cannot come in contact with
Krsna without having executed pious activities in devotional
service in his previous lives. As Lord Caitanya advised in His
Siksastaka, one has to execute devotional service by humbly
chanting the Hare Krsna mantra, thinking oneself lower than the
straw in the street and not expecting honor for himself but
offering all kinds of honor to others. 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. Certainly this was not the
ordinary result of pious activities. These two contradictory
facts astonished them. Thus they continued to pray: "O dear
Lord, we are simply astonished to see that he is so fortunate
as to have the dust of Your lotus feet on his head. This is a
fortune sought after by great saintly persons. Even the goddess
of fortune underwent severe austerities just to have the
blessing of the dust of Your lotus feet, so how is it that
Kaliya is so easily getting this dust on his head? We have
heard from authoritative sources that those who are blessed
with the dust of Your lotus feet do not care even for the
highest post within the universe, namely the post of Lord
Brahma, or the kingship of the heavenly planets, or the
sovereignty of this planet. Nor do such persons desire to rule
the planets above this earth, such as Siddhaloka; nor do they
aspire for the mystic powers achieved by the yoga process. Nor
do the pure devotees aspire for liberation by becoming one with
You. My Lord, although he is born in a species of life which is
fostered by the most abominable mode of material nature,
accompanied with the quality of anger, this king of the
serpents has achieved something very, very rare. Living
entities who are wandering within this universe in
different species of life can very easily achieve the greatest
benediction only by Your mercy."
It is confirmed in the Caitanya-caritamrta that the living
entities wandering within the universe in various species
of life can get the seed of devotional service by the
mercy of Krsna and the spiritual master, and
thus their path of liberation can be cleared.
The Nagapatnis continued: "We therefore offer our respectful
obeisances unto You, our dear Lord,
because You are the Supreme Person, who are living as the
Supersoul within every living entity; although You are
transcendental to the cosmic manifestation, everything is
resting in You. You are the personified indefatigable eternal
time. The entire time force is existing in You, and You are
therefore the seer and the embodiment of total time in the
shape of past, present and future, month, day, hour, moment --
everything. In other words, O Lord, You can see perfectly all
the activities happening in every moment, in every hour, in
every day, in every month, in every year, past, present and
future. You are Yourself the universal form, and yet You are
different from this universe. You are simultaneously one with
and different from the universe. We therefore offer our
respectful obeisances unto You.
You are Yourself the
whole universe, and yet You are the creator
of the
whole universe. You are the superintendent
and
maintainer of this
whole universe, and
You are its
original cause.
Although You are present within
this universe by Your three qualitative
incarnations, Brahma
, Visnu
and
Mahesvara,
You are transcendental
to the material
creation. Although
You are the cause
of
the appearance of all kinds of living
entities -- their
senses, their
lives,
their
minds, their
intelligence -- You
are to be realized
by Your internal energy
.
Let us
therefore
offer our respectful
obeisances unto You, who
are unlimited
, finer than
the finest, the center of all
creation, and the
knower of everything
.
Different varieties of philosophical speculators try to reach
You. You are the ultimate goal of all philosophical efforts,
and it is actually only You who are described by all
philosophies and by different kinds of doctrines. Let us offer
our respectful obeisances unto You, because You are the origin
of all scripture and the source of knowledge. You are the root
of all evidences, and You are the Supreme Person who can bestow
upon us the supreme knowledge. You are the cause of all kinds
of desires, and You are the cause of all kinds of satisfaction.
You are the Vedas personified. Therefore we offer You our
respectful obeisances.
"Our dear Lord, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Krsna, and You are also the supreme enjoyer. You have now
appeared as the son of Vasudeva, who is a manifestation of the
state of pure goodness. You are the predominating Deities of
mind and intelligence, Aniruddha and Pradyumna, and You are the
Lord of all Vaisnavas. By Your expansion as the catur-vyuha --
namely Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Aniruddha and Pradyumna -- You are
the cause of the development of mind and intelligence. By Your
activities only, the living entities become covered by
forgetfulness or discover their real identity. This is
confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (Fifteenth Chapter): the Lord is
sitting as the Supersoul in everyone's heart, and due to His
presence the living entity either forgets himself or revives
his original identity. We can partially understand that You are
within our hearts as the witness of all our activities, but it
is very difficult to appreciate Your presence, although every
one of us can do so to some extent. You are the supreme
controller of both the material and spiritual energies;
therefore You are the supreme leader, although You are
different from this cosmic manifestation. You are the witness
and creator and the very ingredient of this cosmic
manifestation. We therefore offer our respectful obeisances
unto You.
"Our dear Lord, in the matter of creating this cosmic
manifestation, personally You have nothing to exert; by
expanding Your different kinds of energy -- namely the mode of
passion, the mode of goodness and the mode of ignorance -- You
create, maintain and annihilate this cosmic manifestation. As
the controller of the entire time force, You simply glance over
the material energy, thereby creating this universe and
energizing the different modes of material nature, which act
differently in different creatures. No one can estimate,
therefore, how Your activities are going on within this world.
Our dear Lord, although You have expanded into the three
principal deities of this universe -- namely Lord Brahma, Lord
Visnu and Lord Siva -- for creation, maintenance and
destruction, Your appearance as Lord Visnu is actually for the
benediction of living creatures. Therefore, for those who are
actually peaceful and who are aspiring after the supreme peace,
worship of Your peaceful appearance as Lord Visnu is
recommended.
"O Lord, we are submitting our prayers unto You. You can
appreciate that this poor serpent is going to give up his life.
You know that for us women our husband is our life and
everything; therefore, we are praying unto You that You kindly
excuse Kaliya, our husband, because if this serpent dies, then
we shall be in great difficulty. Looking upon us only, please
excuse this great offender. Our dear Lord, every living
creature is Your offspring, and You maintain everyone. This
serpent is also Your offspring, and You can excuse him once
although he has offended You, undoubtedly without knowing Your
supremacy. We are praying that he may be excused this time. Our
dear Lord, we are offering our loving service unto You because
we are all eternal servitors of Your Lordship. You can order us
to do whatever You please. Every living being can be relieved
from all kinds of despair if he agrees to abide by Your orders."
After the Nagapatnis submitted their prayers, Lord Krsna
released Kaliya from his punishment. Kaliya was already
unconscious from being struck by the Lord. Upon regaining
consciousness and being released from the punishment, Kaliya
got back his life force and the working power of his senses.
With folded hands, he humbly began to pray to the Supreme Lord
Krsna: "My dear Lord, I have been born in such a species that
by nature I am angry and envious, being in the darkest region
of the mode of ignorance. Your Lordship knows well that it is
very difficult to give up one's natural instincts, although by
such instincts the living creature transmigrates from one body
to another." It is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita that it
is very difficult to get out of the clutches of material nature,
but if anyone surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Krsna, the modes of material nature can no longer act
on him. "My dear Lord," Kaliya continued, "You are
the original creator of the modes of material nature,
by which the universe is created. You are the cause of the
different kinds of mentality possessed by living creatures, by
which they have obtained different varieties of bodies. My dear
Lord, I am born as a serpent; therefore, by natural instinct I
am very angry. How is it then possible to give up my acquired
nature without Your mercy? It is very difficult to get out of
the clutches of Your maya. By Your maya we remain enslaved. My
dear Lord, kindly excuse me for my inevitable material
tendencies. I surrender unto You. Now You can punish me or save
me, as You desire."
After hearing this, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was
acting as a small human child, ordered the serpent thus: "You
must immediately leave this place and go to the ocean. Leave
without delay. You can take with you all your offspring, wives
and everything that you possess. Don't pollute the waters of
the Yamuna. Let it be drunk by My cows and cowherd boys without
hindrance." The Lord then declared that the order given to the
Kaliya snake be recited and heard by everyone so that no one
need fear Kaliya any longer.
Anyone who hears the narration of the Kaliya serpent and his
punishment will need fear no more the envious activities of
snakes. The Lord also declared, "If one takes a bath in the
Kaliya lake, where My cowherd boyfriends and I have
bathed, or if one fasts for a day and offers oblations to
the forefathers from the water of this lake, he will be
relieved from all kinds of sinful reactions." 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."
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 Krsna, all of them left the lake within the
Yamuna.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Sixteenth Chapter of
Krsna, "Subduing Kaliya."
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