CHAPTER 16

Subduing Kāliya
When he understood that the water of the Yamunā was being
polluted by the black serpent Kāliya, Lord Kṛṣṇa took action against
him and made him leave the Yamunā and go elsewhere, and thus
the water became purified.

When this story was being narrated by Śukadeva Gosvāmī,

Mahārāja Parīkṣit became eager to hear more about Kṛṣṇa’s
childhood pastimes. He inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī how
Kṛṣṇa chastised Kāliya, who had been living in the water for many
years. Actually, Mahārāja Parīkṣit was becoming more and more
enthusiastic to hear the transcendental pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, and his
inquiry was made with great interest.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī narrated the story as follows. Within the river

Yamunā there was a great lake, and in that lake the black serpent
Kāliya 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 Yamunā’s vapors, the trees and grass near the bank of
the Yamunā had all dried up. Lord Kṛṣṇa saw the effect of the great
serpent’s poison: the whole river that ran before Vṛndāvana was
now deadly.

Kṛṣṇa, 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 Yamunā. The kadamba is a tree bearing round yellow
flowers that is generally seen only in the Vṛndāvana 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 Kṛṣṇa jumped was
the only tree there which was not dead. Some commentators say
that due to being touched by the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, the tree
immediately became alive. In some other Purāṇas it is stated that
Garuḍa, the eternal carrier of Viṣṇu, knew that Kṛṣṇa would take
this action in the future, and so he put some nectar on this tree to
preserve it. When Lord Kṛṣṇa 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 Kṛṣṇa’s
strength is not at all uncommon, because He is the reservoir of all
strength.

When Kṛṣṇa was swimming about just like a great strong elephant,
He made a tumultuous sound, which the great black serpent Kāliya
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 Kṛṣṇa. Kāliya saw that Kṛṣṇa 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 Śrīvatsa, jewels and yellow
garments. He was smiling with a beautiful face and was playing in
the river Yamunā with great strength. But in spite of Kṛṣṇa’s
beautiful features, Kāliya felt great anger within his heart, and thus
he grabbed Kṛṣṇa with his mighty coils.

Seeing the incredible way in which Kṛṣṇa was enveloped in the

coils of the serpent, the affectionate cowherd boys and other
inhabitants of Vṛndāvana immediately became stunned out of fear.
They had dedicated everything to Kṛṣṇa: their lives, property,
affection, activities – everything was for Kṛṣṇa – 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 Kṛṣṇa.

While this scene was taking place on the bank of the Yamunā, 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 Mahārāja Nanda, became very
anxious out of fear. At the same time they were informed that
Kṛṣṇa had gone to the pasturing ground without His elder brother,
Balarāma. As soon as Nanda and Yaśodā and the cowherd men
heard this news, they became even more anxious. Out of their great
affection for Kṛṣṇa, and being unaware of the extent of His
potencies, they became overwhelmed with grief and anxiety
because they had nothing dearer than Kṛṣṇa and because they had
dedicated their everything – life, property, affection, mind and
activities – to Kṛṣṇa. Because of their great attachment for Kṛṣṇa,
they thought, “Today Kṛṣṇa is surely going to be vanquished!”

All the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana came out of the village to see

Kṛṣṇa. The assembly consisted of children, old men, women,
animals and all living entities; they knew that Kṛṣṇa was their only
means of sustenance. While this was happening, Balarāma, 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 Kṛṣṇa 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 Vṛndāvana, being disturbed, began to search out Kṛṣṇa by
following the impression of His footprints on the ground, and thus
they moved hastily toward the bank of the Yamunā. Finally, by
following the footprints marked with flag, bow and conch shell, the
inhabitants of Vṛndāvana arrived at the riverbank and saw that all
the cows and boys were weeping to behold Kṛṣṇa enwrapped in the
coils of the black serpent. Then they became still more
overwhelmed with grief.

While Balarāma was smiling to see their lamentation, all the

inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi merged into the ocean of grief because
they thought that Kṛṣṇa was finished. Although the residents of
Vṛndāvana did not know much about Kṛṣṇa, their love for Him was
beyond comparison. As soon as they saw that Kṛṣṇa was in the
river Yamunā enveloped by the serpent Kāliya and that all the boys
and cows were lamenting, they simply began to think of Kṛṣṇa’s
friendship, His smiling face, His sweet words and His dealings with
them. Thinking of all these and seeing that their Kṛṣṇa was now
within the clutches of Kāliya, 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 Kṛṣṇa. This is the highest stage
of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Almost all of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana
had the highest ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.

When Mother Yaśodā arrived, she wanted to enter the river

Yamunā, 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 Yaśodā to
consciousness, they began to speak loudly about the transcendental
pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. Mother Yaśodā remained still, as if dead,
because her consciousness was concentrated on the face of Kṛṣṇa.
Nanda and all the other cowherd men, who had dedicated
everything, including their lives, to Kṛṣṇa, were ready to enter the
waters of the Yamunā, but Lord Balarāma checked them because
He was in perfect knowledge that there was no danger.

For two hours Kṛṣṇa remained like an ordinary child gripped in the
coils of Kāliya, but when He saw that all the inhabitants of Gokula –
including His mother and father, the gopīs, the boys and the cows –
were just on the point of death and that they had no shelter for
salvation from imminent death, Kṛṣṇa 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, Kṛṣṇa, from his grasp. Kāliya 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
Kṛṣṇa. Licking his lips with bifurcated tongues, the serpent looked
at Kṛṣṇa with double hoods, and his eyesight was full of poison.
Kṛṣṇa immediately pounced upon him, just as Garuḍa swoops upon
a snake. Thus attacked, Kāliya looked for an opportunity to bite
Him, but Kṛṣṇa moved around him. As Kṛṣṇa and Kāliya moved in
a circle, the serpent gradually became fatigued, and his strength
seemed to diminish considerably. Kṛṣṇa 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 pleased.

While Kṛṣṇa was dancing on his hoods, Kāliya tried to push Him
down with some of his other hoods. Kāliya had about a hundred
hoods, but Kṛṣṇa took control of them. He began to dash Kāliya
with His lotus feet, and this was more than the serpent could bear.
Gradually, Kāliya was reduced to struggling for his very life. He
vomited all kinds of refuse and exhaled fire. While throwing up
poisonous material from within, Kāliya 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 Viṣṇu was being worshiped; the poisons
emanating from the mouth of the serpent appeared to be like
flower offerings. Kāliya 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 Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, and he surrendered unto Him. He realized that Kṛṣṇa
is the Supreme Lord, the master of everything.

The wives of the serpent, known as the Nāgapatnīs, 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. Kāliya’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
Yamunā. The Nāgapatnīs knew that Kṛṣṇa 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 Nāgapatnīs 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 Kāliya 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 Kāliya 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 Nāgapatnīs confirm that one cannot come in contact with

Kṛṣṇa without having executed pious activities in devotional
service in his previous lives. As Lord Caitanya advised in
His Śikṣāṣṭaka, one has to execute devotional service by humbly
chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa 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 Nāgapatnīs were astonished that,
although Kāliya 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 Kāliya 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 Brahmā, 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-caritāmṛta that the living entities

wandering within the universe in various species of life can get the
seed of devotional service by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa and the spiritual
master, and thus their path of liberation can be cleared.

The Nāgapatnīs 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, Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara, 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,

Kṛṣṇa, 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 Vaiṣṇavas. By Your expansion as the catur-vyūha – namely
Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, 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-
gītā (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 Brahmā, Lord
Viṣṇu and Lord Śiva – for creation, maintenance and destruction,
Your appearance as Lord Viṣṇu 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 Viṣṇu 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 Kāliya,
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 Nāgapatnīs submitted their prayers, Lord Kṛṣṇa released

Kāliya from his punishment. Kāliya was already unconscious from
being struck by the Lord. Upon regaining consciousness and being
released from the punishment, Kāliya got back his life force and the
working power of his senses. With folded hands, he humbly began
to pray to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa: “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-gītā that
it is very difficult to get out of the clutches of material nature, but if
anyone surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Kṛṣṇa, the modes of material nature can no longer act on him. “My
dear Lord,” Kāliya 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 māyā. By Your māyā 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
Yamunā. Let it be drunk by My cows and cowherd boys without
hindrance.” The Lord then declared that the order given to the
Kāliya snake be recited and heard by everyone so that no one need
fear Kāliya any longer.

Anyone who hears the narration of the Kāliya 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 Kāliya 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 Kāliya, “You came here out of fear of Garuḍa,
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, Garuḍa will not disturb you.”
The Lord was pleased with Kāliya 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 Garuḍa, of whom they were
very much afraid. Then, obeying the orders of Lord Kṛṣṇa, all of
them left the lake within the Yamunā.

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the sixteenth chapter

of Kṛṣṇa, “Subduing Kāliya.”