Krishna Chastises Kaliya

This chapter describes how Krsna brought Kaliya under control, Krsna’s pleasure with his prayers, and banishing him from the Yamuna.

In this verse krsnam refers to the Yamuna river. Seeing how Kaliya was polluting the Yamuna with poison, Krsna decided to remove Kaliya from that place.

Please tell (kathyatam) with great intensity (vipra), how Kaliya was able to live there for so many yugas (mabhu yugavasam yathasit).

3.Gopala udara caritam means normally the pleasure-giving (udara) pastimes of Krsna, born in a cowherd family. However “go” can refer to the senses of the devotees. Gopala means the nourisher of the devotees senses. Udara means giving happiness. Thus gopala udara cairtam can also mean the pastimes which bring joy and nourish the senses of the devotee. “Who is satisfied with one taste of the pastimes which nourish the senses of the hearer and bring joy to the heart?”

According to the Hari vamsa, the lake in the Yamuna was about one yojana wide, situated in the south part, where the Yamuna currents did not flow. If it were not so, the poisonous waters would also inconveniently flow towards the residents of Mathura. The waters of the lake were boiling hot (srapyamana).

Moving and non moving entities died even upon touching (abhimarsita) the wind which had touched the poisonous waves and was filled with the poison water drops (viprusmata).

Only the kadamba tree remained unaffected by the poison of Kaliya, because according to the puranas, Garuda sat in this tree when taking nectar. It remained there to get the blessing of the touch of Krsna’s lotus feet in the future.

The force of Krsna jumping from the tree into the Yamuna raised huge waves, filled with the poison of the agitated snakes. There were huge, fearful waves colored reddish yellow (kasaya) with the poison. Kasaya also means a thick potion according Ksira Swami (commentator on Amara kosa dictionary). In all directions (paryak) there were waves 400 hands tall.

Krsna began playing in the water, by making musical sounds with the water and swimming. As he churned the water with his two arms, a thunderous roar arose. Hearing that sound, the snakes concluded that there must be some rebellion (abhibhavam) above their snake hole houses. Not being able to bear that ( tad amrsyamanah), they arrived there (samsarat).

This verse shows that Krsna, who was actually beautiful, appeared the opposite to the enraged Kaliya. He was shining like a cloud (ghavadatam). Due to playing in the water, his yellow cloth covered his curl of srivatsa hair on his chest. Sri vatsa can also mean marked with the line of Laksimi (sri) on his chest (vatsa).

Bhuja here means the body (coils) of the snake, not his arms. Kaliya squeezed Krsna in his coils.

In order to increase the fighting spirit of Kaliya, Krsna was motionless (adrsa cestam) and appeared paralyzed with fear, surrounded by (parivitam) Kaliya’s coils . Or Krsna remained motionless out of pride in his abilities: “O Kaliya, you first try to bite me and then squeeze me. After that, I will show my powers.”

Some of the adult cowherds and men tending the grains in the field came there quickly. They are described as having offered him everything, including friends and wife in order to please him.

Because the water in their eyes had dried up from fear, they could not really weep. Thus they are described “as if weeping.”

Three inauspicious signs appeared in Vraja: on the earth, earthquakes; in the sky, meteors falling; and in the body, twitching of the left eye. Though there can be nothing inauspicious for the Lord, in order to indicate the lamentation of the inhabitants of Vraja, the devatas in charge of earthquakes and other disturbances did this. Or being attracted to the intimate mood of Vraja, out of affection for Krsna, to make his aisvarya become forgotten, they produced omens indicating misfortune for Krsna.

Seeing the inauspicious omens, the inhabitants left Gokula. This is described in three verses.

Seeing the omens, they thought Krsna had died (nidhanam matva). But what kind of death can God have? Nidhana can also mean great treasure. Krsna had obtained a great treasure: he was joyfully playing in the Yamuna.

The inhabitants were like animals. They lost their power of knowledge and thinking out of great lamentation.

According to Hari Vamsa, Madhava means master (dhava) of intelligence (ma). Balarama is here described as the master of intelligence and knowledgeable of the power of Krsna’s lila sakti (prabhava jna). Though he had the greatest affection for his younger brother Krsna, he understood there was a concealing of Krsna’s powers through his lila sakti, operating under Krsna’s will. Because of this, it would have to be Balarama who would prevent Nanda and others from drowning themselves in the Yamuna out of grief.

Balarama smiled: “Krsna is not interesting in playing with me, Sesa naga. Rather he gets enjoyment from playing with a common material snake.” Remembering Krsna’s pastimes as an ordinary mortal, Balarama smiled. He did not speak a word, as this covering of knowledge did not seem proper and the situation was beyond tolerance. However, when he gave a mere smile, they lost their lamentation, and they thought that nothing unfortunate could possibly happen. Becoming joyful after his smile, they gave up their desire to give up their lives.

They followed the path made by footprints marked with symbols of the Lord (sankha, cakra etc.)

This verse describes how they recognized his footprints. Vis pateh means of the leader of the vaisyas and refers to Krsna. Excluding the other foot prints of cows, they followed the footprints of Krsna. There is the hint here of discerning yogis, going through the path of the Vedas (like cows), pursuing the path of the highest truth by rejecting all illusory appearances.

This verse depicts the distress of the gopas and gopis. Seeing Krsna motionless in the coils of the serpent in the lake, they asked the boys, “Tell us what happened. Did Kaliya snatch Krsna from the bank and pull him in the water, or did Krsna jump from the bank into the water? Was this his own idea or someone else’s order?” Seeing the boys wanting but not able to answer because their minds had stopped functioning, Nanda and the other cowherd men and women became even more stunned than the boys.

This verse describes the distress of the young women attracted to Krsna. Bhagavati here means most beautiful. Ananta means filled with unlimited qualities. Seeing the most beautiful Krsna endowed with infinite attractive qualities bound in the coils of the serpent, remembering the prema that Krsna had for them (tat sauhrda), his soft smiles , his secret glances, his conversations during love making, they viewed the three worlds as empty without their beloved, for due to the fire of separation, the three worlds became consumed into ashes. If the phrase vyati krtam is alternativly read vyati hrtam then the sentence means they felt the worlds vacant having become completely (visesena atisayena vyati) unconscious through loss of their beloved.

This verse describes the distress of those in parental love. Tah refers to the famous women of Vraja with children. Yasoda is described as being torn apart (prataptam) upon seeing (anu) her son (apatyam). Another reading is pravistam instead of prataptam. That would mean she entered the same state as her son (who seemed to have fainted), or fainted as he did.

Seeing her try to jump in the river, other elder gopis took her by the arms (samanugryha), as she was still fairly conscious, and washed her face covered with sweat and tears. In loud voices, they began to recite stories about the dear boy of Vraja (vrajapriya) in order to revive her. These elder gopis were rivers of lamentation (sucah sravantyah . amara kosa says svaranti means river). With the waves of their lamentation they drowned others as well. Thus the gopis became paralyzed like corpses (mrtika pratikah).

Balarama prevented Nanda and others from jumping in the river. “Garga has said, that you will be saved from all obstacles by this son. Keeping this in mind, don’t you think he will be saved from this danger? Just be patient. If after you all jump in the river, Krsna comes back, who will care for and raise my little brother? You will be neglecting Gagra’s order to take care of the boy well. How will he be raised?”

This was Balarama’s reasoning.

23.Seeing that they had no other resort (anyanya gatim) , and understanding completely (ajnaya) the sorrow of the inhabitants of Vraja, after remaining for a muhurta (two hours) in a motionless state, Krsna said, “ You have shown enough of your strength to me. Now, I will show you a little prowess of my own, though I am just a cowherd boy.” Saying that, he broke free from the snake (uranga) and stood up (udatisthat).

This verse describes how Krsna got free of Kaliya and how Kaliya’s powers weakened. Kaliya let go of Krsna because he was pained (vyatthita) by the expanding body of Krsna (prathyamana vapusa), which had previously been much smaller. Freeing Krsna, the snake raised his huge hood, and breathing heavily stared at Krsna. His nostrils were full of poison, his glaring eyes were like flaming pots of poison, and his mouths emitted fire balls.

Kaliya repeatedly licked his lips (dve srkkani pari lelihanam). Krsna moved around Kaliya so that Kaliya would keep turning around. Kaliya kept following Krsna, looking for an opportunity to bite him. But because of Krsna’s skilful movements, Kaliya could find no chance. Krsna began to move in the opposite direction to avoid Kaliya.

Kaliya, who had very high shoulders, gradually became tired from turning around to catch Krsna, and thus Krsna was able to bend down his head with one hand. Raising himself upon Kaliya’s head, he began to dance. Hari vamsa confirms this. He danced with his lotus feet which were reddened (ati tamra) because of the hard touch of all the jewels on Kaliya’s head. The dancer somtimes dances on various objects such as dishes to show his expertise. Krsna danced on the moving heads of Kaliya for this reason, and also to show that he was the original guru of all arts. It should be understood however that he especially want to show the young women of Vraja who were attracted to him his skill in dancing.

Nartum is an alternative to nartitum, to dance. Krsna began dancing even without instrumental accompaniment by calling out syllables such as “thai thai “ himself. The impression given is that he was considering, “We will meet together at some time in the future.”

Sataika here means one hundred chief heads, because in the thirtieth verse one thousand heads are mentioned. Krsna suddenly jumped upon those heads which had not bowed down, striking them with his feet. Blood began to flow from his

Kaliya’s mouths and noses.

Krsna mounted those hoods which remained high, and lowered them all with the blows from his feet. At that time the gandharvas and others showered flowers as if worshipping him. Krsna was pleased, and for their benefit, he brought the snake under control.

Though the seed of bhakti in the form of mercy had previously been planted in Kaliya’s heart by his wives who were exalted devotees, it could not sprout because of his cruel conduct arising from aparadha, as seeds sown on barren ground cannot sprout. But when his offense vanished through the punishment by the touch of Krsna’s lotus feet, suddenly the seed began to sprout. He thought (smrtva) that Krsna’s power was thousands of times greater than that of his enemy Garuda. Therefore this person must be the supreme Lord, approachable by bhakti, mentioned by his wives. “Making me realize that I am a fool to think that I am god by displaying his extraordinary strength, he has accepted the position of my guru and placed his feet on my head. I take shelter of (aranam) him (tam).”

The wives approached Krsna, seeing how Kaliya was burdened with Krsna who, having the universe in his belly, had become most heavy. The wives until now had been indifferent towards their cruel husband, but now they were in sorrow (artah). They thought, “Let him die, and then as widows we can fully surrender to the Lord.” But when they saw the symptoms of sancari bhava such as humility, regret, doubt, and indifference to his suffering condition manifest in his body, they thought, “He has become a vaisnava. This is good fortune for us. We should try to save him.” With this in mind they came together with affection in their hearts, and with sorrow for his condition, approached Krsna.

The wives offered respects by paying obeisances on the ground. It is understood that in the lake of Kaliya there was an island, where Kaliya held Krsna in his coils. The inhabitants of Vraja could see this. The wives put their own babies in front of them to invoke the compassion of Krsna.

In praising Krsna, the wives of Kaliya began by first agreeing with his punishment, in order to appease the anger of Krsna. “One must certainly bear responsibility for one’s own wicked deeds in the form of violence to the innocent and devoted. You protect the good and punish the wicked, but in that you do not show any partiality. Thus you treat the sons of your enemy and your own sons equally. (the word api here indicates ca, and your own sons.) Though Hiranyakasipu was your enemy, you protected his son Prahlada. Though Narakasura was your own son, you killed him. And though you punish the wicked you hold not animosity towards them. You punish them thinking ( phalam anusamsan) that after relieving them of their wicked nature by hellish suffering you will reward them with the eternal happiness of liberation.”

“Thus your punishment is actually mercy to us. This punishment relieves us of numerous old sins. Because of this sin (yat), our husband attained the body of a snake and in that body displayed anger and other bad qualities.”

“Previously we said that punishment was mercy, but this case is different. Though an object is very difficult to attain, if a person has done previous punyas, he can easily attain it.” In this way they reason.

‘He has done austerity (tapas), being without pride, without desire to gain the respect of others (nirasta manena), and giving respect to all others (manadena). Such tapas is that of a real vaisnava, for one does not see this type of tapas practiced by the-non vaisnavas. Ass the Lord says, ‘I am not pleased with wealth or with tapas,’ regular tapas does not invoke the mercy of God. That dharma which shows mercy to others was performed by him, and thus he is vaisnava. Mercy towards all entities does not arise in the heart of the karmi. Because of Kaliya’s tapas and dharma, he has attained the affection of the Lord in the form of the Lord dancing on his head. If a person gives respect to all living entities and satisfies them with his compassion, the Lord who is the shelter for all entities is satisfied.” That is the meaning here. The inferred meaning is, “If you maintain the life of all entities and satisfy all entities with compassion, then why should you kick our husband on the head?”

Actually the mercy given to Kaliya was not from tapas or dharma. It was just Krsna’s inconceivable mercy. This is expressed in three verses. “We cannot understand what type of pious activity the most sinful Kaliya performed to get this result (anubhava). What result? It is very difficult to attain a particle of dust at Krsna’s lotus feet by any type of pious activity such as tapas. Thus to get the touch of his feet, to get the feet to dance, and to get them on ones head, are so much rarer. Laksmi devi, who is a greater devotee than even Brahma, who is the intimate of your form as Narayana, though she desired the touch of your feet as a cowherd boy, and for that purpose performed tapas, could not get those feet.”

“But what great result will a person get by attaining the dust of my feet?”

This verse answers. “No, you cannot say this. The result is greater than anything else. Those who surrender to you do not desire svarga loka. What then to speak of those who have attained the dust from your feet?”

Though the dust from your feet gives much more, the highest result, the materialists long to attain those feet in expectation of material enjoyment. Yet those feet, which are hard for even Laksmi and others to attain, have been attained by Kaliya, king of the snakes, who is full of ignorance and showed anger towards you.

Having praised the Lord’s mercy in six verses, again in ten verses, they bow down eleven times (saying namah eleven times) with devotion. “We offer obeisances (as object of worship for the devotee) unto the person with six spiritual qualities (bhagavan), unto the person with a humanlike form (purusa), who pervades everywhere, though in human form (mahatma); (as object of worship of yogis) who dwells in all living entities; and who, though dwelling in all entities, is also bhuta, non- different from the jiva.”

In this verse he is described as the object of jnanis. “We offer respects (as the goal of the jnanis) to he who is the reservoir of all knowledge and cit sakti (janana vijnana nidhi), just as the ocean is the reservoir of all gems. We offer respects to you (again as object of the devotees worship) as the ocean of infinite inconceivable powers (ananta sakti). We offer respects to he whose qualities do not transform into material qualities (agunaya avikaraya). We offer respects to he who has variety of non-material qualities (aprakrtaya).” The material qualities inferred by the foolish persons is rejected in the humanlike form worshipped by the devotee.

“Though the Lord appears in time and space he is not affected by the qualities of material time and space. We pay respects to you who are time (kala svarupa) , the shelter of time (kala nabhaya), the witness of times divisions (kala avayava saksi). You are the witness but not contaminated. We pay respects to you who are the form of the universe (visva) but not touched by it, being not only its witness, but its controller (upadestr). You are not only its controller but its cause. What more can be said? We offer respects to you.”

“But you are not just the cause. You are the very soul of the material elements, giving them life, but what is remarkable is that, giving them life, you make those who are full of life to appear like matter: you cover the knowledge (anubhuti) of the jivas (svatma) by the three gunas.”

“What is the conclusion in all this? We cannot find the end to you (ananta), because you are difficult to understand (suksma).”

“But the intelligent men say that the jiva is different from me and that I cover the jivas. Therefore how can you say I am non different from them?”

“You are kutasha. The dictionary defines kutasha as: he who pervades of all three phases of time. Thus you remain in one form in all time, whereas the jives take various forms for short periods of time. These forms are not their svarupa. Therefore you cannot be the same as the jiva: you know everything (vipascit) and the jivas know only a little. We pay respects to he who permits for different purposes all types of philosophies such as jiva is non different from god; jiva is material; god is consciousness; God is one alone, the jivas are many. All of these conflicting theories take shelter of scripture. We pay respects to you, by whose desire arises the power of many meanings and many words (vacya vacaka sakti).”

“We pay my respects to the root proof, Srimad Bhagavatam, the topmost scriptural proof (mula pramana), and to Vedavyasa its composer (kavaye). The meaning is in the form of Vyasa himself. We pay respects to you who reveal (yoni) the scriptures (sastra). (Sastra yonitvat (Vedanta sutra) shows this usage.) We pay my respects unto the scriptures propounding artha , dharma , kama and moksa (pravrti and nivrti), and unto you, the root (nigama) of both.”

In this verse they pay respects to all the forms mentioned in the scriptures, and particularly Krsna’s four forms possessing lordship: vasudeva, sankarsana, pradyumna and aniruddha. Krsna and rama here represent Vasudeva and sankarsana. The word ca here indicates the son of Nanda. “We offer respects to all these forms, to the son of vasudeva (vasudeva suta) and Nanda’s son as well (ca). We offer respects to Krsna, the protector of Vasudeva and others in the Satvata dynasty (satvanam pati).”

“Because Krsna is the revealer of his qualities such as being controlled by prema (guna pradipa) and the coverer of his majestic powers through those qualities (guna accadana), that form is known only by those extremely knowledgeable of bhakti. Krsna is recognized by his extraordinary quality of extreme bhakti vatsalya (guna vrtty upalaksya). No one except svayam bhagavan has this quality. That Lord sees the good qualities in his devotee not the faults (guna drasta). And he appears (samvit) in his devotee’s (sva) heart (sva samvit).”

This verse expresses the fact that Krsna’s pastimes are sweeter than any other. “You are called avyakrta (unexplained) vihara, because your pastimes are inexpressible even by scripture, or because you have pastimes which appear material, or because you perform your pastimes without any special formalities or pomp (love without marriage etc.) You endow the devotee with abilities to serve you perfectly (sarva vyakrta siddhi). You are the attracter of the all the senses of the devotees (hrsikesa). And, for those devoid of bhakti you are atma rama (muni). For those who pray for fulfillment of desires you are silent--neither bestowing happiness or relieving distress (mauna sila).”

“You know the goal to be attained by the devotee (para) and the non-devotee (avara). You are the superintendent of all results, and thus knowing what is proper, you bestow results to each according to what he deserves. Though you dispense karmic fruits, you are not bound by karma because you are above matter (avisva). By your maya sakti you create this world when necessary. To do that, you are the overseer of the universe (visva drasta). Therefore you are the cause of the universe (pradhana), giving it life and transformation.”

“What is the purpose in creating this universe, giving it life and transformation?

By glancing upon the material of the universe after the end of the previous kalpa, you wake up the jivas resting in the pradhana to their previous nature, and then proceed with creation, maintenance and destruction through the gunas (rajas, sattva and tamas). Though you deal with the gunas, you are do not deal with them (anihah), you are without action. You are the controller of the time energy with its future moments. In this way your pastime of glancing on the pradhana is not in vain.”

“What is the intention of your praises?”

“You are the universe, consisting of all the devotees and non devotees as previously stated. If you awaken the non devotees with their bad nature for the creation, then how is it possible for Kaliya to give up his cruel nature on his own? Though all the bodies in the universe are yours, now we see that the devotional ones are dear to you. You perform actions to protect the path of the devotees, to nourish them.”

“You should tolerate once the offense Kaliya has committed against your devotees. Having been taught a lesson by you, if Kaliya again harasses your devotees you are not obliged to forgive him.” Twice they ask Krsna to forgive Kaliya, to express their fervent state. Krsna is addressed as santa , peaceful, because that is the cause of forgiveness. “Because Kaliya is foolish, without knowledge, he is qualified for forgiveness.”

“I have diagnosed his disease and given the treatment. He is now cured, but in order to wipe out the remnants of disease I must stamp on his head seven or eight times more. You should permit this.”

“By giving him this strong medicine of punishment--some more mercy to purify him of all fault-- he may die, for he has already come to the stage of departing from his body.”

“What does it matter if he gives up this snake body? What can he do with this body? Better that he get a spiritual body as my devotee.”

“If we beautiful women become widows we will be engaged by force to enjoy with another sinful snake. But Kaliya has now become a vaisnava, and become our very life, an object of affection.”

“Then, take your husband. I am giving, but I make this order, which you must follow.”

“Yes, we will follow . Give us the order (vidhehi).” The order is revealed in a later verse.

Krsna then gave up afflicting Kaliya, who was weak because of the blows of Krsna’s feet on his head. Krsna suddenly jumped off his head and stood before him.

Because his whole body was suffering pain, with difficulty Kaliya folded his hands, but he could not bow down on the ground.

“When even the learned men become influenced by attraction and repulsion, knowing it is wrong, what fault do I have?”

“You have made a universe with great variety through operation of the gunas (gunair visarjanam): a variety of natures, various strength of bodies and sense organs (virya, oja), distinctions of mother and father (yoni, bija), various desires and various forms.”

“I am very angry by nature (jati), therefore how is it possible for me to give up insurmountable maya on my own?”

“You are the cause of giving up maya (tatra). Therefore, as you wish, you may be merciful or unmerciful to me.”

Though difficult for Brahma or Siva to do, Krsna was able to punish Kaliya, just by using a human form (karya manusa). He did not hold his sankha and cakra for this act. Karya can also mean pastime. Thus karya manusa can mean “he who takes a form of a human for performing sweet pastimes.” Or karya manusa can mean “Brahman which takes the form of a human.” Or karya manusa can mean “the lord who performs activities among humans.”

Karya manusa said, “You must go from here along with your children and wives to the ocean, because the cows and cowherd men use this Yamuna river, with its water and banks filled with grass, leaves and fruits.”

“May my fame of being punished by placing your feet on my head remain as long as the sun and moon endure.” Because of the statement, “you will no longer have fear of sankes,” this verse should be considered a mantra to ward of snake bits. There is another mantra in the rg veda: ya yuna hrade hi so vato yo narayana vahanah yadi kalika dantasya yadi kakalikad bhayam janma bhumi parikranto nirviso yati kalikah.

“For these reasons you should leave this lake. Here people bathe, perform tarpana, fast, meditate and worship me to free themselves of sin. If you stay they cannot do this.”

“You will have no more fear of Garuda.” This is the import of this verse.

The inhabitants of Vraja were saved from Kaliya and Kaliya was saved from Garuda. In this way there was great benefit for those who were afflicted by violence and for he who committed violence. This is the greatness of Krsna’s action (adbhuta karma). This action was performed by Krsna. The word Krsna suggests in this verse the person who removed (karsana) the offense of Kaliya against the Lord’s devotee Garuda and his very dear devotees of Vraja, by the affectionate request of his wives.

According to verse 62, instruction is given to worship and remember the lord to become free from sin. The snakes therefore now begin to worship Krsna. “For me, the most sinful, you gave the most mercy, for you do not put your foot on others’ heads and mark them with sankha and cakra. In a respectful mood, with my wives, I worship you with cool sandalwood in my hand, because your body was burned by the poison from my fangs.”

“But applying these ointments will take time.”

“Then please sit. Making him sit, Kaliya and his wives applied sandalwood.”

Fulfilling their hearts desire fully, they attained the mercy of the Lord. Then they left the lake. This is described in two and half verses.

The kaustubha jewel which was on the Lord’s neck from birth was lost in the coils of Kaliya, in order to give spectacle to his human pastimes of fighting and struggling with Kaliya. When they offered jewels to Krsna they thought that the kaustubha was also one of their jewels and offered it back to him. This is described in gaura ganodesa dipika. “The kaustubha jewel which was in the lake came into the hands of Kaliya’s wives and was again offered to him.”

Having pleased Krsna whose carrier is Garuda (garuda dvaja), Krsna placed his hand on Kaliya’s head and removed all his pain.

Kaliya said, “Rider of Garuda, now I am the servant of my older brother Garuda. If he happens to go far away, then just remember me as your carrier and I, the servant of your servant, will instantly appear from millions of yojanas away.” This is the implication of use of the word Garuda dvaja.

In some puranas it is mentioned that after getting off of Kaliya, Krsna received the order to go to Mathura from Kamsa. Krida manusa rupinah here means that he eternally possess a body of human form engaged in play. By the mercy of he who possesses an eternal human like body, the Yamuna became free of poison and filled with nectar.