Parikshit observed, “The life of Krishna was most certainly not easy. From his birth through childhood, he was constantly challenged.”
“Oh yes,” Sukha agreed, “Krishna was most certainly a brave lad. The way he handled Kaliya is no mean feat.”
“Who is Kaliya?” Parikshit asked.
Sukha continued narrating, “In Vrindavan, very close to where Krishna and his friends took their respective cows for grazing, there was a lake called Madu. The lake was close to the river Yamuna and the water from the river often flowed into the lake. But the lake was poisonous. The poison was so virulent that the trees in the surrounding area had died. The dead trees stood there without any leaf or sign of life waiting for some storm to ground them. Birds did not fly around the area and animals avoided drinking water from this particular lake. The story of the danger lurking in the waters of the lake was wide spread and people avoided the lake as much as they could.
The lake was actually inhabited by the poisonous snake, Kaliya and his wives. Kaliya was notorious and did not like to be disturbed. He therefore used the poison as a tool to keep the lake all for himself, completely forgetting that natural resources are for everybody’s use and consumption.
On this fateful day, Balarama decided to stay behind. Krishna and his friends went out to graze the cows. As usual they had a lot of fun and played around. In their fun and frolic, they forgot that they are going too close to the poisonous lake. When some cowherds felt thirsty, they drank the water from Madu. The thirst made them forget all the warnings about the polluted lake.
After a while, Krishna noticed that some of his companions were missing. He and some of the other boys went around trying to locate them. The missing companions and their cows were found on the banks of Lake Madu. The poison was so strong that all those who drank the water had fainted and were lying on the ground as they were dead.
Krishna looked at the water of River Madu. The black water was simmering and frothing, emitting poisonous gases. Krishna turned his gaze around to the dead trees nearby. As he looked around, he spotted a Kadamba tree. The poison had not touched this tall tree. It was believed that Garuda had rested here for a while when he was carrying the nectar back to release his mother from bondage. Hence the tree could withstand the poison that Kaliya emitted.
As the tree looked sturdy, Krishna began to climb the tree. His friends, the cowherds, looked at him with a puzzled look in their eyes. Some of them ran back home to inform Yashoda and Nandagopa. Meanwhile, Krishna had reached the top of the tree. He waved to his friends, as if assuring them, and then jumped into the poisonous water of Lake Madu…”
“Krishna jumped into the poisonous waters?” Parikshit said.
“Oh, yes,” Sukha continued narrating, “Krishna jumped into those waters as if it was a regular lake. He dived deep down and was not seen for some time.
Meanwhile, Yashoda and Nandagopa rushed to the banks of Lake Madu. They were informed by the cowherds who were standing there that their little one had dived into the poisonous water. They looked at the lake with sorrow wondering what one is supposed to do next. The simple cowherds, who had forgotten all the miracles that little Krishna performed, were lamenting away. They were concerned that Krishna should have not been allowed to roam alone. Balarama should have been there as his shield. Meanwhile, Balarama was smiling to himself and enjoying the drama of the simple people. He could not share the divine secret with these forlorn cowherds. He stood on the banks of Lake Madu to be a witness to the cosmic drama.
Meanwhile, Krishna had dived deep into the water of the lake. His dive shook the placid water of the lake and created a ruffle. Kaliya was not used to such disturbance but he chose to stay silent for a while. However, the water was being churned and Kaliya found himself getting tossed around. Not used to being treated in this manner, Kaliya raised his head to check out the reason of such an upheaval in his lake.
The five heads of Kaliya looked out of the surface of the lake. He could see women and men gathered near the lake, shedding tears. As he kept wondering, Krishna suddenly emerged out of the surface of the water and faced him. The little boy had no trace of fear in him. Kaliya shook himself and grabbed Krishna. He coiled his serpentine body around the little boy and spat venom. His five heads were eager to cover Krishna with virulent poison. The simple cowherds who had gathered on the banks of the lake screamed with horror as Kaliya dug his fangs onto the little boy.
For a while, Krishna allowed Kaliya to have his way. But after a while, Kaliya felt that something strange was happening to him. A very heavy weight was pressing on his entire length. He felt as if someone was trying to tear him apart. He saw Krishna was growing in size and that was straining the serpentine coils that had entangled his frame. Kaliya tried to tighten the coils, but could not help as the child began to grow in size.
The simple cowherds, who were a witness to the event, were curious. Despair had given way to wonder and they called out to Krishna, asking him to quickly come back to the bank of the lake so that they could pull him away from the dreaded snake…”
Sukha continued narrating the tale of Krishna and Kaliya, “However, Kaliya was enraged. Unaccustomed to be treated in this manner his arrogance made him wild. He opened his five hoods and pounced on Krishna to sting him. He kept on striking but Krishna managed to evade his strikes time and again. Krishna was here, he was there and Kaliya kept pursuing him endlessly with his hoods raised. Whenever Kaliya thought he caught hold of the boy, he would escape and would be seen somewhere else. Kaliya was spitting fire and poison to punish this boy who chose to defy his authority in front of a whole lot of people. As he was striking madly all around the lake, Krishna leapt up into the sky and landed on the head of the snake. Kaliya’s one head would try to sting the boy standing on next hood but he would jump across to another one. Kaliya tried his best but could not pull himself out of the feet of the little one. Krishna began dancing on the five hoods of the snake and it is believed that the nature around created soft music to assist Krishna in dancing on the heads of the dreaded snake.
Gradually, Kaliya became tired. Instead of spitting poison, his five mouths began to spit blood. Kaliya realized who Krishna was. His wives came out of the water and asked for mercy.
Eventually, Krishna jumped off the heads of Kaliya as he lay down exhausted. Kaliya realized his mistake –he was smitten by ego and could not see anything beyond himself.
Krishna asked Kaliya to go back to the ocean and live with his kinsmen. The river and lake were natural resources that were to be used by human beings.
Kaliya did not speak for a while, but Krishna understood his dilemma. He assured Kaliya that if he goes to Ramanaka island, Garuda will not bother them. As Krishna had danced on the hoods of Kaliya, his footsteps had got imprinted on the hoods. Hence he is safe from Garuda.
Lake Madu became free of the poison. Even the river Yamuna was free of the pollution. As Krishna reached the banks of the river his parents and the simple cowherds wanted to embrace the little one and welcome him back. But then maya made them spell bound. Only Balarama remembered the whole episode. He strolled towards Krishna and they both embraced each other warmly.
The cowherds of Vrindavan did not forget to thank divine providence that saved the life of their beloved Krishna once again! They celebrated the happy night on the banks of river Yamuna.
[To be continued]
Footnote: Srimad Bhagavatam is often called the Bhagavad Purana. Authored by Ved Vyasa, the stories are about the various avatars (incarnations) of Lord Vishnu, also known as Narayana.
Published: Different Truths
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