The Benediction of this Narration – of the Kaliya Serpent

Krsna 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 & offers oblations to the forefathers from the water of this lake, he will be relieved from all kinds of sinful reactions“

THE BENEDICTION OF THIS NARRATION OF THE KALIYA SERPENT AND HIS PUNISHMENT
Compiled by Mohini Devi

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 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 Kāliya 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.” (KB Chapter 16: Subduing Kāliya)

After receiving the blessings of reading this narration about Kaliya, let us examine the exact wording Srila Prabhupada chooses to describe this incident:

Sometimes Kṛṣṇa used to go with His boy friends and with Balarāma, and sometimes He used to go alone with His friends to the bank of the Yamunā and tend the cows. Gradually, the summer season arrived, and one day, while in the field, the boys and cows became very thirsty and began TO DRINK THE WATER of the Yamunā. THE RIVER, HOWEVER, WAS MADE POISONOUS BY THE VENOM of the great serpent known as Kāliya.

Because THE WATER WAS SO POISONOUS, the boys and cows became visibly affected immediately after drinking. They suddenly fell down on the ground, apparently dead.

Note: the venom of Kaliya had poisoned the WATER and the boys and cows DRANK it. The venom was so powerful, it did not kill only one boy or one cow but it killed thousands of boys and thousands of cows. (KB Chapter 16: Subduing Kāliya)

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 EVAPORATED 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.

Note: the venomous vapour emanating from the water had poisoned the AIR and had made the surrounding land barren. The boys and cows were NOT bitten or injected with the venom. Only By DRINKING the water and BREATING IN the air they were envenomed, poisoned by Kaliya’s venom and had apparently died. Only by flying over the area the birds fell down dead in 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.

Note: The accumulated venom of Kaliya had poisoned a large body of water and land surrounding his home. Only by the PRESENCE of Kaliya who had accumulated a huge amount of toxic poisons did the surrounding area get devastated.

Kaliya was an ordinary serpent of the material world. 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…. He vomited all kinds of refuse and exhaled fire. While throwing up poisonous material from within…

Note: Kaliya (a member of the COBRA/naga family, because he had expanded his HOODS) was in possession of very toxic venoms, also his whole BODY was poisonous because of the things he ate. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naja)

WHY SNAKES ARE VENOMOUS (bite, water, vapour, body)

“Thereafter cobras and snakes without hoods, large snakes, scorpions and many other poisonous animals took poison out of the planet earth as their milk and kept this poison in snake holes. They made a calf out of Takṣaka.” (SB 4.18.22, Translation)

Kaliya prays: ”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….My dear Lord, I am born as a serpent; therefore, by natural instinct, I am very angry…”

The Nāgapatnīs pray:… It is already clear that this creature appearing in the body of a serpent must have been overburdened with all kinds of sin;…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…

“The wives of the serpent, known as the Nāgapatnīs, saw that their husband was being subdued by the kicking of the Lord, within whose womb the whole universe remains. Kāliya’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 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 punishment. We think, therefore, that this apparent punishment to 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 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.”

King Parīkṣit, after hearing of the chastisement of Kāliya, inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī as to why Kāliya left his beautiful land and why Garuḍa was so antagonistic to him. Śukadeva Gosvāmī informed the King that the island known as Nāgālaya was inhabited by serpents and that Kāliya was one of the chief serpents there. Being accustomed to eating snakes, Garuḍa used to come to this island and kill many serpents at his will. Some of them he actually ate, but some were unnecessarily killed. The reptile society became so disturbed that their leader, Vāsuki, appealed to Lord Brahmā for protection. Lord Brahmā made an arrangement by which Garuḍa would not create a disturbance: on each half-moon day, the reptile community would offer a serpent to Garuḍa. The serpent was to be kept underneath a tree as a sacrificial offering to Garuḍa. Garuḍa was satisfied with this offering, and therefore he did not disturb any other serpents.

But gradually, Kāliya took advantage of this situation. He was unnecessarily puffed up by the volume of his accumulated poison, as well as by his material power, and he thought, ”Why should Garuḍa be offered this sacrifice?“ He then ceased offering any sacrifice; instead, he himself ate the offering intended for Garuḍa. When Garuḍa, the great devotee-carrier of Viṣṇu, understood that Kāliya was eating the offered sacrifices, he became very angry and quickly rushed to the island to kill the offensive serpent. Kāliya tried to fight Garuḍa and faced him with his many hoods and poisonous sharp teeth. Kāliya attempted to bite him, and Garuḍa, the son of Tārkṣya, in great anger and with the great force deserving the carrier of Lord Viṣṇu, struck the body of Kāliya with his effulgent golden wings. Kāliya, who is also known as Kadrusuta, son of Kadru, immediately fled to the lake known as Kāliyadaha, underneath the Yamunā River, which Garuḍa could not approach.

SNAKE ISLAND

Just like Kaliya inhabited the island of Nagalaya 5000 years ago and probably still is, there are also today places on earth where only snakes live, like snake island in Brazil. Alone the snakes from this island are a 30 billion $ market and a snake stolen from that island can fetch up to 30.000$ on the black market. (snake-island-why-it-must-be-left-alone)

Another famous example of being killed by a snakebite is the hero of the Srimad Bhagavatam Maharaja Pariksit. He was cursed by the brāhmaṇa’s son, Śṛṅgi, to be bitten by a snake-bird takṣakaḥ within seven days.

MAHĀRĀJA PARĪKṢIT WAS BURNT TO ASHES BY THE FIRE OF THE SNAKE’S POISON. As we can see here there is still another way snake poison can act.

“Takṣaka flattered Kaśyapa by presenting him with valuable offerings and thereby stopped the sage, who was expert in counteracting poison, from protecting Mahārāja Parīkṣit. Then the snake-bird, who could assume any form he wished, disguised himself as a brāhmaṇa, approached the King and bit him.” (Text 12)

“While living beings all over the universe looked on, the body of the great self-realized saint among kings was immediately burned to ashes by the fire of the snake’s poison.” (Text 13:)

Mahārāja Parīkṣit Passes Away: “After hearing the words of Śrī Śukadeva, Mahārāja Parīkṣit stated that by having listened to the Bhāgavatam, which is the compendium of the Purāṇas and which is full of the nectarean pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Uttamaḥśloka, Parīkṣit had attained the transcendental position of fearlessness and oneness with the Supreme. His ignorance had been dispelled, and by the mercy of Śrī Śukadeva he had gained sight of the supremely auspicious personal form of God, namely the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Hari. As a result, he had cast aside all fear of death. Śrī Parīkṣit Mahārāja then begged Śukadeva Gosvāmī to permit him to fix his heart upon the lotus feet of Lord Hari and give up his life. Granting this permission, Śrī Śukadeva rose and departed. Subsequently Mahārāja Parīkṣit, free of all doubts, sat down in yogic posture and merged himself in meditation upon the Supersoul. Then the snake-bird Takṣaka, arriving in the disguise of a brāhmaṇa, bit him, and the body of the saintly king immediately burned to ashes.” (https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/12/6/)

“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 was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he began to surrender unto Him. He realized that Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme Lord, the master of everything.”

Garuda struck the body of Kaliya with his effulgent golden wings

Kāliya tried to fight Garuḍa and faced him with his many hoods and poisonous sharp teeth. Kāliya attempted to bite him, and Garuḍa, the son of Tārkṣya, in great anger and with the great force befitting the carrier of Lord Viṣṇu, struck the body of Kāliya with his effulgent golden wings. Kāliya, who is also known as Kadrusuta, son of Kadru, immediately fled to the lake known as Kāliya-hrada, which lay within the Yamunā River and which Garuḍa could not approach.

King Parīkṣit, after hearing of the chastisement of Kāliya, inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī as to why Kāliya left his beautiful land and why Garuḍa was so antagonistic to him. Śukadeva Gosvāmī informed the King that the island known as Nāgālaya was inhabited by serpents and that Kāliya was one of the chief serpents there. Being accustomed to eating snakes, Garuḍa used to come to this island and kill many serpents at will. Some of them he actually ate, but some were unnecessarily killed. The reptile society became so disturbed that their leader, Vāsuki, appealed to Lord Brahmā for protection. Lord Brahmā made an arrangement by which Garuḍa would not create a disturbance: on each half-moon day, the reptile community would offer a serpent to Garuḍa. The serpent was to be kept underneath a tree as a sacrificial offering to Garuḍa. Garuḍa was satisfied with this offering, and therefore he did not disturb any other serpents.

But gradually, Kāliya took advantage of this situation. He was unnecessarily puffed up by the volume of his accumulated poison, as well as by his material power, and he thought, “Why should Garuḍa be offered this sacrifice?” He then ceased offering any sacrifice; instead, he himself ate the offering intended for Garuḍa. When Garuḍa, the great devotee-carrier of Viṣṇu, understood that Kāliya was eating the offered sacrifices, he became very angry and rushed to the island to kill the offensive serpent. Kāliya tried to fight Garuḍa and faced him with his many hoods and poisonous sharp teeth. Kāliya attempted to bite him, and Garuḍa, the son of Tārkṣya, in great anger and with the great force befitting the carrier of Lord Viṣṇu, struck the body of Kāliya with his effulgent golden wings. Kāliya, who is also known as Kadrusuta, son of Kadru, immediately fled to the lake known as Kāliya-hrada, which lay within the Yamunā River and which Garuḍa could not approach.

Kāliya took shelter within the water of the Yamunā for the following reason. Just as Garuḍa went to the island of the Kāliya snake, he also used to go to the Yamunā to catch fish to eat. There was, however, a great yogī known as Saubhari Muni who used to meditate within the water there and who was sympathetic with the fish. He asked Garuḍa not to come there and disturb the fish. Although Garuḍa was not under anyone’s order, being the carrier of Lord Viṣṇu, he did not disobey the order of the great yogī. Instead of staying and eating many fish, he carried off one big fish, who was their leader. Saubhari Muni was sorry that one of the leaders of the fish was taken away by Garuḍa, and thinking of their protection, he cursed Garuḍa with the following words: “Henceforward, from this day, if Garuḍa comes here to catch fish, then—I say this with all my strength—he will be immediately killed.”

This curse was known only to Kāliya. Kāliya was therefore confident that Garuḍa would not be able to come there, and so he thought it wise to take shelter of the lake within the Yamunā. But Kāliya’s taking shelter of Saubhari Muni was not successful; he was driven away from the Yamunā by Kṛṣṇa, the master of Garuḍa. It may be noted that Garuḍa is directly related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is so powerful that he is never subject to anyone’s order or curse. Actually the cursing of Garuḍa—who is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to be of the stature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavān—was an offense on the part of Saubhari Muni. Although Garuḍa did not try to retaliate, the Muni was not saved from his offensive act against a great Vaiṣṇava personality. Due to this offense, Saubhari fell down from his yogic position and afterwards became a householder, a sense enjoyer in the material world. The falldown of Saubhari Muni, who was supposed to be absorbed in spiritual bliss by meditation, is an instruction to the offender of Vaiṣṇavas. (Krsna Book, 17)

Naga Kanya Devi –  a winged semi-goddess with a serpent’s lower half.

„The Nagas are borne of Lord Brahma, who lay down while doing the work of creation and dropped hair from his body that transformed into snakes. Even while his body crawled along with its hands and feet contracted, there sprang from it ferocious serpents and Nagas with their hoods expanded. The Uragas are also serpentine demigods, who are not exactly demigods but between the demigods and human beings.“

“The Nāgaloka planet is situated below the earth planet, and it is understood that the sun rays are hampered there. The darkness of the planet is, however, removed by the flashes of the jewels set on the heads of the Nāgas (celestial serpents), and it is said that there are beautiful gardens, rivulets, etc., for the enjoyment of the Nāgas. It is understood here also that the place is well protected by the inhabitants.”  (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.11.11)

Canto 5, Chapter 24 of Srimad Bhagavatam further describes ‘The Subterranean Heavenly Planets’, and the abode of Nagaloka:

“Beneath Rasātala is another planetary system, known as Pātāla or Nāgaloka, where there are many demoniac serpents, the masters of Nāgaloka, such as Śaṅkha, Kulika, Mahāśaṅkha, Śveta, Dhanañjaya, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Śaṅkhacūḍa, Kambala, Aśvatara and Devadatta. The chief among them is Vāsuki. They are all extremely angry, and they have many, many hoods—some snakes five hoods, some seven, some ten, others a hundred and others a thousand. These hoods are bedecked with valuable gems, and the light emanating from the gems illuminates the entire planetary system of bila-svarga.”