Along the mighty River Yamuna, there lived a huge snake called Kaliya. He was the king of serpents. Due to his presence in the water, the water had become poisonous. He had devastated all life forms in and around the river. The troubled people of Vrindavan complained to Lord Krishna, “Because of him, no one can drink the water of the river. He can kill anything which comes in his way.” Lord Krishna thought, ‘This evil snake will destroy more lives. I must stop it.’ So, Lord Krishna left for the river-banks to punish the snake.
Soon, Lord Krishna reached the banks of River Yamuna. He climbed up the kadamba tree and jumped into the river. Just as He dived into the water, the poisonous water splashed on the tree and burnt it. As Lord Krishna was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, His blue body remained undamaged by the venomous waters. The Serpent-King, Kaliya was livid with anger that someone had dared to swim in his waters.
All the snakes along with Kaliya tried to poison Lord Krishna. Their red eyes shone with anger and they hissed with malice as they circled Him. However, Lord Krishna was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and so the snakes could not overcome him. Kaliya encircled his tail around Krishna and dived to the bottom of the river.
Meanwhile, Balarama and his friends ran back to Vrindavan where they told everyone what was happening. Nanda, Yashoda and Balarama along with other people ran back to the banks of the Yamuna.
“Where is my Krishna?” wailed Yashoda in fear and pain.
Then, they all saw a vision that left them shocked. Lord Krishna grew larger and larger in size. The radiant light from Lord Krishna’s body blinded the snakes.
Lord Krishna attacked the mighty Serpent-King. He brought Kaliya’s hood down and climbed on it. “Krishna, my son; please be careful!” cried out an anguished Yashoda. Thus began the dance of Lord Krishna on the hood of the king of serpents, Kaliya.
Kaliya was squeezed under the weight of Lord Krishna and was almost out of breath. When Kaliya’s many wives realised that their husband was about to meet with his destruction, they started to cry. They started praying to Lord Krishna to forgive Kaliya and spare his life.
The mighty serpent-King, Kaliya also understood that the young boy dancing on his hood could not be an ordinary mortal but divine. In sheer terror, the truth sank into Kaliya’s mind that his tormentor was, in fact, Lord Vishnu Himself. So, he begged, “Have mercy on me. I regret my mistake. I won’t live here any more. I shall move away from here today itself.” As the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Lord Krishna was filled with compassion even for the poisonous Serpent-King, Kaliya, He decided to show mercy to the snake.
The king of serpents bowed down to Lord Krishna.
“Kaliya, I have decided to spare your life,” Lord Krishna said, “But you must leave the waters of the Yamuna immediate and forever. You cannot remain here and poison these waters,” said Lord Krishna. Hearing this, the mighty Kaliya started to weep. “This is my home, O Lord. If I go back to the mighty ocean, Garuda will not spare me, my wives or even my fellow snakes,” Kaliya cried out in his misery. Lord Krishna sensed that Kaliya’s misery was indeed deep. He said, “Do not fear, Kaliya. The mark of my feet on your hood will protect you from the wrath of Garuda when you reach the mighty ocean.” Hearing this, Serpent-King, Kaliya was relieved. Kaliya and his wives along with all the other snakes returned to the mighty ocean. Once they left, the waters of River Yamuna were purified and freed of poison. The people living around River Yamuna heaved a sigh of relief. At last, they had got rid of Kaliya.
