Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Surrounded by His blissful companions, who constantly chanted His glories, Śrī Kṛṣṇa then entered the village of Vraja, which was decorated with herds of cows. (1) While Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were thus enjoying life in Vṛndāvana in the guise of ordinary cowherd boys, the summer season gradually appeared. This season is not very pleasing to embodied souls. (2) Neverthe less, because the Supreme Personality of God head was personally staying in Vṛndāvana along with Balarāma, summer manifested the qualities of spring. Such are the features of the land of Vṛndāvana. (3)

In Vṛndāvana, the loud sound of waterfalls covered the crickets’ noise, and clusters of trees constantly moistened by spray from those waterfalls beautified the entire area. (4) The wind wafting over the waves of the lakes and flowing rivers carried away the pol len of many varieties of lotuses and water lilies and then cooled the entire Vṛndāvana area. Thus the residents there did not suffer from the heat generated by the blazing summer sun and seasonal forest fires. Indeed, Vṛndāvana was abundant with fresh green grass. (5) With their flowing waves the deep rivers drenched their banks, making them damp and muddy. Thus the rays of the sun, which were as fierce as poi son, could not evaporate the earth’s sap or parch its green grass. (6)

Flowers beautifully decorated the forest of Vṛndāvana, and many varieties of animals and birds filled it with sound. The peacocks and bees sang, and the cuckoos and cranes cooed. (7) Intending to en gage in pastimes, Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Per sonality of Godhead, accompanied by Lord Balarāma and surrounded by the cowherd boys and the cows, entered the forest of Vṛndāvana as He played His flute. (8) Decorating themselves with newly grown leaves, along with peacock feathers, garlands, clusters of flower buds, and colored minerals, Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa and Their cowherd friends danced, wrestled and sang. (9) As Kṛṣṇa danced, some of the boys accompanied Him by singing, and others by playing flutes, hand cymbals and buffalo horns, while still others praised His dancing. (10) O King, demigods disguised themselves as members of the cow herd community and, just as dramatic dancers praise another dancer, worshiped Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, who were also appearing as cowherd boys. (11)

Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma played with their cowherd boyfriends by whirling about, leaping, hurling, slapping and fighting. Some times Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma would pull the hair on the boys’ heads. (12) While the other boys were dancing, O King, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma would sometimes accompany them with song and instrumental music, and sometimes the two Lords would praise the boys, saying, “Very good! Very good!” (13) Sometimes the cow herd boys would play with bilva or kumbha fruits, and sometimes with handfuls of āmalaka fruits. At other times they would play the games of trying to touch one another or of try ing to identify somebody while one is blind folded, and sometimes they would imitate ani mals and birds. (14)

They would sometimes jump around like frogs, sometimes play various jokes, sometimes ride in swings and sometimes imitate monarchs. (15) In this way Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma played all sorts of well-known games as They wandered among the rivers, hills, val leys, bushes, trees and lakes of Vṛndāvana. (16) While Rāma, Kṛṣṇa and Their cowherd friends were thus tending the cows in that Vṛndāvana forest, the demon Pralamba entered their midst. He had assumed the form of a cow herd boy with the intention of kidnapping Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. (17) Since the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, who had appeared in the Daśārha dynasty, sees everything, He understood who the demon was. Still, the Lord pretended to ac cept the demon as a friend, while at the same time seriously considering how to kill him. (18) Kṛṣṇa, who knows all sports and games, then called together the cowherd boys and spoke as follows: “Hey cowherd boys! Let’s play now! We’ll divide ourselves into two even teams.” (19)

The cowherd boys chose Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma as the leaders of the two parties. Some of the boys were on Kṛṣṇa’s side, and others joined Balarāma. (20) The boys played various games involving carriers and passen gers. In these games the winners would climb up on the backs of the losers, who would have to carry them. (21) Thus carrying and being carried by one another, and at the same time tending the cows, the boys followed Kṛṣṇa to a banyan tree known as Bhāṇḍīraka. (22) My dear King Parīkṣit, when Śrīdāmā, Vṛṣabha and the other members of Lord Balarāma’s party were victorious in these games, Kṛṣṇa and His followers had to carry them. (23)

Defeated, the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa carried Śrīdāmā. Bhadrasena carried Vṛṣabha, and Pralamba carried Balarāma, the son of Ro hiṇī. (24) Considering Lord Kṛṣṇa invincible, that foremost demon [Pralamba] quickly car ried Balarāma far beyond the spot where he was supposed to put his passenger down. (25) As the great demon carried Balarāma, the Lord be came as heavy as massive Mount Sumeru, and Pralamba had to slow down. He then resumed his actual forman effulgent body that was cov ered with golden ornaments and that resembled a cloud flashing with lightning and carrying the moon. (26) When Lord Balarāma, who carries the plow weapon, saw the gigantic body of the demon as he moved swiftly in the skywith his blazing eyes, fiery hair, terrible teeth reaching toward his scowling brows, and an amazing ef fulgence generated by his armlets, crown and earringsthe Lord seemed to become a little frightened. (27)

Remembering the actual situa tion, the fearless Balarāma understood that the demon was tṛying to kidnap Him and take Him away from His companions. The Lord then be came furious and struck the demon’s head with His hard fist, just as Indra, the king of the dem igods, strikes a mountain with his thunderbolt weapon. (28) Thus smashed by Balarāma’s fist, Pralamba’s head immediately cracked open. The demon vomited blood from his mouth and lost all consciousness, and then with a great noise he fell lifeless on the ground, like a moun tain devastated by Indra. (29)

The cowherd boys were most astonished to see how the powerful Balarāma had killed the demon Pralamba, and they exclaimed, “Excel lent! Excellent!” (30) They offered Balarāma profuse benedictions and then glorified Him, who deserves all glorification. Their minds overwhelmed with ecstatic love, they embraced Him as if He had come back from the dead. (31) The sinful Pralamba having been killed, the demigods felt extremely happy, and they show ered flower garlands upon Lord Balarāma and praised the excellence of His deed. (32)

Having thus heard how Lord Kṛṣṇa chastised Kāliya, King Parīkṣit inquired: Why did Kāliya leave Ramaṇaka Island, the abode of the serpents, and why did Garuḍa become so antag onistic toward him alone? (1) Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: To avoid being eaten by Garuḍa, the serpents had previously made an arrangement with him whereby they would each make a monthly offering of tribute at the base of a tree. Thus every month on schedule, O mighty-armed King Parīkṣit, each serpent would duly make his offering to that powerful carrier of Viṣṇu as a purchase of pro tection. (2-3) Although all the other serpents were duti fully making offerings to Garuḍa, one ser pentthe arrogant Kāliya, son of Kadruwould eat all these offerings before Garuḍa could claim them. Thus Kāliya directly defied the carrier of Lord Viṣṇu. (4)

O King, the greatly powerful Garuḍa, who is very dear to the Supreme Lord, became angry when he heard of this. Desiring to kill Kāliya, he rushed toward the serpent with tremendous speed. (5) As Garuḍa swiftly fell upon him, Kāliya, who had the weapon of poison, raised his numerous heads to counterat tack. Showing his ferocious tongues and ex panding his horrible eyes, Kāliya then bit Garuḍa with the weapons of his fangs. (6) The angry son of Tārkṣya moved with overwhelm ing speed in repelling Kāliya’s attack. That ter ribly powerful carrier of Lord Madhusūdana struck the son of Kadru with his left wing, which shone like gold. (7) Beaten by Garuḍa’s wing, Kāliya was extremely distraught, and thus he took shelter of a lake adjoining the river Yamunā. Garuḍa could not enter this lake. In deed, he could not even approach it. (8)

In that very lake Garuḍa had once desired to eat a fish fish being, after all, his normal food. Although forbidden by the sage Saubhari, who was med itating there within the water, Garuḍa took courage and, feeling hungry, seized the fish. (9) Seeing how the unfortunate fish in that lake had become most unhappy at the death of their leader, Saubhari uttered the following curse un der the impression that he was mercifully act ing for the benefit of the lake’s residents. (10) If Garuḍa ever again enters this lake and eats the fish here, he will immediately lose his life. What I am saying is the truth. (11) Of all the serpents, only Kāliya came to know of this affair, and in fear of Garuḍa he took up residence in that Yamunā lake. Later Lord Kṛṣṇa drove him out. (12)

Resuming his description of Kṛṣṇa’s chastisement of Kāliya, Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:] Kṛṣṇa rose up out of the lake wear ing divine garlands, fragrances and garments, covered with many fine jewels, and decorated with gold. When the cowherds saw Him they all stood up immediately, just like an uncon scious person’s senses coming back to life. Filled with great joy, they affectionately em braced Him. (13-14) Having regained their vi tal functions, Yaśodā, Rohiṇī, Nanda and all the other cowherd women and men went up to Kṛṣṇa. O descendant of Kuru, even the dried up trees came back to life. (15)

Lord Balarāma embraced His infallible brother and laughed, knowing well the extent of Kṛṣṇa’s potency. Out of great feelings of love, Balarāma lifted Kṛṣṇa up on His lap and repeatedly looked at Him. The cows, bulls and young female calves also achieved the highest pleasure. (16) All the respectable brāhmaṇas, together with their wives, came forward to greet Nanda Mahārāja. They said to him, “Your son was in the grips of Kāliya, but by the grace of Providence He is now free.” (17) The brāhmaṇas then advised Nanda Mahārāja, “To assure that your son Kṛṣṇa will always be free from danger, you should give charity to the brāhmaṇas.” With a satisfied mind, O King, Nanda Mahārāja then very gladly gave them gifts of cows and gold. (18)

The greatly fortunate mother Yaśodā, hav ing lost her son and then regained Him, placed Him on her lap. That chaste lady cried constant torrents of tears as she repeatedly embraced Him. (19) O best of kings [Parīkṣit], because the resi dents of Vṛndāvana were feeling very weak from hunger, thirst and fatigue, they and the cows spent the night where they were, lying down near the bank of the Kālindī. (20) During the night, while all the people of Vṛndāvana were asleep, a great fire blazed up within the dry summer forest. The fire surrounded the in habitants of Vraja on all sides and began to scorch them. (21) Then the residents of Vṛndāvana woke up, extremely disturbed by the great fire threatening to burn them. Thus they took shelter of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, who by His spiritual potency appeared like an ordinary human being. (22)

Vṛndāvana’s resi dents said:] Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, O Lord of all opu lence! O Rāma, possessor of unlimited power! This most terrible fire is about to devour us, Your devotees! (23) O Lord, we are Your true friends and devotees. Please protect us from this insurmountable fire of death. We can never give up Your lotus feet, which drive away all fear. (24) Seeing His devotees so disturbed, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the infinite Lord of the universe and possessor of infinite power, then swallowed the terrible forest fire. (25)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, seeing that the Yamunā River had been contaminated by the black snake Kāliya, desired to purify the river, and thus the Lord banished him from it. (1) King Parīkṣit inquired: O learned sage, please explain how the Supreme Personality of Godhead chastised the serpent Kāliya within the unfathomable waters of the Yamunā, and how it was that Kāliya had been living there for so many ages. (2) O brāhmaṇa, the unlimited Supreme Personality of Godhead freely acts ac[1]cording to His own desires. Who could be sati[1]ated when hearing the nectar of the magnani[1]mous pastimes He performed as a cowherd boy in Vṛndāvana? (3)

ŚrīŚukadeva Gosvāmī said: Within the river Kālindī [Yamunā] was a lake inhabited by the serpent Kāliya, whose fiery poison con[1]stantly heated and boiled its waters. Indeed, the vapors thus created were so poisonous that birds flying over the contaminated lake would fall down into it. (4) The wind blowing over that deadly lake carried droplets of water to the shore. Simply by coming in contact with that poisonous breeze, all vegetation and creatures on the shore died. (5) Lord Kṛṣṇa saw how the Kāliya serpent had polluted the Yamunā River with his terribly powerful poison. Since Kṛṣṇa had descended from the spiritual world specif[1]ically to subdue envious demons, the Lord im[1]mediately climbed to the top of a very high ka[1]damba tree and prepared Himself for battle. He tightened His belt, slapped His arms and then jumped into the poisonous water. (6)

When the Supreme Personality of Godhead landed in the serpent’s lake, the snakes there became ex[1]tremely agitated and began breathing heavily, further polluting it with volumes of poison. The force of the Lord’s entrance into the lake caused it to overflow on all sides, and poison[1]ous, fearsome waves flooded the surrounding lands up to a distance of one hundred bow[1]lengths. This is not at all amazing, however, for the Supreme Lord possesses infinite strength. (7) Kṛṣṇa began sporting in Kāliya’s lake like a lordly elephantswirling His mighty arms and making the water resound in various ways. When Kāliya heard these sounds, he under[1]stood that someone was trespassing in his lake. The serpent could not tolerate this and immedi[1]ately came forward. (8)

Kāliya saw that Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who wore yellow silken garments, was very delicate, His attractive body shining like a glowing white cloud, His chest bearing the mark of Śrīvatsa, His face smiling beautifully and His feet resembling the whorl of a lotus flower. The Lord was playing fearlessly in the water. Despite His wonderful appearance, the envious Kāliya furiously bit Him on the chest and then completely enwrapped Him in his coils. (9) When the members of the cowherd community, who had accepted Kṛṣṇa as their dearmost friend, saw Him enveloped in the snake’s coils, motionless, they were greatly disturbed. They had offered Kṛṣṇa every[1]thingtheir very selves, their families, their wealth, wives and all pleasures. At the sight of the Lord in the clutches of the Kāliya snake, their intelligence became deranged by grief, lamentation and fear, and thus they fell to the ground. (10)

The cows, bulls and female calves, in great distress, called out piteously to Kṛṣṇa. Fixing their eyes on Him, they stood still in fear, as if ready to cry but too shocked to shed tears. (11) In the Vṛndāvana area there then arose all three types of fearful omensthose on the earth, those in the sky and those in the bodies of living creatureswhich announced imminent danger. (12) Seeing the inauspicious omens, Nanda Mahārāja and the other cowherd men were fearful, for they knew that Kṛṣṇa had gone to herd the cows that day without His elder brother, Balarāma. Because they had dedicated their minds to Kṛṣṇa, accepting Him as their very life, they were unaware of His great power and opulence. Thus they concluded that the in[1]auspicious omens indicated He had met with death, and they were overwhelmed with grief, lamentation and fear. All the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, including the children, women and elderly persons, thought of Kṛṣṇa just as a cow thinks of her helpless young calf, and thus these poor, suffering people rushed out of the village, intent upon finding Him. (13-15)

The Supreme Lord Balarāma, the master of all transcendental knowledge, smiled and said nothing when He saw the residents of Vṛndāvana in such distress, since He understood the extraordinary power of His younger brother. (16) The residents hurried toward the banks of the Yamunā in search of their dearmost Kṛṣṇa, following the path marked by His footprints, which bore the unique signs of the Personality of Godhead. (17) The footprints of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the master of the entire cowherd community, were marked with the lotus flower, barleycorn, elephant goad, thunderbolt and flag. My dear King Parīkṣit, seeing His footprints on the path among the cows’ hoofprints, the residents of Vṛndāvana rushed along in great haste. (18) As they hurried along the path to the bank of the Yamunā River, they saw from a distance that Kṛṣṇa was in the lake, motionless within the coils of the black serpent. They further saw that the cowherd boys had fallen unconscious and that the animals were standing on all sides, cry[1]ing out for Kṛṣṇa. Seeing all this, the residents of Vṛndāvana were overwhelmed with anguish and confusion. (19)

When the young gopīs, whose minds were constantly attached to Kṛṣṇa, the unlimited Supreme Lord, saw that He was now within the grips of the serpent, they remembered His loving friendship, His smiling glances and His talks with them. Burn[1]ing with great sorrow, they saw the entire uni[1]verse as void. (20) Although the elder gopīs were feeling just as much distress as she and were pouring forth a flood of sorrowful tears, they had to forcibly hold back Kṛṣṇa’s mother, whose consciousness was totally absorbed in her son. Standing like corpses, with their eyes fixed upon His face, these gopīs each took turns recounting the pastimes of the darling of Vraja. (21) Lord Balarāma then saw that Nanda Mahārāja and the other cowherd men, who had dedicated their very lives to Kṛṣṇa, were begin[1]ning to enter the serpent’s lake. As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Balarāma fully knew Lord Kṛṣṇa’s actual power, and therefore He restrained them. (22)

The Lord remained for some time within the coils of the serpent, imitating the behavior of an ordinary mortal. But when He understood that the women, children and other residents of His village of Gokula were in acute distress be[1]cause of their love for Him, their only shelter and goal in life, He immediately rose up from the bonds of the Kāliya serpent. (23) His coils tormented by the expanding body of the Lord, Kāliya released Him. In great anger the serpent then raised his hoods high and stood still, breathing heavily. His nostrils appeared like vessels for cooking poison, and the staring eyes in his face like firebrands. Thus the serpent looked at the Lord. (24) Again and again Kāliya licked his lips with his bifurcated tongues as He stared at Kṛṣṇa with a glance full of terrible, poisonous fire. But Kṛṣṇa playfully circled around him, just as Garuḍa would play with a snake. In response, Kāliya also moved about, looking for an opportunity to bite the Lord. (25)

Having severely depleted the serpent’s strength with His relentless circling, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the origin of everything, pushed down Kāliya’s raised shoulders and mounted his broad serpen[1]tine heads. Thus Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the original master of all fine arts, began to dance, His lotus feet deeply reddened by the touch of the numer[1]ous jewels upon the serpent’s heads. (26) See[1]ing the Lord dancing, His servants in the heav[1]enly planetsthe Gandharvas, Siddhas, sages, Cāraṇas and wives of the demigodsimmedi[1]ately arrived there. With great pleasure they be[1]gan accompanying the Lord’s dancing by play[1]ing drums such as mṛdaṅgas, paṇavas and ānakas. They also made offerings of songs, flowers and prayers. (27)

My dear King, Kāliya had 101 prominent heads, and when one of them would not bow down, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who inflicts punishment on cruel wrong-doers, would smash that stubborn head by striking it with His feet. Then, as Kāliya entered his death throes, he began wheeling his heads around and vomiting ghastly blood from his mouths and nostrils. The serpent thus experienced extreme pain and misery. (28) Exuding poisonous waste from his eyes, Kāliya, would occasionally dare to raise up one of his heads, which would breathe heavily with anger. Then the Lord would dance on it and subdue it, forcing it to bow down with His foot. The demigods took each of these exhibitions as an opportunity to worship Him, the primeval Personality of God[1]head, with showers of flowers. (29) My dear King Parīkṣit, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s wonderful, power[1]ful dancing trampled and broke all of Kāliya’s one thousand hoods. Then the serpent, pro[1]fusely vomiting blood from his mouths, finally recognized Śrī Kṛṣṇa to be the eternal Person[1]ality of Godhead, the supreme master of all moving and nonmoving beings, Śrī Nārāyaṇa. Thus within his mind Kāliya took shelter of the Lord. (30)

When Kāliya’s wives saw how the serpent had become so fatigued from the exces[1]sive weight of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who carries the en[1]tire universe in His abdomen, and how Kāliya’s umbrellalike hoods had been shattered by the striking of Kṛṣṇa’s heels, they felt great dis[1]tress. With their clothing, ornaments and hair scattered in disarray, they then approached the eternal Personality of Godhead. (31) Their minds very much disturbed, those saintly ladies placed their children before them and then bowed down to the Lord of all creatures, laying their bodies flat upon the ground. They desired the liberation of their sinful husband and the shelter of the Supreme Lord, the giver of ulti[1]mate shelter, and thus they folded their hands in supplication and approached Him. (32)

The wives of the Kāliya serpent said: The punishment this offender has been subjected to is certainly just. After all, You have incarnated within this world to curb down envious and cruel persons. You are so impartial that You look equally upon Your enemies and Your own sons, for when You impose a punishment on a living being You know it to be for his ultimate benefit. (33) What You have done here is actu[1]ally mercy for us, since the punishment You give to the wicked certainly drives away all their contamination. Indeed, because this con[1]ditioned soul, our husband, is so sinful that he has assumed the body of a serpent, Your anger toward him is obviously to be understood as Your mercy. (34)

Did our husband carefully perform austerities in a previous life, with his mind free of pride and full of respect for others? Is that why You are pleased with him? Or did he in some previous existence carefully execute religious duties with compassion for all living beings, and is that why You, the life of all living beings, are now satisfied with him? (35) O Lord, we do not know how the serpent Kāliya has attained this great opportunity of being touched by the dust of Your lotus feet. For this end, the goddess of fortune performed austeri[1]ties for centuries, giving up all other desires and observing austere vows. (36) Those who have attained the dust of Your lotus feet never hanker for the kingship of heaven, limitless sovereignty, the position of Brahmā or rul[1]ership over the earth. They are not interested even in the perfections of yoga or in liberation itself. (37)

O Lord, although this Kāliya, the king of the serpents, has taken birth in the mode of ignorance and is controlled by anger, he has achieved that which is difficult for others to achieve. Embodied souls, who are full of de[1]sires and are thus wandering in the cycle of birth and death, can have all benedictions man[1]ifested before their eyes simply by receiving the dust of Your lotus feet. (38) We offer our obeisances unto You, the Su[1]preme Personality of Godhead. Although pre[1]sent in the hearts of all living beings as the Su[1]persoul, You are all-pervasive. Although the original shelter of all created material elements, You exist prior to their creation. And although the cause of everything, You are transcendental to all material cause and effect, being the Su[1]preme Soul. (39)

Obeisances unto You, the Ab[1]solute Truth, who are the reservoir of all tran[1]scendental consciousness and potency and the possessor of unlimited energies. Although completely free of material qualities and trans[1]formations, You are the prime mover of mate[1]rial nature. (40) Obeisances unto You, who are time itself, the shelter of time and the witness of time in all its phases. You are the universe, and also its separate observer. You are its crea[1]tor, and also the totality of all its causes. (41)

Obeisances unto You, who are the ultimate soul of the physical elements, of the subtle basis of perception, of the senses, of the vital air of life, and of the mind, intelligence and conscious[1]ness. By Your arrangement the infinitesimal spirit souls falsely identify with the three modes of material nature, and their perception of their own true self thus becomes clouded. We offer our obeisances unto You, the unlim[1]ited Supreme Lord, the supremely subtle one, the omniscient Personality of Godhead, who are always fixed in unchanging transcendence, who sanction the opposing views of different philosophies, and who are the power upholding expressed ideas and the words that express them. (42-43)

We offer our obeisances again and again to You, who are the basis of all au[1]thoritative evidence, who are the author and ul[1]timate source of the revealed scriptures, and who have manifested Yourself in those Vedic literatures encouraging sense gratification as well as in those encouraging renunciation of the material world. (44) We offer our obeisances to Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Rāma, the sons of Vasudeva, and to Lord Pradyumna and Lord Aniruddha. We offer our respectful obeisances unto the master of all the saintly devotees of Viṣṇu. (45)

Obeisances to You, O Lord, who manifest varieties of material and spiritual qualities. You disguise Yourself with the mate[1]rial qualities, and yet the functioning of those same material qualities ultimately reveals Your existence. You stand apart from the material qualities as a witness and can be fully known only by Your devotees. (46) O Lord Hṛṣīkeśa, master of the senses, please let us offer our obeisances unto You, whose pastimes are in[1]conceivably glorious. Your existence can be in[1]ferred from the necessity for a creator and re[1]vealer of all cosmic manifestations. But alt[1]hough Your devotees can understand You in this way, to the nondevotees You remain silent, absorbed in self-satisfaction. (47)

Obeisances unto You, who know the destination of all things, superior and inferior, and who are the presiding regulator of all that be. You are dis[1]tinct from the universal creation, and yet You are the basis upon which the illusion of material creation evolves, and also the witness of this il[1]lusion. Indeed, You are the root cause of the en[1]tire world. (48) O almighty Lord, although You have no rea[1]son to become involved in material activity, still You act through Your eternal potency of time to arrange for the creation, maintenance and destruction of this universe. You do this by awakening the distinct functions of each of the modes of nature, which before the creation lie dormant. Simply by Your glance You perfectly execute all these activities of cosmic control in a sporting mood. (49)

Therefore, all material bodies throughout the three worldsthose that are peaceful, in the mode of goodness; those that are agitated, in the mode of passion; and those that are foolish, in the mode of igno[1]ranceall are Your creations. Still, those living entities whose bodies are in the mode of good[1]ness are especially dear to You, and it is to maintain them and protect their religious prin[1]ciples that You are now present on the earth. (50) At least once, a master should tolerate an offense committed by his child or subject. O su[1]preme peaceful Soul, You should therefore for[1]give our foolish husband, who did not under[1]stand who You are. (51) O Supreme Lord, please be merciful. It is proper for the saintly to feel compassion for women like us. This ser[1]pent is about to give up his life. Please give us back our husband, who is our life and soul. (52)

Now please tell us, Your maidservants, what we should do. Certainly anyone who faithfully executes Your order is automatically freed from all fear. (53) Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thus praised by the Nāgapatnīs, the Supreme Personality of Godhead released the serpent Kāliya, who had fallen unconscious, his heads battered by the striking of the Lord’s lotus feet. (54) Kāliya slowly regained his vital force and sensory functions. Then, breathing loudly and pain[1]fully, the poor serpent addressed Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in hum[1]ble submission. (55) The serpent Kāliya said: Our very birth as a snake has made us envious, ignorant and constantly angry. O my Lord, it is so difficult for people to give up their conditioned nature, by which they identify with that which is unreal. (56)

O supreme creator, it is You who generate this universe, composed of the variegated ar[1]rangement of the material modes, and in the process You manifest various kinds of person[1]alities and species, varieties of sensory and physical strength, and varieties of mothers and fathers with variegated mentalities and forms. (57) O Supreme Personality of Godhead, among all the species within Your material cre[1]ation, we serpents are by nature always en[1]raged. Being thus deluded by Your illusory en[1]ergy, which is very difficult to give up, how can we possibly give it up on our own? (58) O Lord, since You are the omniscient Lord of the uni[1]verse, You are the actual cause of freedom from illusion. Please arrange for us whatever You consider proper, whether it be mercy or punish[1]ment. (59)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After hearing Kāliya’s words, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was acting the role of a human being, replied: O serpent, you may not remain here any longer. Go back to the ocean immedi[1]ately, accompanied by your retinue of children, wives, other relatives and friends. Let this river be enjoyed by the cows and humans. (60) If a mortal being attentively remembers My com[1]mand to youto leave Vṛndāvana and go to the oceanand narrates this account at sunrise and sunset, he will never be afraid of you. (61) If one bathes in this place of My pastimes and of[1]fers the water of this lake to the demigods and other worshipable personalities, or if one ob[1]serves a fast and duly worships and remembers Me, he is sure to become free from all sinful reactions. (62) Out of fear of Garuḍa, you left Ramaṇaka Island and came to take shelter of this lake. But because you are now marked with My footprints, Garuḍa will no longer try to eat you. (63)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, having been released by Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose activ[1]ities are wonderful, Kāliya joined his wives in worshiping Him with great joy and reverence. (64) Kāliya worshiped the Lord of the universe by offering Him fine garments, along with necklaces, jewels and other valuable orna[1]ments, wonderful scents and ointments, and a large garland of lotus flowers. Having thus pleased the Lord, whose flag is marked with the emblem of Garuḍa, Kāliya felt satisfied. Re[1]ceiving the Lord’s permission to leave, Kāliya circumambulated Him and offered Him obei[1]sances. Then, taking his wives, friends and chil[1]dren, he went to his island in the sea. The very moment Kāliya left, the Yamunā was immedi[1]ately restored to her original condition, free from poison and full of nectarean water. This happened by the mercy of the Supreme Person[1]ality of Godhead, who was manifesting a hu[1]manlike form to enjoy His pastimes. (65