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At Kaliya-hrada Lord Krishna jumped from a big Kadamba Tree into
the Yamuna river, in order to chastise the Kaliya serpent who
was poisoning the waters of the river. The Kadamba tree that is
here is said to be the exact same tree that Krishna jumped from,
5,000 years ago even though the Yamuna does not flow here anymore,
except during the rainy season when the river floods.
Lord Krishna came to know that a very large and poisonous
serpent had made its home in a lagoon on the Yamuna river. Because
the serpent was so poisonous, not only all the fish died, but
even the trees and grass surrounding the lake were dying. When
birds flew over the area, they immediately dropped dead and fell
into the lake, due to the highly poisonous vapors emanating from
the water.
In that time, there were many frightful demons, who had all kinds
of mystic powers. Lord Krishna had specifically appeared to rid
the world of all these disturbing elements. The Lord came to this
place with His cowherd boyfriends and decided to confront the
king of the snakes. He climbed the large Kadamba tree and from
there, jumped into the poisonous waters of the Yamuna.
Lord Krishna then began splashing about and making very lous noises
just to disturb the Kaliya serpent. Sure enough, the Kaliya snake
came up to the surface to see who was attacking his home. This
huge black serpent Kaliya (Kaliya means black) possessed over
one hundred hoods, each bedecked with a precious gem. When he
breathed, fire emanated from his nostrils. He suddenly seized
Krishna in his powerful coils, and bound the Lord as tightly as
possible. But unfortunately this serpent did not realize that
within its coils was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, playing
as a child and enjoying His earthly pastimes in the transcendental
land of Vrindavana. Without warning, Krishna, the Supreme Mystic,
started to expand His body, and Kaliya, who began to feel the
incredible pressure, was forced to release the Lord from his deadly
coils. Krishna then jumped on to the hoods of the great serpent
and started to dance, stamping His foot down on the heads of the
snake demon, Kaliya.
This stamping of Krishna, felt to Kaliya serpent like Indra's
thunderbolt striking a mountain. The Lord jumped from one hood
to another, and Kaliya felt helpless and bewildered; in anger
he spat fire from his many mouths but the Lord was so dexterous
that His dancing movements caused the-snake to become dizzy. After
so many kicks from the Lord, kaliya started to first vomit blood,
and then refuse, before becoming almost unconscious. At that time,
the many wives of the Kaliya Kaliya serpent appeared and begged
the Lord with folded hands to spare their husband. Krishna decided
to banish Kaliya to the great ocean never to return again. Thereafter,
the giant snake along with bhis wives, departed forever, and the
transcendental Lord re-joined His cowherd boyfriends on the bank
of the Yamuna, to continue their wonderful pastimes in the land
of Vrindavana.
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