This verse describes how Krsna got free of Kaliya and how Kaliya’s powers weakened. Kaliya let go of Krsna because he was pained (vyatthita) by the expanding body of Krsna (prathyamana vapusa), which had previously been much smaller. Freeing Krsna, the snake raised his huge hood, and breathing heavily stared at Krsna. His nostrils were full of poison, his glaring eyes were like flaming pots of poison, and his mouths emitted fire balls.

This verse describes how he released himself. Kāliya became fatigued. By Kṛṣṇa slightly expanding his body the snake’s coils began to ache as if being torn. The word ātmā indicates that Kāliya identified with his body and thus felt extreme pain. He raised his hoods. The word sva indicates the hoods’ extraordinary nature (he had great regard for them). His nostrils were like fiery vessels. He glared at the Lord who would take away his false pride (harim) or who would take away his residence.

This verse describes how he released himself. Kāliya became fatigued. By Kṛṣṇa slightly expanding his body, the snake’s coils began to ache as if being torn. The word ātmā indicates that Kāliya identified with his body and thus felt extreme pain. Kṛṣṇa’s body was bound tightly by the coils. When Kṛṣṇa expanded his body the snake began breathing loudly because of anger arising from pain inflicted on his coils. His nostrils were filled with poison and thus, by breathing heavily, he released more poison. His nostrils were like pots of poison. His glances were red, filled with poison. He released flames of poison from his mouth (ulmuka-mukhaḥ). The descriptions become more and more fearsome. The descriptions portray more poisonous aspects of the snake then previous ones. The snake glared at Kṛṣṇa who was eager to take away Kāliya’s residence (harim) or remove his bad qualities. The real meaning is that the snake did not feel pain (avyathita). He was angry out of affection because Kṛṣṇa quickly separated from his embrace. He looked at Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa was most attractive. His heavy breathing was a sāttvika-bhāva. His nostrils holding pots of poison and his mouth emitting flames are natural qualities of the snake.