FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.16.5

विप्रुष्मता विषदोर्मिमारुतेनाभिमर्शिता: । म्रियन्ते तीरगा यस्य प्राणिन: स्थिरजङ्गमा: ॥ ५ ॥
vipruṣmatā viṣadormi-
[viprushmataa vishadormi-]
mārutenābhimarśitāḥ
[maarutenaabhimarshitaah]
mriyante tīra-gā yasya
[mriyante teera-gaa yasya]
prāṇinaḥ sthira-jaṅgamāḥ
[praaninah sthira-jangamaah]
vipruṭ - matā — containing droplets of the water viṣa - da — poisonous ūrmi — (having touched) the waves mārutena — by the wind abhimarśitāḥ — contacted mriyante — would die tīra - gāḥ — present upon the shore yasya — of which prāṇinaḥ — all living entities sthira - jaṅgamāḥ — both nonmoving and moving .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
vipruṣmatā viṣadormi-
vipruṭ - matā
containing droplets of the water
viṣa - da
poisonous
ūrmi
(having touched) the waves
mārutenābhimarśitāḥ
mārutena
by the wind
abhimarśitāḥ
contacted
mriyante tīra-gā yasya
mriyante
would die
tīra - gāḥ
present upon the shore
yasya
of which
prāṇinaḥ sthira-jaṅgamāḥ
prāṇinaḥ
all living entities
sthira - jaṅgamāḥ
both nonmoving and moving .
  • viṣa - da — poison-giving
    Compound: viṣa (poison) + da (giving). The serpent doesn't merely possess poison; he distributes it. Gauḍīya reading: the demoniac is not a private sinner but a contaminator of community.
  • mārutena — by the wind
    The medium of unseen contagion. Vraja is a place where even the wind is supposed to carry Kṛṣṇa's flute; here it carries Kāliya's death. The reversal demands the Lord's act.
  • sthira - jaṅgamāḥ — stationary and moving (beings)
    Compound: sthira (immovable, plants) + jaṅgama (moving, animals). All categories of life. The contamination is total — only a total response (the Lord Himself) will do.
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.

The word sthira, “unmoving creatures,” refers to various types of vegetation including trees, and jaṅgama refers to moving creatures such as animals, reptiles, birds and insects. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has quoted a further description of this lake from the Śrī Hari-vaṁśa ( Viṣṇu-parva 11.42, 11.44 and 11.46): dīrghaṁ yojana-vistāraṁ dustaraṁ tridaśair api gambhīram akṣobhya-jalaṁ niṣkampam iva sāgaram duḥkhopasarpaṁ tīreṣu sa-sarpair vipulair bilaiḥ viṣāraṇi-bhavasyāgner dhūmena pariveṣṭitam tṛṇeṣv api patatsv apsu jvalantam iva tejasā samantād yojanaṁ sāgraṁ tīreṣv api durāsadam “The lake was quite wide — eight miles across at some points — and even the demigods could not cross over it. The water in the lake was very deep and, like the immovable depths of the ocean, could not be agitated. Approaching the lake was difficult, for its shores were covered with holes in which serpents lived. All around the lake was a fog generated by the fire of the serpents’ poison, and this powerful fire would at once burn up every blade of grass that happened to fall into the water. For a distance of eight miles from the lake, the atmosphere was most unpleasant.” Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī states that by the mystical science of jala-stambha, making solid items out of water, Kāliya had built his own city within the lake.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
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.
Commentary

Moving and non moving entities died even upon touching (abhimarsita) the wind which had touched the poisonous waves and was filled with the poison water drops (viprusmata).

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

The wind was filled with drops of poisonous water because the foam and bubbles would rise from the lake quickly at all times because the water was boiling. Thus the wind was burning with poison also. Hari-vaṁśa describes other details. dīrghaṁ yojana-vistāraṁ dustaraṁ tridaśair api gambhīram akṣobhya-jalaṁ niṣkampam iva sāgaram duḥkhopasarpaṁ tīreṣu sa-sarpair vipulair bilaiḥ viṣāraṇi-bhavasyāgner dhūmena pariveṣṭitam tṛṇeṣv api patatsv apsu jvalantam iva tejasā samantād yojanaṁ sāgraṁ tīreṣv api durāsadam The lake was quite wide—eight miles across at some points—and even the devatās could not cross over it. The water in the lake was very deep and, like the immovable depths of the ocean, could not be agitated. Approaching the lake was difficult, for its shores were covered with holes in which serpents lived. All around the lake was a fog generated by the fire of the serpents’ poison, and this powerful fire would at once burn up every blade of grass that happened to fall into the water. For a distance of eight miles from the lake, the shore could not be approached. Kāliya lived in a cave in the ground, or within the water, by using powers to stop the water from entering.

Related values
Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Tejas (Inner Radiance / Vigour)Dhairya (Composure / Courage)Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Hrih (Modesty / Sense of Shame)
Related verses
Even the breeze over Kāliya's lake killed vegetation and creatures on the shore. Toxicity spreads outward; what we do not address poisons those nearby. The cost is never strictly internal.
Reflection Questions
  • Whose growth is being stunted by toxic breezes drifting off something I haven't addressed in me?
  • What 'shore' near me has gone strangely dead, and why?

The poison did not need to be drunk — only breathed. Bad association is like this: not requiring agreement, only proximity. The wind off Kāliya's lake kills what merely touches its breeze. So sat-saṅga and asat-saṅga are decided by what air one breathes.

📝 My note

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