FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.26.12

आशीविषतमाहीन्द्रं दमित्वा विमदं ह्रदात् । प्रसह्योद्वास्य यमुनां चक्रेऽसौ निर्विषोदकाम् ॥ १२ ॥
āśī-viṣatamāhīndraṁ
[aashee-vishatamaaheendram]
damitvā vimadaṁ hradāt
[damitvaa vimadam hradaat]
prasahyodvāsya yamunāṁ
[prasahyodvaasya yamunaam]
cakre ’sau nirviṣodakām
[chakre ’sau nirvishodakaam]
āśī — of his fangs viṣa - tama — having the most powerful poison ahi — of the snakes indram — the chief damitvā — subduing vimadam — whose pride was removed hradāt — from the lake prasahya — by force udvāsya — sending him away yamunām — the river Yamunā cakre — made asau — He nirviṣa — free from poison udakām — its water .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
āśī-viṣatamāhīndraṁ
āśī
of his fangs
viṣa - tama
having the most powerful poison
ahi
of the snakes
indram
the chief
damitvā vimadaṁ hradāt
damitvā
subduing
vimadam
whose pride was removed
hradāt
from the lake
prasahyodvāsya yamunāṁ
prasahya
by force
udvāsya
sending him away
yamunām
the river Yamunā
cakre ’sau nirviṣodakām
cakre
made
asau
He
nirviṣa
free from poison
udakām
its water .
  • indram — the chief
    Accusative of indra — chief, ruler. Kāliya was the indra of serpents; the title underscores that Kṛṣṇa addresses the head, not the rank-and-file. Vraja-līlā teaches: meet the root of evil at the root.
  • damitvā — subduing
    Gerund of √dam — to discipline. Kṛṣṇa's relation to enmity is damana, not destruction; He chastens and releases. Kāliya departs alive, his pride gone, the kalpa-tree of his bondage uprooted.
  • vimadam — whose pride was removed
    Vi (without) + mada (intoxication, pride). The exact word — pride is the only real poison; Kṛṣṇa's foot on the hood is mada-bhañjana, the breaking of intoxication.
  • yamunām — the river Yamunā
    Yamunā — daughter of Sūrya, sister of Yama. Gauḻīyas worship her as a goddess and as Kṛṣṇa's beloved tīrtha — the river that bears His pastimes downstream still.
  • nirviṣa — free from poison
    Nir (without) + viṣa (poison). Restored Yamunā is the chapter's running metaphor — the heart's river cleansed by His feet. The Bhāgavatam uses nirviṣa elsewhere for the cleansed mind in which Kṛṣṇa-līlā can be remembered.
Kṛṣṇa chastised the most poisonous serpent, Kāliya, and after humbling him He drove him forcibly from the lake of the Yamunā. In this way the Lord made the water of that river free of the snake’s powerful poison.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Kṛṣṇa chastised the most poisonous serpent, Kāliya, and after humbling him He drove him forcibly from the lake of the Yamunā. In this way the Lord made the water of that river free of the snake's powerful poison.
Commentary

How could this little boy destroy the pride of the most poisonous king of the snakes so that he left the lake?

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Kṛṣṇa subdued Kāliya while destroying his pride (vimadam). Or, he sent him, free of pride, from the lake.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Prema (Divine Love)
Related verses
Concepts
Jiva
Kṛṣṇa chastised Kāliya and drove him forcibly from the Yamunā lake, freeing the river from poison. The Lord doesn't just neutralize the threat; He restores the river's original sweetness for ordinary use.
Reflection Questions
  • Which 'river' in my life is awaiting full restoration after a serpent's removal?
  • Where am I treating the threat-end as the full work when restoration is still pending?

A river of poison runs through your village, killing birds in mid-flight — until a small boy descends into its depths and dances on the head of the serpent that lives there, until the serpent bows. The Yamunā that the gopīs now bathe in flows clean because a seven-year-old made a stage of a snake's hood.

Kāliya in the Yamunā

Kāliya, a many-hooded serpent, had poisoned a deep pool of the Yamunā so that no creature could approach (SB 10.16). Kṛṣṇa leapt from a kadamba tree into the pool, let Himself be coiled, then danced on each of the serpent's hoods until they bled and bowed. Kāliya's wives prayed; Kṛṣṇa banished him to Ramaṇaka Dvīpa.

Gauḻīyas treat Kāliya-damana as Kṛṣṇa cleansing the heart-river of the sādhaka — every coiled serpent of pride is danced into submission by His feet placed on its head.

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