Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.16.2
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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agādhe
—
in the unfathomable (lake)
Bottomless. The Yamunā's poisoned pool is depthless — like saṁsāra itself. Only Bhagavān's descent reaches the bottom.
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nyagṛhṇāt
—
subdued, restrained
From ni+grah — to take firm hold of. Kṛṣṇa's nigraha (chastisement) is itself anugraha (mercy), a doctrine the Nāga-patnīs will unfold in verse 34.
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bahu - yuga
—
for many ages
Compound: bahu (many) + yuga (cosmic age). Establishes that even long-standing contamination is no obstacle for Bhagavān's līlā — a hope for sinners conditioned for ages.
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kathyatām
—
please narrate
Imperative passive — let it be told. Hearing (śravaṇam) is the first limb of nava-vidhā bhakti; Parīkṣit performs it even at death's door.
Please tell (kathyatam) with great intensity (vipra), how Kaliya was able to live there for so many yugas (mabhu yugavasam yathasit).
By what method (katham) did Bhagavān, who can act using all methods whatever, subdue the serpent? Vai means “and.” Please relate how he had been living (āvāsam) for many yugas there. Since this was a well-known fact, Parīkṣit mentioned it (though Śukadeva had not told him). O learned brāhmaṇa, expert in the highest knowledge (vipra)! Yājṣavalkya says: janmanā brāhmaṇo jṣeyaḥ saṁskārair dvija ucyate vidyayā yāti vipratvaṁ tribhiḥ śrotriya-lakṣaṇam A person is known as a brāhmaṇa by birth and as a dvija by saṁskāras. By knowledge he is becomes a vipra, and by knowledge of the three Vedas he becomes a śrotriya.
Vai means “and.” How was it that Kāliya lived so long in the lake contaminating it? This was well known, or if he had not been there a long time, it would not be so contaminated. O sage, master of persons like me (bhagavān)! He exclaims this out of bliss. He exclaims in this way in sorrow to express the suffering involved in punishing Kāliiya living deep in the water. Narrate this in detail, and excellently (vipra-kathyatām). Or narrate it to particularly (vi) satisfy all desires (pra). Or vipra is an address to Śukadeva, meaning “O person who can fulfill my desires!”
Parīkṣit asks not because he doubts but because he is dying — seven days from a serpent's bite, he wants to hear how Kṛṣṇa once handled a serpent. The dying king's question is itself a model: when death is near, ask only kṛṣṇa-kathā.
Cursed by a brāhmaṇa boy to die in seven days from the snake Takṣaka's bite, Mahārāja Parīkṣit sat down on the bank of the Ganges and took the Bhāgavatam from Śukadeva's mouth. He did not flinch, did not negotiate, did not flee.
In this chapter, the dying king who awaits a serpent asks how the Lord chastised a serpent — and Śukadeva, knowing the symmetry, will tell him. The Gauḍīya frame: at death, kṛṣṇa-kathā is the only protection against the snake of time.
My note
Source: vedabase.io