Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.16.4
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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kālindyām
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in the river Yamunā
Yamunā as daughter of Kalinda mountain. The river that will bear Kṛṣṇa's footprint, witness the rāsa-līlā, and receive the infant Kṛṣṇa's crossing in 10.3 — Vraja's central waterbody.
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kāliyasya
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of the serpent Kāliya
The name itself echoes kāla (time, blackness) — fitting for a poisoner of waters. Gauḍīya readers see in him the type of the envious heart that defiles what Kṛṣṇa loves.
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viṣa
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poison
Recurs throughout the chapter as the signature of demoniac contamination. The Lord's līlā is precisely to neutralize viṣa with His foot-dust.
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khagāḥ
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birds (flying overhead)
Even creatures of the sky fall — the contamination reaches upward. Vraja's air itself is endangered. This sets the stakes for the Lord's descent.
In this regard the ācāryas explain that the Kāliya lake was situated apart from the main current of the river; otherwise the Yamunā’s waters would have been poisonous even in cities like Mathurā and in other places farther away.
According to the Hari vamsa, the lake in the Yamuna was about one yojana wide, situated in the south part, where the Yamuna currents did not flow. If it were not so, the poisonous waters would also inconveniently flow towards the residents of Mathura. The waters of the lake were boiling hot (srapyamana).
Hearing Parīkṣit, full of affection because of having a similar mind, he speaks while thinking he should reveal everything, whether happy or sad, to such a person. He then related the story, which, for himself, was full of sorrow, since it brought sorrow to the people of Vraja, but he repeated everything he heard like a parrot. He did not elaborate on the details of the story elsewhere. The lake arose from within the Yamunā in its southern portion and flowed north in a separate stream, otherwise the Yādavas of Mathurā would also have been poisoned. The fire from the poison made the waters boil. The birds flying overhead even at a great height fell into the lake.
There was a lake of Kāliya in the Yamunā. It was a pool in the southern area, and joined the Yamunā which flowed from the north. Otherwise, the poison water would spread to Mathurā and the Yādavas. Āsīt is in the past tense, because it describes Kāḷiya’s relationship which was temporary. Kaścit indicates one lake or some indescribable lake. Its indescribable nature is described. Birds flying high in the sky fell into the lake because of the poison. This means the poison spread far away.
A single black serpent has made the river so hot that her own waves cook themselves. The poison is not merely physical; it is what the demoniac always does — corrupt the very element meant to give life. Kṛṣṇa's intervention will not be a chemical treatment but a personal arrival.
My note
Source: vedabase.io