Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.16.6
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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khala
—
the wicked
The envious, the cruel. In Gītā 4.8 Kṛṣṇa Himself names the destruction of duṣkṛtām as part of His descent; here the chapter pauses to remind us that this is what an avatāra is for.
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saṁyamana
—
restraining, subduing
From sam+yam — to bring under control. Not annihilation but restraint — consistent with the Lord finally banishing rather than killing Kāliya.
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avatāraḥ
—
descent
From ava+tṝ — to cross down. The verse names the doctrine of avatāra in passing: Bhagavān descends specifically to subdue the demoniac and protect the devoted (Gītā 4.7–8).
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kadambam
—
the kadamba tree
Vraja's signature tree — the same kadamba groves where the flute is played and the gopīs gather. Kṛṣṇa's jumping-off point is not a battle perch but a familiar branch of His own forest.
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gāḍha - raśanaḥ
—
tightening His belt
Compound: gāḍha (firmly) + raśanaḥ (girdle, belt). The wrestler's gesture. Kṛṣṇa enters the fight with the body-language of a Vraja boy, not a celestial warrior.
According to the ācāryas, Lord Kṛṣṇa also tied back the locks of His hair as He prepared to do battle with Kāliya.
Only the kadamba tree remained unaffected by the poison of Kaliya, because according to the puranas, Garuda sat in this tree when taking nectar. It remained there to get the blessing of the touch of Krsna’s lotus feet in the future.
Seeing the power of the poison with no remedy (caṇḍa) and spreading quickly, and the river contaminated by Kāliya, Kṛṣṇa climbed to the top of a kadamba tree. This is understood from Hari-vaṁśa. He tied up his hair, ornaments etc. Hari-vaṁśa says he bound his waist band tightly. He jumped into the water because he had appeared from his own planet (including within him all other avatāras such as Matsya who can swim) to defeat the wicked (khala-saṁyamanāvatāraḥ)--to defeat Kāliya. Why did the kadamba tree remain on the bank when everything else died? Since it was Kṛṣṇa’s tree, it was similar to him: kadambaḥ krṣṇa-vṛkṣo hi kāḷiya-hrada-samīpagaḥ tasmad eko ‘na śuṣko sau viṣa-hāra-karaḥ parān The kadamba tree near the Kāliya Lake was Kṛṣṇa’s tree. Therefore it alone did not wither away since it could remove the poison from others. One should understand that Kṛṣṇa kept this tree at this place of his pastimes. It should be understood from the statement in Hari-vaṁśa that other tress nearby did not die because of the kadamba.
Seeing the power of the poison with no remedy (caṇḍa) and spreading quickly, and the river contaminated by Kāliya, Kṛṣṇa climbed to the top of a kadamba tree. This is understood from Hari-vaṁśa. He tied up his hair, ornaments etc. Hari-vaṁśa says he bound his waist band tightly. He jumped into the water because he had appeared from his own planet (including within him all other avatāras such as Matsya who can swim) to defeat the wicked (khala-saṁyamanāvatāraḥ)--to defeat Kāliya. Why did the kadamba tree remain on the bank when everything else died? Since it was Kṛṣṇa’s tree, it was similar to him: kadambaḥ krṣṇa-vṛkṣo hi kāḷiya-hrada-samīpagaḥ tasmad eko ‘na śuṣko sau viṣa-hāra-karaḥ parān The kadamba tree near the Kāliya Lake was Kṛṣṇa’s tree. Therefore it alone did not wither away since it could remove the poison from others. One should understand that Kṛṣṇa kept this tree at this place of his pastimes. It should be understood from the statement in Hari-vaṁśa that other tress nearby did not die because of the kadamba.
Like a wrestler tightening his belt before stepping into the arena, Kṛṣṇa climbs the kadamba, slaps His arms, and dives. He has not come to negotiate with Kāliya. The avatāra's whole reason for descent — khala-saṁyamana, restraining the wicked — is being enacted in a single leap from a tree.
My note
Source: vedabase.io