• kālindyāḥ — of the river Yamunā
  Yamunā as daughter of the sun-god Kālinda. In Vraja-līlā she is the goddess of nikuñja and rāsa, the very water Kṛṣṇa plays in. The poison here is doctrinally outrageous: the rasa-river of Vraja is being polluted by a fugitive. The chapter is the cleansing.
• hradam — a deep lake
  A deep pool, the gathered-up still place. The same word for the depth from which Kṛṣṇa later rises in verses 13–14. Geography becomes theology: the depth that hides the serpent is the same depth from which Bhagavān emerges resplendent.
• vihvalaḥ — distraught, overwhelmed
  From vi + √hval (to stagger). The serpent's swagger is gone; the fang-bearer is now staggering. Gauḍīyas note: it takes only one stroke from a Vaiṣṇava to break the proud jīva — but he runs to the wrong shelter.
• tat-agamyam — unapproachable by him
  Compound: tat (him, Garuḍa) + agamya (not-to-be-gone-to). The lake's defining feature is Garuḍa's absence. Kāliya defines his refuge negatively — by who cannot reach him — rather than positively by Whom it belongs to. False śaraṇa always has this shape.
• durāsadam — difficult to approach
  Compound: duḥ (hard) + āsada (to be approached). The same root that names difficulty in approaching Bhagavān; here, ironically, what is hard to approach is the snake's hideout. The chapter will overturn this: Kṛṣṇa approaches what Garuḍa could not.

Beaten by the servant, Kāliya retreats into the one place the servant cannot follow — exploiting a loophole bought by an earlier curse. This is the rebel's strategy: hide inside a corner of dharma where the servant's writ has been suspended. But the loophole only buys time; the Master Himself is not bound by it, and He is on His way.