Two Reasons Kaliya Was Treated Differently By Krishna

“Our dear Lord, we are offering our loving service unto You because we are all eternal servitors of Your Lordship. You can order us and ask us to do whatever You please. Every living being can be relieved from all kinds of despair if he agrees to abide by Your orders.” (Nagapatnis offering prayers to Krishna, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Volume 1, Chapter 16)

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It was not your typical childhood. Then again, it was not your typical child. This was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appearing in His avatara of Krishna. One external cause, if insisting upon one, was to deal with the rise of miscreants. Those wedded to adharma, who were giving trouble to the sadhus, required a special kind of intervention. The foster son of Nanda and Yashoda was set to deliver. And deliver He did, time and again. Amongst the many triumphs, an astute observer notices that the encounter with one particular adversary happened to go a different way.

परित्राणाय साधूनां
विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्
धर्म-संस्थापनार्थाय
सम्भवामि युगे युगे

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ
vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya
sambhavāmi yuge yuge

“In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.8)

Imagine that you feel the blessings from above, in the gift of a brand new child. The most adored and cherished son, the one known as Krishna. It was like magic that He appeared to you, and you can’t get enough of His charming face. Everything He does is spellbinding. It is like Krishna has the entire community of Gokula wrapped around His finger.

There is just one problem. It is in the vision of omens. It is not the most welcome sight to find your son right in the middle of dangerous crashes. There was the cart. No other immediate cause. Somehow, though Krishna is only an infant, He was not hurt when the cart collapsed near Him. There was the female witch named Putana. She had arrived in disguise. She resembled a goddess. Her intent was wicked, though. She wanted to feed poison to baby Krishna. She then transformed into this giant ogre-like creature, who came crashing to the ground. Krishna was so much at peace that He was found crawling on her dead body.

Then there were the two trees. Krishna was bound to a mortar by His mother. Yashoda decided on this specific punishment, as the chanchala nature in Krishna was getting to be too much. He was only bound for a brief period of time. Now known through the additional name of Damodara, Krishna managed to be right at the center of two trees. The mortar was there, as well. How was this happening? It was then that the leaders of the community decided to move. Changing places to eliminate the risk of danger.

स्थानेनेह न नः कार्यं व्रजामो ऽन्यन् महावनम्
उत्पाता बहवो ह्य् अत्र दृश्यन्ते नाशहेतवः

पूतनाया विनाशश् च शकटस्य विपर्ययः
विना वातादिदोषेण द्रुमयोः पतनं तथा

वृन्दावनम् इतः स्थानात् तस्माद् गच्छाम मा चिरम्
यावद् भौममहोत्पातदोषो नाभिभवेद् व्रजम्

sthāneneha na naḥ kāryaṃ vrajāmo ‘nyan mahāvanam
utpātā bahavo hy atra dṛśyante nāśahetavaḥ

pūtanāyā vināśaś ca śakaṭasya viparyayaḥ
vinā vātādidoṣeṇa drumayoḥ patanaṃ tathā

vṛndāvanam itaḥ sthānāt tasmād gacchāma mā ciram
yāvad bhaumamahotpātadoṣo nābhibhaved vrajam

“It is not proper to remain in this place. Let us go to another great forest, as here we have seen numerous calamities which are causes of ruin. The destruction of Putana and the reversal of the cart, and similarly the falling of the trees without the intervention of the wind. Therefore, let us without delay depart from Gokula to Vrindavana, where the earthly calamities will not overpower us.” (Vishnu Purana, 5.6.22-24)

In this situation, as a loving parent you are unaware that the wicked king of Mathura is behind the intrusions. He is responsible for Krishna coming close to death. Except Krishna escapes each time. You do not realize Krishna’s Divine identity, due to the auspiciously overpowering energy of yogamaya.

1. He was not there to attack Krishna

The previous attacks ended in defeat. Kamsa failed. The people he sent ended up getting killed directly by Krishna. The encounter with the serpent named Kaliya was different. There was a struggle. There was a fight that everyone could see. The first difference is that Kaliya was not there to cause trouble. He appeared in Vrindavana, at the Yamuna River, out of fear. He was like a refugee to the area.

The problem was incompatibility in natures. Kaliya’s presence was still poisonous. This led to a dangerous situation in the Yamuna River. The cowherd boys and the children of the cows were seen drinking the poisoned waters. They were directly affected. Krishna saw what was going on and decided to leap into the water, using a tree as a launching pad.

2. His wives prayed to Krishna

The similarity with previous encounters was that the fight did not look fair. A female witch should have easily taken care of a dependent baby. A heavy cart carrying utensils and other pointed objects should have harmed an infant on impact. The twin trees easily could have hurt Krishna, who was already handicapped. His belly was literally tied to a mortar.

But Krishna had no issue. He retains His potency in whatever visual He gives. With Kaliya, it first looked like disaster. The serpent had Krishna in its coils. Of course, the situation then turned around. It was Krishna who showed the triumphant pose of dancing on the hoods of the serpent. Unlike the asuras who came to attack in Gokula, Kaliya was not killed.

This is because Kaliya’s wives, known as the Nagapatnis, offered prayers of pacification. They won Krishna over with their devotion. Krishna not only stopped the fight but also left Kaliya with the best parting gift. The marks of Krishna’s lotus feet would be both a token of remembrance for the incident and also a symbol of protection if Garuda should be inimical in the future.

विपन्नान् विषपानेन निगृह्य भुजगाधिपम्
उत्थाप्यापाययद्गावस्तत्तोयं प्रकृतिस्थितम्

vipannān viṣa-pānena
nigṛhya bhujagādhipam
utthāpyāpāyayad gāvas
tat toyaṁ prakṛti-sthitam

“The inhabitants of Vrindavana were perplexed by great difficulties because a certain portion of the Yamuna was poisoned by the chief of the reptiles [Kaliya]. The Lord chastised the snake-king within the water and drove him away, and after coming out of the river, He caused the cows to drink the water and proved that the water was again in its natural state.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3.2.31)

In Closing:

Despite risk to life,
And unfair the fight.

With clemency still,
Kaliya not to kill.

Because wives prayers in pacification,
Krishna with His own determination.

Incident in contrast stark,
Now left with sacred mark.