Sacred Places of
Interest
Introduction
Krishna Balarama Mandir and ISKCON
Kaliya Ghata
Radha Madan Mohan Banke
Bihari Radha Vallabha
Seva Kunja
Imli Tala Radha
Damodara, Jiva and Rupa Goswami's Samadhi's and Bhajan Kutira
Radha Syamasundara Radha
Raman Radha Gokulanada
Kesi Ghata
Radha Gopinatha Gopisvara
Mahadeva Vamsi Vata
Radha Govinda
Nandagram Varsana
Parikrama Map
Here, Lord Krishna jumped from a big Kadamba
tree into the Yamuna River, in order to chastise the Kaliya serpent who was
poisoning the waters of the river. The kadamba
tree that Krishna climbed is still here, even though the Yamuna does not
flow here anymore, except during the rainy season when the river floods.
Lord Krishna came to know that a very
large and poisonous serpent had made its home in a lagoon on the Yamuna River.
Because the serpent was so poisonous, not only all the fish died, but even the
trees and grass surrounding the lake were dying. When birds flew over the area,
they immediately dropped dead and fell into the lake, due to the highly
poisonous vapors emanating from the water.
In that time, there were many
frightful demons, who had all kinds of mystic powers. Lord Krishna had
specifically appeared to rid the world of all these disturbing elements. The
Lord came to this place with His cowherd boyfriends and decided to confront the
king of the snakes. He climbed the large kadamba
tree and from there, jumped into the poisonous waters of the Yamuna.
Lord Krishna then began splashing
about and making very loud noises just to disturb the Kaliya serpent. Sure
enough, the Kaliya snake came up to the surface to see who was attacking his
home. This huge black serpent Kaliya, (Kaliya means black) possessed over one
hundred hoods, each bedecked with a precious gem. When he breathed, fire
emanated from his nostrils. He suddenly seized Krishna in his powerful coils,
and bound the Lord as tightly as possible. But unfortunately this serpent did
not realize that within its coils was the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
playing as a child and enjoying His earthly pastimes in the transcendental land
of Vrndavana.
Without warning, Krishna, the Supreme Mystic, started to expand
His body, and Kaliya, who began to feel the incredible pressure, was forced to
release the Lord from his deadly coils. Krishna then jumped on to the hoods of
the great serpent and started to dance, stamping His foot down on the heads of
the snake demon, Kaliya.
This stamping of Krishna, felt to
Kaliya serpent like Indra's thunderbolt striking a mountain. The Lord jumped
from one hood to another, and Kaliya felt helpless and bewildered; in anger he
spat fire from his many mouths but the Lord was so dexterous that His dancing
movements caused the snake to become dizzy. After so many kicks from the Lord,
Kaliya started to first vomit blood, and then refuse, before becoming almost
unconscious. At that time, the many wives of the Kaliya serpent appeared and
begged the Lord with folded hands to spare their husband. Krishna decided to
banish Kaliya to the great ocean never to return again. Thereafter, the giant
snake along with his wives, departed forever, and the transcendental Lord
rejoined His cowherd boyfriends on the bank of the Yamuna, to continue their
wonderful pastimes in the land of Vrndavana.
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