Vedanam 2023

When Krishna dived into the lake, it created huge waves in the otherwise still lake. The waves created a disturbance that stretched till the bottom of the lake where Kaliya lived. The snake felt the disturbance and was amazed. Nothing had shaken the lake for a very long time. He raised all of his five enormous heads and drifted to the top of the lake.   He saw a lot of people standing at the banks of the lake and weeping in despair. Some of them had fainted, while some tried to jump into the lake but were held back by the others. While Kaliya stared around in confusion, Krishna came to the surface of the lake. Kaliya was struck with wonderment. The little boy was the most beautiful being he had ever seen. There was no trace of any fear or worry on the child’s face. For a long while, Kaliya stared at Krishna but then shook himself out of his hesitation. This was clearly an intruder and had to be killed. Kaliya caught hold of Krishna and wrapped his enormous body around him. The ...

  One day, Krishna and his friends went towards the river Yamuna to graze their cows. It was a rare day when Balarama had not accompanied Krishna. The day was very hot. The cows wandered off in search of shade and few of Krishna’s friends followed the cattle. There was a lake named Madu, situated near the river Yamuna. A dreadful snake named Kaliya lived beneath the lake. He had polluted the water of the lake with his poison. So strong was the poison’s effect that it was said that even the birds which flew over Madu lake dropped dead due to the poisonous fumes emanating from the lake. The trees surrounding the lake had dried up. Krishna’s friends and their cows who had wandered off, reached the lake. Owing to unbearable heat and thirst, none of them paid attention to the lake whose water had turned black in color. They drank the water from the lake and within minutes, the children and their cows fell down in a faint. Krishna wondered why it was taking so long for his friends ...