Stories From The Bhagawatham - Krishna Avatar - The Humbling Of Kaliya - Part 1
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 to
return with their cows. He could see the traces of their footprints on the
ground and followed them. When he came to the lake, he saw the fallen kids and
the cows lying as if they had died.
While Krishna’s anger knew no bounds, the other children saw
their friends unconscious and started crying.
Krishna looked around and his attention fell on a Kadamba tree
beside the lake, the only tree that was still standing. Legend said that Garuda
had halted on the tree while carrying a pot of nectar and hence the tree was
blessed to bloom in every season.
Krishna ran towards the tree and started climbing it. His
terrified friends started shouting but Krishna silenced them and told them that
he would take care of everything. The children saw a wondrous sight. As Krishna
climbed the tree branch by branch, it started blooming more, with leaves
erupting wherever Krishna touched the tree.
Once Krishna had reached the top of the tree, he dived straight
into the lake.
The children shouted in fear. They knew by know that the lake
was poisonous. They knew that no one could survive inside the lake. They cried
in alarm and rushed to Krishna’s house to inform his parents.
Nanda, Krishna’s father, was beside grief and Yashoda fainted on
hearing that Krishna had dived into the Madu lake. She was revived by other
ladies after a long time. Everyone lamented over the fate of Krishna and all
the kids who had fallen to the poison of the lake. They all cried, thinking
that if Balarama had been there with them, he would have saved them somehow.
Everyone suddenly started running towards the lake, hoping to see a miracle.
Balarama silently accompanied them, smiling inwardly, for he
knew that it wasn’t Krishna who was
in danger.
Comments
Post a Comment