Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.16.4
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesKāliya’s Poison Made the Lake Deadly
“Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Within the river Kālindī [Yamunā] was a lake inhabited by the serpent Kāliya, whose fiery poison constantly heated and boiled its waters. Indeed, the vapors thus created were so poisonous that birds flying over the contaminated lake would fall down into it.”
What the purport teaches
- Kāliya inhabited a lake within the Kālindī, or Yamunā. His fiery poison constantly heated and boiled its waters.
- The poisonous vapors caused even birds flying overhead to fall into the lake.
- The ācāryas explain that this lake was apart from the main current. Otherwise, the Yamunā would have been poisonous in Mathurā and other distant places.
Try this today
Note the distinction between Kāliya’s lake and the Yamunā’s main current as you review the verse.
Ask yourself
How does this description help you understand the danger in Kāliya’s lake?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.