Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.16.5
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesThe Poison Reached Beyond the Water
“The wind blowing over that deadly lake carried droplets of water to the shore. Simply by coming in contact with that poisonous breeze, all vegetation and creatures on the shore died.”
What the purport teaches
- Wind carried poisonous droplets from the lake to the shore. Contact with this breeze killed both vegetation and moving creatures.
- The purport describes a deep, wide lake surrounded by serpent holes and poisonous fog. Even the demigods could not cross over it.
- Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī explains that Kāliya built a city within the lake through jala-stambha, the mystical science of making solid items out of water.
Try this today
Write one sentence describing how the lake’s poison affected living beings on the shore.
Ask yourself
Which detail helps you grasp how deadly the lake and its surroundings had become?
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.