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 Vrindavana.

Kaliya suddenly seized Krishna in his powerful coils, and bound the Lord as tightly as possible. When he breathed, fire emanated from his nostrils. This huge black serpent Kaliya (Kaliya means black) possessed over one hundred hoods, each bedecked with a precious gem. Sure enough, the Kaliya snake came up to the surface to see who was attacking his home. Lord Krishna then began splashing about and making very loud noises just to disturb the Kaliya serpent. He climbed the large Kadamba tree and from there, jumped into the poisonous waters of the Yamuna. The Lord came to this place with His cowherd boyfriends and decided to confront the king of the snakes. Lord Krishna had specifically appeared to rid the world of all these disturbing elements. In that time, there were many frightful demons, who had all kinds of mystic powers. 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. Because the serpent was so poisonous, not only all the fish died, but even the trees and grass surrounding the lake were dying. Lord Krishna came to know that a very large and poisonous serpent had made its home in a lagoon on the Yamuna river. Lord Krishna: 'Why this cowardice in time of crisis, Arjuna? The coward is ignoble, shameful, foreign to the ways of heaven.' Arjuna: 'Krishna, how can I fight against Bhishma and Drona with arrows when they deserve my worship? It is better in this world to beg for scraps of food than to eat meals smeared with the blood of elders I killed at the height of their power, while their goals were still desires.'

The divine lover (the most common representation) is shown playing the flute, surrounded by adoring gopis.Īrjuna sat dejected, filled with pity, his sad eyes blurred by tears. The rich variety of legends associated with Krishna's life led to an abundance of representation in painting and sculpture. Krishna affirms life in his pranks, music, and lovemaking Krishna's youthful dalliances with the gopis are interpreted as symbolic of the loving interplay between God and the human soul. His favorite among the daughters of the cowherders was the beautiful Radha. The child Krishna was adored for his mischievous pranks he also performed many miracles and slew demons.Īs a youth, the cowherd Krishna became renown as a lover, the sound of his flute prompting gopis (wives and daughters of the cowherds) to leave their homes to dance ecstatically with him in the forests.

God krishnan and radha