|| Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya ||

Chapter – 189 – The legend of Lord Krishna – 40

Nagalayam Ramanakam Kasmath Thyaja  Kaliya: | Kritham Kim Va Suparnnasya  Thenaikenasamajjasam || Krishnam Hradhadhvinishkrantham Dhivyasragandhavasasam | Mahamani Ganakeernnam Jambhoonadhaparishkritham ||

King Pareekshith speaks “ Oh! Bhraman, the serpent Kaliya was living on the island of Ramanakam before, why did he leave the island? Kindly narrate that story to me.”

Shuka Bhramam speaks “ Oh! Rajan,   while serpent Kaliya was living in the island of Ramanaka, there was an agreement between Garuda and serpents, that on a particular day of every month, one of the serpents should offer their life to Garuda.  Finally, the time has arrived for Kaliya to offer himself before Garuda, but he did not follow the order, in addition to that he swallowed a serpent that was ready to surrender before Garuda, ultimately it led to a fierce battle between Garuda and Kaliya.  At the end of the battle, Kaliya was defeated by Garuda, he was quite sure that Garuda will not spare him; hence Kaliya left the island of Ramanaka with his family and started living in the underwaters of Kalindi. Once, Saubhari Maharishi was undertaking penance on the riverbank of Kalindi.  He watched the water animals and fishes moving around happily.  Suddenly a Garuda appeared from nowhere and fetched a huge fish, Maharishi got angry watching this and cursed Garuda that if he flies over the river Kalindi again, that would be the end of his species.  Thus the Garuda was forbidden to enter in the watercourse of Kalindi, it has become a blessing for serpent Kaliya, and he happily started living with his family in the Kalindi. Now, Kaliya became disappointed to hear Krishna’s command to return to the island of Ramanakam.  He appealed to Krishna to protect him from the threat of Garuda.  Krishna pacified Kaliya that he will not face any future troubles from Garuda because he has got the footprints of Krishna on his hood.  In this way, Krishna protected Kaliya from the danger of Garuda and sends him back to Ramanaka. In this legend, Kaliya surrendered to Krishna and gave away all his pride, was blessed by Krishna and became respectable before Garuda.  Therefore, living beings who are surrendered to the supreme Lord will not face any threat or fears in their lives."