Krishna and Kaliya Naag

Story

One day, Krishna and his friends were playing with a ball by the bank of the Yamuna River.

While playing, their ball accidentally fell into the river but no one dared to bring the ball back. When Krishna asked the reason his friends told him that a furious, five-headed venomous serpent lived in the river, making its waters poisonous. Going into the river seemed dangerous.

Seeing his frightened friends, Krishna said, "Don't worry! I'll go and get the ball from the river."

Krishna’s friend tried to stop him but he didn't listen and went into the river.

Afterwards, his friends told everything to Nand Baba and Mother Yashoda. The news spread throughout the village, and all the people of Gokul came to the banks of the Yamuna River.

Krishna reached the bottom of the river and saw a huge serpent sleeping there. "It seems this is Kaliya, the serpent," Krishna thought.

Krishna said to the serpent, "If you value your life, leave this place immediately. You have made the waters of the Yamuna River poisonous and put the lives of the people of Gokul in danger."

Kaliya didn't listen to Krishna and challenged him to a fight. A fierce battle ensued between Krishna and Kaliya, which ended with Kaliya's defeat. Then Krishna danced on Kaliya's hood while playing his flute, and they rose up from the river.

The people of Gokul enjoyed watching this beautiful scene. Kaliya left the Yamuna River forever.

Just as Kaliya had made the pure waters of the Yamuna River poisonous with his venom, our ego pollutes our minds by removing positive feelings such as love and compassion and filling them with negative feelings like jealousy and anger.

However, just as Krishna defeated Kaliya and purified the Yamuna River, knowledge of God and truth purifies our minds by removing our ego.