17 / Extinguishing the Forest Fire

King Pariksit, after hearing of the chastisement of K4liya, inquired from
Sukadeva Gosvami as to why Kaliya left his beautiful land and why Garuda
was so antagonistic to him. Sukadeva Gosvami informed the King that the
island known as Nagalaya was inhabited by serpents and that Kaliya was
one of the chief serpents there. Being accustomed to eating snakes, Garuda
used to come to this island and kill many serpents at his will. Some of
them he actually ate, but some were unnecessarily killed. The reptile
society became so disturbed that their leader, Vasuki, appealed to Lord
Brahma for protection. Lord Brahma .made an arrangement by which
Garuda would not create a disturbance: on each half-moon day, the rep-
tile community would offer a serpent to Garuda. The serpent was to be
kept underneath a tree as a sacrificial offering to Garuda. Garuda was satis-
fied with this offering, and therefore he did not disturb any other serpents.

But gradually, Kaliya took advantage of this situation. He was un-
necessarily puffed up by the volume of his accumulated poison, as well as
by his material power, and he thought, “Why should Garuda be offered
this sacrifice?” He then ceased offering any sacrifice; instead, he himself
ate the offering intended for Garuda. When Garuda, the great devotee-
carrier of Visnu, understood that Kaliya was eating the offered sacrifices,
he became very angry and quickly rushed to the island to kill the offensive
serpent. Kaliya tried to fight Garuda and faced him with his many hoods
and poisonous sharp teeth. Kaliya attempted to bite him, and Garuda, the
son of Tarksya, in great anger and with the great force deserving the carrier
of Lord Visnu, struck the body of Kaliya with his effulgent golden wings.
Kaliya, who is also known as Kadrisuta, son of Kadri, immediately fled
to the lake known as Ka4liyadaha, underneath the Yamuna River, which
Garuda could not approach.

Kaliya took shelter within the water of the Yamuna for the following

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