Krishna and Kalia Mardan

It had been quite a few hours since Krishna jumped into the river and all villagers were worried about Krishna…

It happened long, long ago. There was a small village by the name of Vrindavan, in India. There was a dark-complexioned, beautiful little boy named Krishna, who lived in this village, with his parents. His father, Nandbaba, was the village head while his mother, Jashoda, looked after the family.

There was a river named Yamuna, near their village, on the banks of which, the kids played all kinds of game; all day. But, these days, the villagers advised their kids not to go near this river after Kalia Naag devoured some of the village kids.

Kalia Naag was a huge snake with five heads and it was so poisonous that the waters of the river, Yamuna, turned green due to the intensity of the poison of this snake. Kalia Naag used to devour kids of the village when they disturbed him from his sleep, even if by mistake. Villagers were frightened to face this snake and so, kept away from this river.

One day, Krishna asked his mother for a ball. “Mother, please give me the ball so that me and my friends can go and play with it. Its holiday time and we are all getting bored, sitting inside the house.” His mother tried to ignore his pleas, but after sometime, she gave up and gave Krishna the ball, but, at the same time, she strictly instructed him not to go near the river and play.

Having got the ball, Krishna was just too excited to pay any heed to his mother’s warning and he nodded his head absent-mindedly and off he ran over to his friends.

His friends were eagerly waiting for him to get the ball. They decided to play the catch and throw game they had played innumerable times. It was one of their favorite games. No one knows if a short time passed by or long, but someone threw the ball and it landed straight on top of the tree on the riverbank and got entangled in its dense branches. No one had the courage to climb on top of the tree to fetch the ball, as the tree was right above the river, where Kalia Naag, the five-headed serpent was believed to live. They had heard of the stories of kids disappearing while playing on the river bank and they did not want to risk their lives. But, Krishna was not to be frightened by these stories. He told his friends, “Friends, do not worry. I have heard the stories too about Kalia Naag devouring some of our village kids while they played on the river banks. But, I don’t believe in all this. This is just to scare us and keep us away from the riverbank and save us from drowning. And, even if it were true, that Kalia Naag has to be taught a lesson so that never again would any such snake or demon try and harm our villagers. Dear friends, do not be afraid of anything. I will climb the tree and fetch the ball for us to continue playing.” His friends pleaded with him, “Please Krishna, don’t do this. The snake may harm you. We would not be able to show our faces to your parents. We all love you so much; we wouldn’t want any harm to occur to you. We don’t want the ball. We will pool in money and we will buy ourselves a new ball. Krishna, listen to us, please don’t go near the riverbank.” But, unfazed by the pleading and fear of his friends, Krishna made a decision to go and fetch the ball. He climbed up the tree, slowly and carefully treading on the coarse surface of the tree trunk and soon, he reached the branch where the ball was. He shouted happily to his friends, “Look I got it!” and showed off the ball to his friends. In his excitement, he lost his balance and fell into the river. There was complete silence. All his friends were too shocked to do anything. They watched as the turbulent waters of Yamuna engulfed Krishna. There was nothing they could do to save him. They ran to his parents and informed them of the accident and soon, the whole village had gathered near the riverbank and frantically waited for any signs of the kid. They were all too scared to venture near the river. Jashoda had gone completely hysterical worrying about her son. They had to hold her back to stop her from jumping in the river herself to save her son, who was nowhere in sight.

It had been quite a few hours since Krishna jumped into the river and all villagers were worried about Krishna…

There, as Krishna fell into the river and went deep into the waters, he stepped by mistake on one of Kalia’s heads and awakened Kalia. Furious, Kalia screamed, “Who is this, who has dared to step on my head? I will not forgive him. I will eat him up in one straight gulp and ensure that he is fittingly punished for his deed. How dare he disturb me in my slumber?”

He was about to tilt his head and topple Krishna, when Krishna overpowered him by catching hold of his tail and neck. During the process, the snake hit Krishna hard on his foot with his tail and hurt him but still, Krishna did not give up. He held his tail high in one hand and danced on the serpent’s head. However hard Kalia Naag tried, he couldn’t overpower Krishna. He realized that Krishna was no ordinary human being. He begged of Krishna not to kill him. “Oh young lad, please do not kill me. I understand that you are no ordinary human being. Please tell me who you are.” Krishna smiled and showed him his real form. Krishna was none other than the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Kalia Naag bowed before him and requested him to pardon his life. Krishna smiled, “Kalia Naag, I spare you your life but in return, I want you to never again harm any creature.” To this, Kalia Naag agreed and apologized for his wrong deeds. Lord Vishnu then came back to his human form and dancing on top of Kalia’s head, he rose above the waters of Yamuna. Seeing him alive and dancing on Kalia’s head, all villagers cheered him while his parents had tears of joy in their eyes. They were all amazed to see this young lad come back alive victoriously winning over the dreaded Kalia Naag. They thanked God for the miracle. They were all also relieved that their village and every other creature was now safe and did not have to fear going near the river bank. Kalia Naag would never again harm them, all thanks to Krishna, the brave and chivalrous son of Nandbaba and Jashoda.

Moral: Good always wins over the evil. Even God doesn’t support the evil.