SB 10.16.29 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तस्याक्षिभिर्गरलमुद्वमत: शिर:सु यद् यत् समुन्नमति नि:श्वसतो रुषोच्चै: । नृत्यन् पदानुनमयन् दमयां बभूव पुष्पै: प्रपूजित इवेह पुमान् पुराण: ॥ २९ ॥

Verse text

tasyākṣibhir garalam udvamataḥ śiraḥsu yad yat samunnamati niḥśvasato ruṣoccaiḥ nṛtyan padānunamayan damayāṁ babhūva puṣpaiḥ prapūjita iveha pumān purāṇaḥ

Synonyms

tasya — of him ; akṣibhiḥ — from the eyes ; garalam — poisonous waste ; udvamataḥ — who was vomiting ; śiraḥsu — among the heads ; yat yat — whichever ; samunnamati — would rise up ; niḥśvasataḥ — who was breathing ; ruṣā — out of anger ; uccaiḥ — heavily ; nṛtyan — while dancing ; padā — with His foot ; anunamayan — making bow down ; damayām babhūva — He subdued ; puṣpaiḥ — with flowers ; prapūjitaḥ — being worshiped ; iva — indeed ; iha — on this occasion ; pumān — the Personality of Godhead ; purāṇaḥ — original .

Translation

Exuding poisonous waste from his eyes, Kāliya, would occasionally dare to raise up one of his heads, which would breathe heavily with anger. Then the Lord would dance on it and subdue it, forcing it to bow down with His foot. The demigods took each of these exhibitions as an opportunity to worship Him, the primeval Personality of Godhead, with showers of flowers.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Exuding poisonous waste from his eyes, Kāliya, would occasionally dare to raise up one of his heads, which would breathe heavily with anger. Then the Lord would dance on it and subdue it, forcing it to bow down with His foot. The demigods took each of these exhibitions as an opportunity to worship Him, the primeval Personality of Godhead, with showers of flowers. KB 10.16.29 While throwing up poisonous material from within, Kāliya became reduced in his sinful situation. Out of great anger, he began to struggle for existence and tried to raise one of his hoods to kill the Lord. The Lord immediately captured that hood and subdued it by kicking it and dancing on it. It actually appeared as if the Supreme Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu was being worshiped; the poisons emanating from the mouth of the serpent appeared to be like flower offerings.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Krsna mounted those hoods which remained high, and lowered them all with the blows from his feet. At that time the gandharvas and others showered flowers as if worshipping him. Krsna was pleased, and for their benefit, he brought the snake under control.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Though all his limbs were out of control, Kāliya’s eyes produced poison. This indicates his wicked nature.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Now, poison came gushing only from his eyes. This indicates the snake’s cruel glance. There are two meanings here. Pounding with his feet on his head while dancing, Kṛṣṇa removed the natural faults of the snake. But the snake also received great fortune from the touch of the feet. He used his head as the main prop, and removed his evil nature, his strength and pride. He punished the snake in places holding the poison. By that, the snake fainted with the bliss of prema. Vomiting poison was the expulsion of his unlimited internal faults. He had anger (ruṣā) arising from love. Or the word can be taken as aruṣā, no anger. Thus he breathed without anger, with devotion. Kṛṣṇa made the snake give up his faults due to his nature (damayāṁ). By that he gave benefit to the snake. That is also explained by Śrīdhara Svāmī. Another version has dayayām babhūva. What did he do to get such mercy? Kṛṣṇa himself asked the cause. It was as if Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana (iha) was worshipped with flowers at the lake as the greatest person (purāṇaḥ pumān). Or he was ever fresh, though existing eternally (purā naḥ). Or he is the person who gives life to the city of Mathurā (purāṇaḥ).