8 September 2026
Tuesday
Among all the wondrous adventures that astounded people during Krishna’s childhood, which revealed to them the Divinity that had come among them, the Kalinga episode is the most meaningful. The serpent Kalinga was poisoning the waters of the Yamuna and the atmosphere over it with its breath; all who approached that area, men or cattle, fell dead. But Krishna, the divine boy, jumped into the depths, forced the foul snake to rise above the level of the river, and, leaping on its rapid range of hoods, He danced upon them with His tender lotus feet. The pressure of those soft silken soles was enough to force the deadly poison out from the fangs of the monstrous cobra and render it harmless forever. The Kalinga episode is a valuable lesson in spiritual sadhana. In the Manasa-sarovar (the deep placid mind-lake) of every man, there lurks a poisonous cobra, with six hoods - lust, anger, greed, attachment, pride, and hate - infesting the air and destroying all who near it. The name of the Lord, when it dives into the depths, forces it to come up to the surface, so that it may be destroyed. So, allow the Divine in you, the Krishna, to Lord over the mind; let Him trample on the hissing hoods and tame the vicious viper; let it vomit the venom, become satwic (pious) and sweet. This is the sadhana the episode teaches, the duty it enjoins.
From Swami’s discourse of 28 July 1967
Also on words from this discourse: The Name Uttered with Prema, 10 September 2026
Among all the wondrous adventures that astounded people during Krishna’s childhood, which revealed to them the Divinity that had come among them, the Kalinga episode is the most meaningful. The serpent Kalinga was poisoning the waters of the Yamuna and the atmosphere over it with its breath; all who approached that area, men or cattle, fell dead. But Krishna, the divine boy, jumped into the depths, forced the foul snake to rise above the level of the river, and, leaping on its rapid range of hoods, He danced upon them with His tender lotus feet. The pressure of those soft silken soles was enough to force the deadly poison out from the fangs of the monstrous cobra and render it harmless forever. The Kalinga episode is a valuable lesson in spiritual sadhana. In the Manasa-sarovar (the deep placid mind-lake) of every man, there lurks a poisonous cobra, with six hoods - lust, anger, greed, attachment, pride, and hate - infesting the air and destroying all who near it. The name of the Lord, when it dives into the depths, forces it to come up to the surface, so that it may be destroyed. So, allow the Divine in you, the Krishna, to Lord over the mind; let Him trample on the hissing hoods and tame the vicious viper; let it vomit the venom, become satwic (pious) and sweet. This is the sadhana the episode teaches, the duty it enjoins.