Shloka 12
कालियदमना: यमुनाशुद्धिः, करुणा-निग्रहः, स्तुति-तत्त्वम्
तेनापि पतता तत्र क्षोभितः स महाह्रदः अत्यर्थं दूरजातांस् तु तान् असिञ्चन् महीरुहान्
tenāpi patatā tatra kṣobhitaḥ sa mahāhradaḥ atyarthaṃ dūrajātāṃs tu tān asiñcan mahīruhān
As he fell there, the great lake was violently churned; its waters, flung far and wide, drenched even the trees standing at a great distance.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Avatara: Krishna
Purpose: Kṛṣṇa acts to confront Kāliya, whose venom has corrupted the waters, by entering the lake and forcing the hidden danger to surface.
Leela: Loka-rakshana
Dharma Restored: Re-establishing safety and purity in the environment for the protection of Vraja.
Vishnu Form: Krishna
FAQs
Here the mahāhrada symbolizes a powerful reservoir within sacred geography whose agitation and overflow becomes a means of distributing life-sustaining water across the landscape.
By describing the lake being disturbed by a falling flow, Parāśara shows how water, once set in motion, reaches even distant trees—an image of ordered distribution and ecological support within cosmic design.
Even when Vishnu is not named directly, the Purana frames such harmonized natural functioning—water sustaining vegetation—as an expression of the Supreme Reality’s governance and sustaining power over the world.