Shloka 49
Kāliya-damana: Kṛṣṇa Subdues the Serpent and Purifies the Yamunā
त्वं ह्यस्य जन्मस्थितिसंयमान् विभो गुणैरनीहोऽकृतकालशक्तिधृक् । तत्तत्स्वभावान् प्रतिबोधयन् सत: समीक्षयामोघविहार ईहसे ॥ ४९ ॥
tvaṁ hy asya janma-sthiti-saṁyamān vibho guṇair anīho ’kṛta-kāla-śakti-dhṛk tat-tat-svabhāvān pratibodhayan sataḥ samīkṣayāmogha-vihāra īhase
ഹേ വിഭോ! ഗുണങ്ങളാൽ അനീഹനായിരിക്കെ പോലും, നിന്റെ അനാദി കാലശക്തിയാൽ ഈ ജഗത്തിന്റെ സൃഷ്ടി, സ്ഥിതി, ലയം എന്നിവ നീ ക്രമീകരിക്കുന്നു. സൃഷ്ടിക്ക് മുമ്പ് നിദ്രിച്ചിരുന്ന ഗുണസ്വഭാവങ്ങളെ നീ ഉണർത്തുന്നു; നിന്റെ ദൃഷ്ടിമാത്രത്തിൽ, ക്രീഡാഭാവത്തിൽ, എല്ലാം അച്യുതമായി നടക്കുന്നു.
Sceptics may question why the Supreme Lord has created the material world, which is full of birth, maintenance and death. Here the Nāgapatnīs point out that the Lord’s pastimes are amogha, beyond any discrepancy. Śrī Kṛṣṇa actually desires that all conditioned souls live with Him in His eternal kingdom, but those forgetful souls who are inimical to their loving relationship with God must go to the material world and be subjected to the conditions of time. The fortunate conditioned souls are startled into remembrance of their actual position as loving servants of the Lord, and from within the heart the Lord then encourages them to come back home, back to Godhead, where time is conspicuous by its absence and where eternal, blissful existence supersedes the dramatic but disturbing functions of cosmic creation and annihilation.
FAQs
It says Kṛṣṇa governs creation, maintenance, and dissolution, yet remains anīha—untouched and unbound by material qualities—while still wielding the potency of time (kāla-śakti).
Seeing Kṛṣṇa subdue Kāliya effortlessly, they recognize Him as the supreme regulator of the universe—whose power includes time itself—and they beg for mercy by glorifying His transcendence.
It encourages remembrance that the Lord oversees all through time and nature, while remaining perfectly free—helping a devotee respond with humility, prayer, and steadiness rather than panic.