The Lord remained for some tune within the coils of the secrpent, imitating the behavior of an ordinary mortal. But when He understood that the women, children, and other residents of His village of Gokula were in acute distress because of their love for Him, their only shelter and goal in life, He immediately rose up from the bonds of the Kāliya serpent.
His coils tormented by the expanding body of the Lord, Kāliya released Him. In great anger the serpent then raised his hoods high and stood still, breathing heavily. His nostrils appeared like vessels for cooking poison, and the eyes in his face like firebrands. Thus the serpent stared at the Lord.
Again and again Kāliya licked his lips with his bifurcated tongues as Hestared at Kṛṣṇa with a glance full of terrible, poisonous fire. But Kṛṣṇa playfully circled around him, just as Garuḍa would play with a snake. In response, Kāliya also moved about, looking for an opportunity to bite the Lord.
Having severely depleted the serpent's strength with His relentless circling, Śrī Kṛṣṇa pushed down Kāliya's raised shoulders and mounted his broad, serpentine heads. Thus Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the original master of all fine arts, began to dance, His lotus feet deeply reddened by the touch of the numerous jewels upon the serpent's heads.
Seeing the Lord dancing, His servants in the heavenly planets—the Gandharvas, Siddhas, sages, Caranas, and wives of the demigodsimmediately arrived there. With great pleasure they began accompanying the Lord's dancing by playing drums such as mrdangas, panavas, and ānakas. Theyalso made offerings of songs, flowers, and prayers.
Kāliya had one hundred and one prominent heads, and when one of them would not bow down, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa would smash that stubborn head by striking it with His feet. Then, as Kāliya entered his death throes, he began wheeling his heads around and vomiting ghastly blood from his mouths and nostrils. The serpent thus experienced extreme pain and misery.
Lord Kṛṣṇa's wonderful, powerful dancing trampled and broke all of Kāliya's one thousand hoods. Then the serpent, profusely vomiting blood from his mouths, finally recognized Śrī Kṛṣṇa to be the eternal Personality of Godhead, the supreme master of all moving and nonmoving beings, Śrī Nārāyaṇa. Thus within his mind Kāliya took shelter of the Lord.