Krishna Dancing Over the Serpent Kaliya

This magnificent statue, cast in bronze, the blend of copper and tin, a rust-resistant alloy with gold-like lustre, represents the child Krishna dancing over the coils of a huge bodied mighty serpent, obviously the legendary Kaliya, the venomous viper in occupation of Kaliyadah, a part of river Yamuna, named after the serpent. The subdued and humbled seven-hooded serpent is canopy-like unfurling its hood over Krishna’s figure as expressing its gratitude for sparing its life and as its acceptance of his divine power. Highly innovative transform of the legend, unlike the usual representation of the theme in which Krishna is represented as dancing on the serpent’s hood, in this statue he has been portrayed as dancing on the serpent’s coils forming a podium-like proper base.

In textual version of the legend Krishna slips into Kaliyadah, perhaps knowingly, while playing. After he has subdued the serpent that attacks him for intruding its abode he dances over its hood. Flute being his essential attribute, in visual transforms, as in this statue, Krishna is often portrayed as playing on his flute along his dance. An incarnation of Vishnu, Krishna’s dance is often seen as another aspect of Trivikrama or Vishnukrant, the dance that Vishnu performed in his transform as Vamana for subduing Mahabali, the vain demon king who once ruled the earth. The dance of Vishnu, which he performed as Vamana, was the instrument of annihilation and had hence unique dynamic force manifesting in the movements of his body especially in missiles-like shooting his leg into the sky. In this differently conceived dance form, instead of throwing his leg skywards or lifting it, his entire figure makes a forward thrust in a posture of a swift move and urgency to act: a form revealing great ecstasy.

As the myth in the Bhagavata Purana has it, when Vishnu incarnated as Krishna, serpent Kaliya, a venomous viper of Kadraveya origin, was in occupation of a part of Yamuna, the ill-famed Kaliyadah as the spot was known. The serpent had so much polluted the river’s water with its venom that even a touch of it inflicted death on any living being; birds in the sky passing across fell dead and trees and grass around burnt and dried.

One day Krishna, Balarama and their friends were playing around Kaliyadah. In the course of the game Krishna climbed a nearby Kadamba tree and feigning to slip he jumped into Kaliyadah. This sudden uproar irritated Kaliya engaged in merriment with its wives. The angry serpent got up and caught Krishna into its coils. It tightened its grip and seemed to crush Krishna. It horrified all but Balarama who was confident that Krishna would come out of it the moment he invoked his inherent energies. As Balarama believed, Krishna collected himself and so much expanded his form that Kaliya could not contain him within its coils. The moment its grip loosened Krishna jumped upon its head and began dancing with wind-like pace crushing the viper under his feet. He spared the viper only when its wives implored for mercy and the serpent promised to vacate Yamuna and retire to the sea.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.

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