Kaliya and the Yamuna

The many-headed serpent Kaliya had made a pool of the Yamuna his home, and his venom killed the birds that flew above it and the cattle that drank from it.

Krishna climbed a kadamba tree and leapt into the black water. Kaliya coiled around him; the boys and cows on the bank wept. Then Krishna expanded, slipped free, and rose to dance upon the serpent's hundred and one hoods, keeping the rhythm as each head bowed.

Kaliya's wives begged for his life. Krishna spared him, marking his hoods with his footprints and sending him to the ocean, and the river ran clear again.