Hindu religious texts contain many stories and incidents that continue to teach us lessons even today. Religious texts describe many interesting tales of boons and curses associated with gods and goddesses. Upon hearing the words boon and curse, people often think that receiving a boon benefits a person, while receiving a curse harms them. However, the Srimad Bhagavata Purana tells a story about Garuda and Kaliya Nag, in which a curse saves the life of another.
The story of Kaliya Nag and Garuda is described in Chapter 17 of Skandha 10 of the Srimad Bhagavata Mahapuran. According to this story, King Parikshit asked Lord Shukdev why Kaliya Nag had left Ramanak Island. Lord Shukdev explained that Kaliya Nag had left Ramanak Island to live in the Yamuna River to save his life from Garuda.
The battle between Garuda and Kaliya the serpent
According to legend, on Ramanak Island, a snake was offered to Garuda every new moon day so that he would protect the other snakes. As part of this tradition, Kaliya Nag’s turn came. However, Kaliya Nag fled to avoid becoming Garuda’s prey.
When Garuda learned of Kaliya Nag’s escape, he became furious and resolved to kill him. A fierce battle ensued between the two. Kaliya Nag attacked Garuda with his poisonous teeth, but Garuda retaliated fiercely. Garuda was extremely powerful, so he began to overpower Kaliya Nag in the battle. Ultimately, Kaliya Nag fled to save his life.
How did the curse save Kaliya Nag’s life?
Before the battle between Kaliya Nag and Garuda, Maharishi Saubhari cursed Garuda. According to the story, Garuda once felt hungry and went to the Yamuna River to eat fish. There, he consumed a large fish named Matsyaraj. This caused great distress to the other fish living in the pond. Maharishi Saubhari was deeply saddened by the plight of the fish. To protect the fish, he cursed Garuda that from then on, if he entered the river or consumed any living creature there, he would lose his life. Kaliya Nag was aware of this curse and, to save his life, came to live in the Yamuna River. Due to this curse from Maharishi Saubhari, Garuda could not enter the Yamuna, and Kaliya Nag’s life was saved.