What did Kaliya eat when his poison destroyed everything around him How did he have human-like wives?

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How can Kalia, who is a serpent, have human wives? And if he is so toxic—if he is toxic to the extent that even birds flying over him die—then what does he survive on? There are two or three different points going on here.

First, the characters in Krishna-lila often have complex backgrounds, which is why they seem to have behavioral attributes that may not fit into our current taxonomy or conception of species. For example, it seems that non-human species can also talk—often in human language or at least in a way that humans can understand. So how does that work out?

Well, there seem to be multiple possibilities. One is that these are evolved souls who have taken a particular body. For instance, there is Gajendra, who was a king in a previous life and remembers the prayers he offered back then. He recalls that wisdom and offers those prayers again in this life.

Now, as far as Kalia and other demons in Krishna-lila are concerned, some texts provide insights into their previous lives. From those, we can understand certain things about them. Additionally, considering that Kalia himself is eventually able to repeat the prayers his wife offers, it appears he has some level of human-like consciousness.

Another point is that artistic depictions are not necessarily the most accurate representations of ultimate reality or even scriptural reality. They serve particular purposes. So, it seems these species have capacities that may not be present in similar species today. Do they exactly have human forms? I doubt that—that is likely just artistic depiction.

The soul is on a multi-life journey toward spiritual evolution. The soul’s consciousness manifests according to the body it inhabits, meaning bodies are essentially vehicles for the soul’s consciousness to express itself. Different bodies allow different levels of consciousness to manifest.

In this particular case, both Kalia and his wife had enough consciousness to ultimately perceive and know the ultimate reality—Krishna. Kalia’s wife offered prayers to Krishna, and Kalia followed suit. How exactly this happened is difficult to fully comprehend.

I wouldn’t just say it’s beyond the scope of Kaliyuga intellect to understand—that kind of explanation could be used for almost everything we can’t grasp in scripture. What we can say is that there are backstories we may not know, which make these things possible. Essentially, the body is a covering and tool for the soul, allowing the soul to fulfill its desires and express its consciousness.

How much consciousness manifests depends partly on the body itself, partly on the karma the soul has accumulated in past lives, and beyond that, on the Lord’s will. For example, Mahaprabhu made the animals in Jharkhand dance in ecstasy—meaning that by the Lord’s potency, a soul can manifest a higher consciousness in a particular body than is normally possible. Or the soul may be evolved and circumstantially caught in a particular body, thus manifesting greater consciousness than most other souls in similar bodies.

Consider Gajendra and Bharat Maharaj in the form of a deer, who not only sought the best grass but chose to be near pilgrimage sites, enjoying the holy sounds and being satisfied with the grass near hermitages. Kalia and others might not be highly evolved souls, but they have some special background that enabled advanced consciousness beyond what is typical for their species.

When scripture emphasizes Kalia’s toxic influence, it is clearly to show how dangerous he was, and how remarkable it was that Krishna could dance on him and subdue him. That sets the background for the pastimes.

Having said that, is that toxicity the only effect? Clearly, Kalia was not just surviving but thriving and ruling. So he must have had ways to get food. Perhaps the birds that died flying above him would fall, and he would catch and eat them. Or maybe his toxicity affected certain life forms but not others, which he could then catch.

If he was the king of the Daha, did he have other sources of food? Whenever a point is emphasized in scripture, we need to focus on that emphasis. For other details, we may find clues in commentaries or use scripturally guided logic.

So, the toxicity might not have been only to cause destruction but also to provide him food for consumption, which makes sense. In nature, when beings have certain capacities, they usually serve not only to threaten or destroy others but also to aid in their own survival and thriving. Thus, the toxicity could have been a source for his food.

That is one way to understand the question. Overall, while we can use scripturally guided logic and search for specific references, the main focus should be on the essential point of the pastimes and their teachings, which help us grow spiritually.