kÄliya uvÄca
vayaá¹ khalÄḥ sahotpattyÄ
tamasÄ dÄ«rgha-manyavaḥ
svabhÄvo dustyajo nÄtha
lokÄnÄá¹ yad asad-grahaḥ
kÄliyaḥ uvÄca - KÄliya said; vayam - we; khalÄḥ - envious; saha utpattyÄ - by our very birth; tÄmasÄḥ - of ignorant nature; dÄ«rgha-manyavaḥ - constantly angry; svabhÄvaḥ - one's material nature; dustyajaḥ - is very difficult to give up; nÄtha - O Lord; lokÄnÄm - for ordinary persons; yat - because of which; asat - of the unreal and impure; grahaḥ - the acceptance.
The serpent KÄliya said: Our very birth as a snake has made us envious, ignorant and constantly angry. O my Lord, it is so difficult for people to give up their conditioned nature, by which they identify with that which is unreal.
ÅšrÄ«la SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« points out that because of his wretched condition, KÄliya was unable to compose original prayers to the Lord, and thus he paraphrased some of the prayers offered by his wives. The word asad-graha indicates that a conditioned soul seizes upon impermanent and impure things such as his own body, the bodies of others, and other countless varieties of material sense objects. The ultimate result of such material attachment is frustration, disappointment and anguish — a fact that has now become crystal clear to the poor serpent KÄliya.
