The word sthira, "unmoving creatures," refers to various types of vegetation including trees, and jangama refers to moving creatures such as animals, reptiles, birds and insects. Srila Sridhara Svami has quoted a further description of this lake from the Sri Hari-vamsa (Vishnu-parva 11.42, 11.44 and 11.46):

dirgham yojana-vistaram

dustaram tridasair api

gambhiram akshobhya-jalam

nishkampam iva sagaram

duhkhopasarpam tireshu

sa-sarpair vipulair bilaih

visharani-bhavasyagner

dhumena pariveshtitam

trineshv api patatsv apsu

jvalantam iva tejasa

samantad yojanam sagram

tireshv api durasadam

"The lake was quite wide -- eight miles across at some points -- and even the demigods could not cross over it. The water in the lake was very deep and, like the immovable depths of the ocean, could not be agitated. Approaching the lake was difficult, for its shores were covered with holes in which serpents lived. All around the lake was a fog generated by the fire of the serpents' poison, and this powerful fire would at once burn up every blade of grass that happened to fall into the water. For a distance of eight miles from the lake, the atmosphere was most unpleasant."

Srila Sanatana Gosvami states that by the mystical science of jala-stambha, making solid items out of water, Kaliya had built his own city within the lake.