kāliya uvāca
vayaḿ khalāḥ sahotpattyā
tamasā dīrgha-manyavaḥ
svabhāvo dustyajo nātha
lokānāḿ yad asad-grahaḥ
kaliyah uvaca -- Kaliya said; vayam -- we; khalah -- envious; saha utpattya -- by our very birth; tamasah -- of ignorant nature; dirgha-manyavah -- constantly angry; svabhavah -- one's material nature; dustyajah -- is very difficult to give up; natha -- O Lord; lokanam -- for ordinary persons; yat -- because of which; asat -- of the unreal and impure; grahah -- the acceptance.
The serpent Kaliya 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.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami points out that because of his wretched condition, Kaliya 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 Kaliya.
