Their true feelings reached God's awareness. He had been holding back, waiting for the right moment. He had seen that their devotion was mixed. He had not actually gone to the nether world at first. Only after they turned away did the Cowherd-Boy dive deep. He went down to the nether world and called out to the serpent. He roused the Kaliya serpent who had been sleeping in his palace. That serpent was deep in slumber, full of arrogant pride. Narayana came to crush that pride, using the ball as His pretext. Says Tuka, subduing Kaliya was the Lord's true purpose.