152 - Glory of Mathura Tirtha

Suta said:

1. Listening to the greatness of the Lord of three worlds residing at Lohargala, Earth became wonderstruck.

Earth said:

2. O lord of worlds, with eyes blooming like lotus petals, by your favour I have now heard the great Shastra.

3. Being your disciple and servant, I have resorted to you. And you are the light of the worlds and their lord.

4. By your favour I have become resplendent like gold and endowed with all Shastras.

5. For you everything is effortless. The entire world depends on you and nothing acts without your will.

6. Therefore, great pleasure resides in my heart (and curiosity too).

7. So be pleased to tell me whether there is any tirtha which is even greater than Lohargala.

Varaha said:

8. O dear Earth, there is no place equal to Mathura in this world, the nether world or the upper world.

Suta said:

9. On hearing this, Earth bowed to Varaha and asked again. Earth said:

10. There are Pushkara, and Varanasi. Leaving them out, why do you speak about Mathura?

Varaha said:

11. Listen to me. I shall tell you in detail. There is nothing more dear to me than the well known Mathura.

12. It is beautiful, famous and the place of my birth. Listen to its sanctity and glory.

13. People living there certainly get salvation. They get there the same result as accrues during Mahamakha in Prayaga.

14. The same result is attained there as of (living in) Varanasi for a thousand years.

15. The same result is attained in Mathura in a moment as of the Karttika festival in Pushkara.

16. The same merit is acquired in Mathura by one who has conquered his senses as is acquired in any other place he thinks of.

17. The foolish person it is that wanders in samsara being deluded by my Maya.

18. Even he who hears the name Mathura uttered by another gets release from sins.

19. When Janardana is asleep, all the tirthas and sacred lakes in the world make their presence in Mathura.

20. Through Shraddha in the Mathura region, the manes become propitiated as long as the great lord remains there.

21. Even those others (who are not my devotees) living in Mathura attain beatitude by my favour.

22. In Kabjamraka, Saukara and Mathura, particularly in the last, salvation is obtained by my favour without Samkhya or Yoga.

23. Those who live pure and devoted in the great city of Mathura, making offerings and giving alms, are verily gods in human form.

24. In Dvapara yuga, I will be born as a Kshatriya in the family of king Yayati in Mathura.

25. In my four-fold form, I shall be there for a hundred years, praised by the sages and ready for battle.

26. These four forms¹ will have the colours of sandal paste, gold, Ashoka (flower) and blue lotus respectively.

1. The four vyuhas, namely Krishna (Vasudeva), Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.

27. I will then have numerous appellations, sacred and sanctifying and powerful enough to snap the bonds of samsara.

28. I will then annihilate, O Earth, thirtytwo wicked demons like Kamsa who outrage dharma. 

29. In that place, the river Yamuna, the daughter of the sun-god flows eternally.

30. Yamuna joins Ganga at Prayaga known as Veni, but Yamuna is hundred times more sacred at Mathura. There need be no doubt in this regard.

31. There will be many tirthas in that place, by bathing in which, people can reach my world.

32. And by giving up life there remaining in my service, one is never again born as a mortal, but attains four hands (and reaches my world).

33. By bathing in Avimukta, one gets salvation and by giving up life there, reaches my world.

34. He who bathes in the tirtha named Vishranti, reaches   my world.

35. He gets the merit of bathing in all the tirthas by seeing the Lord there.

36. The merit obtained by bathing in Vishranti is not obtained by sacrifices, penance, meditation or subjugation of mind.

37. He sees with ease the past, present and future and by just two circumabulations, reaches the world of Vishnu.

38. There is another tirtha by bathing in which one gets release from worldly existence and reaches my world.

39. That is the great Prayaga which is not easy to get at even for Devas.

40. He who bathes in this gets the merit of Agnishtoma sacrifice and goes to the world of Indra and dclights there.

41. And he who gives up life there, reaches my world.

42. There is the tirtha called Kanakhala, by the mere bath in which one gets enjoyment in heaven.

43. There is then the spot named Tinduka by bathing where, O goddess, one remains esteemed in my world.

Now listen to an old story connected with this tirtha.

44. There is the city Kampilya in the Pancala country with abundance of money and grain and ruled by Brahmadatta.

45. In that city lived a barber named Tinduka. Gradually his whole family became extinct.

46. Extremely grieved at this, he gave up every contact and went to Mathura.

47. He lived there in a colony of Brahmins.

48. Steadfast in his austerities, he used to bathe in Yamuna every day and performed all religious rites for a long time.

49. In course of time he died, but by the prowess of this tirtha he was born as a high Brahmin.

50. He became a great yogi with knowledge of his past life and a staunch devotee, and by the power of the tirtha, attained liberation.

51-52. Then there is the Suryatirtha which removes all sins, where the sun was worshipped by Bali, son of Virochana, for acquiring wealth when he was banished from his kingdom.

53. He performed penance there for one full year with upraised arms and without food, and in the end attained his aim.

54. The Sun-god was pleased with him and asked him why he was performing such severe penance.

Bali said:

55. “O great god, banished from my kingdom, I am now living in the netherworld. And being penniless, how can I look after my family?”

56. The Sun-god then took out from his crown the Cintamani gem (which has the power of yielding all desires), and receiving it, Bali returned to the nether world.

57. He who bathes in that tirtha gets free from all sins, and he who gives up life there, reaches my world.

58. The man who bathes there on Sundays, on the days of the Sun’s transit and on the days of the solar and lunar eclipse, gets the benefit of Rajasuya sacrifice.

59. (There is the Dhruvatirtha) where Dhruva performed penance on his own. He who bathes there becomes esteemed in   the world of Dhruva and he who gives up life there reaches my world.

60. He who performs oblations to the manes in the Dhruvatirtha, particularly in the fortnight when the anniversary of the manes falls, liberates them all.

61. To the south of Dhruvatirtha is the Tirtharaja by bathing in which, one attains my world.

62. Further south of it is the Rushitirtha by bathing in which one reaches the world of Rushis.

63. And he who gives up life there, becomes esteemed in my world.

64. To the south of the Rishitirtha is the Mokshatirtha by bathing in which one attains moksha (salvation).

65. There is then the Kotitirtha which is not easily reached even by Devas. He who bathes there or makes gifts, becomes exalted in my world.

66. The man who bathes in the Kotitirtha and propitiates the manes, liberates them all.

67. And he himself becomes esteemed in the world of Brahma.

68. In. The same place, there is the Vayutirtha which is not easily reached even by the manes. He who offers there reaches the world of the Pitris.

69. By offering pinda there in the month of Jyeshta one attains the same merit as of doing the same in Gaya.

70. Taking bath, giving gifts, practising Japa and performing homa in these twelve¹ tirthas gives the benefit thousand-fold. All sins vanish by simply thinking of them and all wishes are attained by simply listening to the account of their greatness.

1. Actually only ten are given here. The other two are perhaps Shivakunda and Samyamana described in the next chapter.