Mathura Tirth

MATHURA TIRTH:

Dharni asked Bhagwan Varah about the guards of Mathura tirth and he explained as follows. According to the lord the opposing forces can not caste a glance on His bhaktas or devotees as he has stationed ten guards to protect Mathura. Those ten devtas are the ten dikpals which we have already explained in the earlier article on Devtas and Ragas.

Mathura is 20 yojan in area. It is very beautiful during rainy season. After Harishayani, four months it is the most sacred place in all the continents as all the devtas and tirthas reside here during that time. One who does darshan of the lord in Mathura during Devothan, lord keeps in front of them always. Fruit of Mathura parikrama is equal to the fruit of parikrama of whole world. There are 12 Vans or Aranya or jungles here which are famous. Madhuvan, Taalvan, Kumudvan, Kamyavan, Bahulavan, Bhadrvan, Khadirvan, Mahavan, Lohjanghvan, Bilv-van, Bhandeervan and Vrindavan.   Presiding deity of Mathura is KESHAV.

Vishranti Tirth/Vishram tirth: One who takes bath in that pond gets the right to stay in the realm of the lord Vishnu. First take bath then perform poojan and tarpan of devtas & pitras Then having darshan of lord’s statue there one gets the fruit of visit of all the tirthas. If one does two circumambulations of it he goes to Vishnulok. After it have darshan of Dirghvishnu first and then Keshavdev. Spend one night there in celibacy and either fast or eat little and in the evening clean ones teeth. Then have bath, wear fresh clean clothes and offer sesame seed tarpan holding kusha and rice etc. 

During yatra of Mathura morning snan should be taken in Dakshin Koti  tirth. One should first wash ones feet and then take an achman and then do poojan of Ganesh, Vishnu, Hanumaan and Kartikeya before bath. Have darshan of Vasumati and then Aprajita where kings kept there armaments. Then one should have darshan of Kansvasnika, Augrsena, Charchika, Vadhuti devis. Before one starts the yatra of Mathura, one should have darshan of eight Matri devis, Grahdevis and Vastudevis. These devis provide victory to devtas and defeat to asuras. Then one should go to Ikshvasu, Vasputra, Arksthal, Veersthal, Kushsthal, Punyasthal, Mahasthal and then to Hayamukti, Sindoor and Sahayak. Yatra of Mathura should always be done on foot and never on a vehicle.

Just by darshan and touch of Hayamukt one is cleared of all the sins. One should have darshan of Mallika devi who gave victory to lord Krishana. After Kadambkhand yatra one should have darshan of Charchika yogini. Have darshan of Krishna-krida setu bandh and Balihrad, all the sins are removed by it. Then by circumambulating and poojan of Stambhochaya one goes to the realm of Vishnu. Then visit Naryansthan, Kubjika and Vamansthan respectively. Here also have darshan of Vidyeshwari devi who is also known as Sidhida, Bhogda and Sidheshwari. Some call her Sanketeshwari as she gave a sanket to the lord to kill Kansa. Then have darshan of Gokarneshwari devi and Saraswati river and Vighnraj Ganesh.

There is another kund by the name of Gandharva kund. By taking bath in it one qualifies to spend time with Gandharwas and enjoy various comforts.

Kapil-Varah Statue: There was a great Rishi by the name of Kapil muni, who had great faith in the lord and made a statue of Varah bhagwan. He would daily pray to it and take good care of it. One day king of Devas, Indra came to Kapil muni and requested for that statue of Vrah bhagwan which the muni gave happily.

So Indra took that statue to his own city and daily did its poojan for many years. Later, when Ravan got some powers he attacked Indra’s kingdom and defeated him. Thus he got control over his kingdom and entered the quarters of the king. There he saw the statue of the lord installed. He immediately liked it and performed its stuti and poojan. Due to this lord appeared before Ravan and entered that statue of Vrah. Ravan tried to lift that statue but he could not even move it. He was amazed as he had lifted mount Kailash along with lord Shankar with his own hands but was unable to lift this small statue. He appeased the lord and asked him to kindly accompany him to his city of Lanka. Lord asked him, O Ravan, you are not a Vishnu bhakta how did you get this kind of bhakti. He replied it is just by your darshan he got this bhakti and bowing innumerable times requested the lord to accompany him to his city in pushpakvimaan. So the statue was moved to Lanka and established there.

Later when lord Ram attacked Lanka to get Sitaji free, Ravan was killed. While coming back lord Ram gave the whole kingdom of Lanka to Vibhishan who asked the lord to take anything he liked. So lord Ram asked him to give Varah bhagwan statue to him. Which He brought back to Ayodhaya. For ten years lord Ram did poojan of lord Vrah. At that time demon Lavnasur roamed in the area of Mathura. Lord Ram asked Shatrughan to go to Mathura and kill the demon. Shatrughan along with his army came to Mathura and killed the demon and brought 11,000 brahmins who new Veads and made them reside there. He then returned to Ayodhaya and gave the good news to lord Ram who became very happy and asked him to seek any boon.Shatrughan requested to lord for the same statue of Vrah bhagwan which was given to him along with the kingship of Mathura. So the statue came to Mathura and was established there.

Hence it is a great act to find this statue of Vrah Bhagwaan in today’s Mathura city and perform its poojan to reap the fruits of it.

South of Vishrant tirth is the Vimukt tirth by bathing one surely gets moksha.

South of it is another tirth called Ram tirth by bathing in which one's ignorance is removed.

South of it is Sansaarmokshan tirth by bathing in it one goes to the realm of Vishnu.

South of it is Prayag tirth by bathing in it one enjoys the fruit of performing agnishtom yajna.

South of it is Tinduk kshetra by bathing here one achieves the fruit of Rajsuya yajna.

South of it is Patuswami tirth which is very dear to lord Sun and bathing here one gets darshan of the lord Sun and goes to the divine realms.

South of it is great tirth called Dhruv tirth by bathing here one goes to the realm of lord Vishnu.

South of it is Saptarshisevi tirth, by bathing here and having darshan of the rishis one is given place in the comforts of realm of rishis.

South of it is Bodhini tirth where after bathing if one offers pind to ancestors then they all transported to heavens.

South of it Koti tirth, by bathing here one is freed of all the sins and is given place in the realm of lord Vishnu.

While in the North of Vishrantighat/Vishramghat is Sanyman tirth. By performing snan and dan here one never faces Yamraj the lord of death.

North of it is Ghantabharan named Brahmlok. Bathing here destroys all the sins and Brahm lok is granted.

North of it is Somtirth by bathing in it one goes to the realm of Moon.

North of it is Prachisaraswati tirth. Bathing here one becomes the controller of speech.

North of it is the Dashashwamedh tirth by bathing here one reaps the fruit of performing of Ashwamedh yajnas. Here one should pray to Shiva established by the name of Goparn. Doing this one gets all the desires fulfilled.

North of it is the Anant tirth. One who bathes here gets the fruit of bathing in all the 24 tirthas of Mathura.

Here lord Vishnu resides in the four armed form to grant liberation to all the residents of Mathura. One of his forms is Vrah statue, second is Narayan statue, third is Vaman statue and fourth is Haldhar statue. One who performs poojan of all of them after having there darshan is granted moksha.

After doing the poojan of Rangeshwar, Bhooteshwar, Mahavidyaa and Bhairav ji one gets the fruit of yatra of Mathura.

Kankhal: A bath in it gives one all the comforts of heavens.

Binduk: A bath in it provides name and fame in this world.

Surya tirth: Here king Bali, son of Virochan did tapasya and Sun provided him with a chintamani from his own mukut. On receiving that from lord Sun he returned to pataal. After bathing here all the sins are absolved and one is led to Vishnu lok. On every Sunday, or sankranti or on eclipse one should bath here. The fruit of such a bathing is equal to Rajsoya yajna.

Dhruvtirth: Dhruv did great tapasya here because of which he was elevated to the place of Dhruv. One who bathes here, all his ancestors get released.

Tirthraj: It is in the south of Dhruv tirth. By bathing here one gets Vishnulok.

Kotitirth: This place is so secret that even devtas can not have its darshan easily. One should bath there and perform tarpan of devtas and Pitras. One goes to Brahm lok by bathing in it. All the ancestors are released from the snares.

Vayutirth: What ever fruit is received by offering pind daan in Gaya same is received here when one does offer pind during the month of Jyeshtha. One goes to the realm of pitras.

Vatskridan tirth: There are many red coloured rocks here. Just by bathing here one goes to the realm of Vayu.   

Mathura Tirth: amazing thing about this tirth is that in Hemant its warm while during summers its water is cold. Its water neither reduces in summers nor increases in rains.

Muchkund Tirth: Here king Muchkund took bath. One who takes bath here gets all his desires fulfilled while one who is dying , he ascends to my realm.

Thus are the important tirthas of Mathura as explained in Vrah puran, Narad Puran etc. On your next visit to Mathura, do put an effort to look for the above divine places as explained by our ancient seers and reap its spiritual fruits…………………………………………….Om!