Mathura – Part 6
Please note, this is one of my old videos. For complete information watch the video at the bottom of the page.
Sapta-rishi Tila / Rishi-tirtha
“Behold the Rsi-tirtha here, south of the Dhruva-tirtha. Anyone who bathes in this tirtha attains Visnuloka. The Puranas declare that this Rsi-tirtha is very dear to Krsna. Anyone who bathes here will attain devotion to Krsna.”
South of Dhruva-tirtha is the hillock known as the Sapta-rishi Tila where one can see the deities of the seven great sages who are known collectively as the Sapta-rishis.
From left to right you can see the deities of Jamadagni, Vishvamitra, Atri, Bharadvaja, Kashyapa, Vasistha with his wife Arundhati & Gautama Rishi.
They performed yajna at this place to please Lord Krishna to appear on earth to kill Kamsa.
Durvasa Muni Ashram
Once the Vraja-gopikas decided to feed Durvasa Muni to get his blessings to lovingly attend the lotus feet of Sri Krishna. Durvasa Muni was living on the other side of the river Yamuna. During that time t
he Yamuna was filled to overflowing. How could they cross to the other side? The gopis asked Krishna to give some advice. Sri Krishna said, “You all should meditate upon your worshipable Lord and tell Yamuna that if Sri Krishna is a real brahmacari, then she should give you a way to go to the other side.”
The gopis were surprised to hear this from Sri Krishna, because they knew He was always in their association. They laughed to hear Him describe Himself as a brahmacari and asked, “How is that possible? We see You are always associating with us gopis. How can You call Yourself a brahmacari?”
Krishna said, “You go and tell this to Yamuna Devi, then see what happens.” Then all gopis went to the bank of the Yamuna and, following the instruction of Sri Krishna said, “O Yamuna Devi! If it is true that Sri Krishna is a real brahmacari then give us a way to cross you and go to the other side.”
To their great surprise, Yamuna immediately split into two, and they went to Durvasa Muni’s asrama.
When they reached the other side of the river they cooked different preparations and fed Durvasa Muni to his heart’s content. Durvasa Muni ate all the most tasty food very happily. Then he blessed all gopis saying, “Let all of you attain staunch devotion unto the lotus feet of Sri Krsna.” Pleased at receiving the great Rsi’s blessings, the gopis returned to the bank of Yamuna to return to their homes. But once again the Yamuna was impassable, filled to her banks with water. Returning to Durvasa Muni, they asked him the process by which they could cross the river. The Muni said, “Go to the bank of Yamuna and tell her, “O Yamuna Devi! If it is true that Durvasa Rsi did not eat anything until now, then please let us cross to your other bank!”
So the gopis went back to the bank of Yamuna and did as they were trained by Durvasa. They were surprised to see that once again Yamuna immediately gave way. “How is it possible?” they asked each other. “It is not true that Durvasa Muni has not eaten anything. We just fed him so much!” They were all bewildered to see this contradiction.
When they returned to their homes after crossing the river they asked Sri Krishna to tell them the truth of these events. They said, “O Krishna! We know that You are not a brahmacari because You are always associating and having pastimes with us. How is it then that Yamuna accepted such a thing as truth and gave us a clear pathway? And we just fed Durvasa Muni until his stomach was full. How then could Yamuna Devi accept it as truth that he has not eaten anything till now, and allowed us to cross her banks? This is bewildering us. Please tell us the secret behind this.”
Krishna replied, “My dear gopis! You are all very simple and innocent. You all have so much love for Me. You should know that even if I am staying with you all day and night still I am a pure brahmacari. Acceptance of anything takes place through the mind. I am Jitendriya, and thus I have controlled all My senses. Without My desire My mind dose not touch anything. That is why I am a pure brahmacari, even if I spend all My time with you, My dear gopis. In the same way Durvasa Muni also eats without being attached to the taste of food. As a result his mind does not become attached to anything.”
Thus Sri Krisna removed the doubts of the Vraja-gopikas.
Kalindi Krishna Milan Mandir
While I was returning from Durvasa Muni Ashram, I came across the temple Kalindi Krishna Milan Mandir. The temple pujari was explaining to me that where we were standing is Bhadravana which is where Durvasa Muni did Tapasya for 3 Yugas: Satya Yuga, Dvapara Yuga & Treta Yuga.
Kalindi is another name of Yamuna Devi. The Sun god, father of Yamuna devi, came to Durvasa Muni. He took deeksha from Durvasa Muni and requested her daughter to do Tapasya here. Durvasa Muni said “you can bring your daughter here she has my blessings”. After Tapasya Lord Krishna came here with Arjuna and married Kalindi (Yamuna). In marriage both brothers of Yamuna devi Dharmaraj and Shani dev also came. Dharmaraj gifted Chunni to Yamuna Devi & when they saw Shani Dev they got scared, because no one wants problems in life. Shani Dev blessed and said “whoever comes here and does the pooja will not have problems in there life”.
I went around to take darshan of some more temples in Mathura City. There are so many holy places in Sridhama Mathura that no sage or saint can count or explain them all. If no one can count all the holy places or describe them then it will be quite impossible for me.
result of bathing in all the holy waters.
The demigods said: Dear Lord, You are the refuge of all moving and nonmoving living entities. We feel all living entities to be suffocating, their breathing processes choked up. We have never experienced such a thing. Since You are the ultimate shelter of all surrendered souls, we have therefore approached You; kindly save us from this danger.