20210905 Bathing Places, Wells and Other Holy Places of Mathurā Maṇḍala, Part 2

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation By His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 5th September 2021 in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, India

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Introduction: I was thinking how all of us we serve somebody in the material world, but actually serving Lord Caitanya is really a wonderful thing. As we read about Lord Caitanya and Pañca-tattva ,They are perfect and in that way serving Them is also ideal. They actually care about all the people, They want them to transcend this material world and be happy, dancing and laughing and when They see all the people chanting in transcendental bliss, They say They are parama-ullāsa, supremely joyful, supremely ecstatic. We are continuing to read Lord Caitanya going to different holy places in Vṛndāvana. Hare Kṛṣṇa! Dear Devotees! Today we will continue with the compilation of Sri Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book todays chapter is entitled :

Bathing Places, Wells and Other Holy Places of Mathurā Maṇḍala Part 2 
Under the Section: The Lord Travels to Vṛndāvana

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.101

uddhavera pūrve dekha rajakera ghara
mālākāra-vāsa dekha puruve ihāra

Jayapatākā Swami:  The Sanoḍiyā brāhmaṇa, Kṛṣṇa dāsa, said “East of Uddhava’s house is the home of Kaṁsa’s washerman. East of this is the residence of the flower gardener.”

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.4.13: “To the south of this house is the house of Kubjā, the hunch-backed woman, which was built by Viśvakarma, and to the southwest of Kubjā’s house lies the extremely beautiful Raṅga-sthalam, the wrestling arena.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Kubjā by offering the sandalwood paste to Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma was cured by Kṛṣṇa. He put His hand under her chin and foot on her feel and straightened her up and she was cured of hunchback and her house was built by Viśvakarma. So, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, They were wrestling against big professional wrestlers. All the honest people in Mathurā, they objected, they thought this is not fair. They were booing and crying decrying the mismatch, seeing two young boys being attacked by the professional wrestlers. Of course Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma defeated the professional wrestlers.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.102

ihāra dakṣiṇe dekha kubujīra ghara
tāhāra dakṣiṇe raṅga-sthāna manohara

Jayapatākā Swami: See from here Kubja’s house to the south. South of that is Kaṁsa’s beautiful wrestling arena.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.4.14: “To the southeast of the Raṅga-sthalam lies the splendid house of Vasudeva, and to the northwest of it stands the house of Ugrasena, built by Lord Brahmā.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, King Kaṁsā has dethroned Ugrasena, who was rightful ruler, and he took over the kingship, the monarchy by force. So, Ugrasena was deprived. So, all these places of Vasudeva, Ugrasena was pointed out by Kṛṣṇa dāsa.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.103

vasudeva-āvāsa dekha tāra agnikoṇe
e bola śunite prabhu hāse mane mane

Jayapatākā Swami: The house of Vasudeva stands to the southeast.” Lord Caitanya felt great happiness within His mind to hear those things.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.104

gadagada svara kichu aruṇa vadana
ugrasena-vāḍī dekha tāhāra īśāna

Jayapatākā Swami: His voice faltered and His face flushed with a reddish hue. Kṛṣṇa dāsa continued, “See Ugrasena’s house just northeast of Vasudeva’s house.”

This was after 4500 years had pass by and still these places, the homes of these people were identified by Kṛṣṇa dāsa and Kṛṣṇa dāsa was feeling great ecstasy and Lord Caitanya was feeling great ecstasy.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.4.15: “Please see to the south the Deity form of Kṛṣṇa known as Gata-śrama, which means forever free from anxiety.” When Śrī Gaura Candra saw that form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, His body became covered with ecstatic pulakas.

So, Lord Caitanya’s hair stood on end in ecstasy, when He saw the Deity of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, who is never in anxiety.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.4.16-17: “The twelve extremely effulgent ghaṭas or bathing places to the south of the city are known in sequence by these names: Viśrāma, Śrama-śānta, Kaṁsa-khālī, Prayāga, Tindu, Saptarṣi, Mokṣa, Koṭika, Bodhi, Śiva, Gaṇeśa, and Rājatīrtha.”

Jayapatākā Swami:  So, in Mathurā we read how there were 24 ghāṭas and these are the twelve ghāṭas to the south of the city.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.105

dekhaha viśrāntighāṭa dakṣiṇe tāhāra
gataśrama nāma mūrtti ethā paracāra

Jayapatākā Swami: See the Viśrānti-ghāṭa just south of that. A Deity of Gata Śrama stays in this place.

This Gataśrama is mentioned above.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.106

kaṁsa māri’ ṭāniñā phelite haila khāla
teñi ‘kaṁsa-khāli’ ghāṭa dakṣiṇe tāhāra

Jayapatākā Swami: When Lord Kṛṣṇa killed Kaṁsa, He dragged the demon’s body creating a canal called kaṁsa-khāli ghāṭa, to the south of Gata Śrama.

This was Lord Kṛṣṇa’s Pastimes when He came to Mathurā. It was predicted that He would kill King Kaṁsā, and just to prove that Kaṁsā was dead, He dragged his body and that happened to create a groove in the ground like a canal that lead to the Yamunā river.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.107

dekhaha prayāga-ghāṭa tāhāra dakṣiṇe
tāhāra dakṣiṇe ghāṭa e tinduka nāme

Jayapatākā Swami:  To the south of that is Prayāga-ghāṭa and to the south of that is Tinduka-ghāṭa,

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.108

sapta-tīrtha bali’ ghāṭa ihāra dakṣiṇe
tāhāra dakṣiṇe dekha ṛṣitīrtha-nāme

Jayapatākā Swami:  To the south of that is Sapta-tīrtha-ghāṭa, and to the south of that is Ṛṣi-tīrtha,

Here each ghāṭa is mentioned, although all the twelve ghāṭas are being earlier mentioned.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.109

ihāra dakṣiṇe dekha mokṣa-tīrtha āra
tāhāra dakṣiṇe koṭi-tīrthera pracāra

Jayapatākā Swami: To the south of that is Mokṣa-tīrtha, and to the south of that is Koṭi-tīrtha,

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.110

tāhāra dakṣiṇe dekha bodhi-tīrtha name
dakṣiṇe gaṇeśa-tīrtha dekha vidyamāne

Jayapatākā Swami:  To the south of that is Bodhi-tīrtha, and Ganeśa-tīrtha exist to the south.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.111

eita dvādaśa ghāṭa-sarva-tīrthasāra
purīra dakṣiṇe raṅga-bhūmi dekha āra

Jayapatākā Swami: These are the twelve ghaṭas, supreme among all tīrthas. To the south of the city is the wrestling area.

So we see that each bathing ghāṭa has a particular name.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.4.18-19: “Raṅga-bhūmi (the sporting arena), which gives pleasure to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, lies in the southern portion of the city. To its south, please see the well dug by Kaṁsa for the purpose (of throwing) Kṛṣṇa. It is thus known as Kaṁsa Kūpa or the well of Kaṁsa. To the southwest is a kuṇḍa made by Agastya Muni.”

So, we can see that in Mathurā, there are many things created by great munis, like Agastya, Lord Brahmā, Viśvakarmā and demigods.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.112-113

tāhāra dakṣiṇe āra dekha aparūpa
durāśaya kaṁsa-rājā khanileka kupa

kṛṣṇa māri’ ihāte pheliba—ei kāma
kaṁsa khanila kūpa-’kaṁsakūpa’ nāma

Jayapatākā Swami: See to the south of that a wonderful well dug by the evil-minded Kaṁsa who thought, “I will kill Kṛṣṇa and throw in this well.” Because King Kaṁsa dug the well, it is thus known as Kaṁsa Kūpa.

So, through the śāstra we hear so many holy places in the city of Mathurā.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.114

dekhaha agastya-kuṇḍa nairṛte tāhāra
setubandha-sarovara uttare ihāra

Jayapatākā Swami: To the southwest of that is Agastya-kuṇḍa. To the south of that is Setu-bandha Sarovara.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.4.20: “To the north of the city is the kuṇḍa known as Sapta Samudra or Seven Oceans. See the rock used by Kaṁsa for killing the six sons of Devakī.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So many things in Mathurā we are able to see by the mercy of Lord Caitanya.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.4.21: The Lord laughed upon hearing this, and the brāhmaṇa also laughed and said, “Prabhu, to the north of this spot You may see Bhūteśvara Liṅgam, the form of Lord Śiva, the master of all living beings.”

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.4.22: “Again behold the Yamunā river, now joined with the Sarasvatī. Here is the Daśāśvamedha Ghaṭṭa, and there is Soma-tīrtha.”

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.4.23: “Here are the ghaṭas named Kaṇṭhābharaṇa and Nāga-tīrtha, also the kuṇḍas headed by Samyama, where all the holy rivers combined together and surrounded the city.”

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.4.24: After the Supreme Lord, Lord Caitanya had finished circumambulating Mathurā City, He begged for bhikṣā and happily accepted the prasāda offered to Him in the house of Sanoḍiyā brāhmaṇa, Kṛṣṇa Dāsa.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.4.25: Then while Sanoḍiyā brāhmaṇa, Kṛṣṇa Dāsa served Prabhu’s feet, the Lord remembered and spoke of the sweetness of the transcendentally blissful Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, although the evil-minded King Kaṁsā had so many plans to kill Kṛṣṇa, in the end he was killed by Kṛṣṇa, but his well and holy lakes still remain. So, after visiting all these holy places in Mathurā, Lord Caitanya took His prasāda in the house of Kṛṣṇa dāsa. Here Kṛṣṇa dāsa is mentioned but actually his wife probably did the cooking, the wives also played an important part in the Caitanya pastimes.

Thus ends the Part 2 of the chapter entitled, Bathing Places, Wells and Other Holy Places of Mathurā Maṇḍala, 
Under the Section: The Lord Travels to Vṛndāvana