Dhruva Tila

The city of Mathura is mentioned in the Puranas to be one of the famous sapta-puris or seven most holy cities of Hinduism, where one can achieve moksha or liberation, the others are Haridwara, Kashi, Ujjain, Dwaraka, Kanchi, and Ayodhya. In the Padma Purana it says. “Amongst the sapta-puris, Mathura is the topmost and is considered even superior to Vaikuntha, because in Mathura one can awaken devotion to Lord Hari.” There are a number of very famous deities that were established in Mathura including; Keshavaji, Dirgha Vishnu, Mathura Devi, Mahavidya Devi, Adi Varaha, Sweta Varaha, Gatashrama Narayana, Swayambhu Padmanabha, Dwarkadisha, Gokarna Mahadeva, and Bhuteshwara Mahadeva. Within the holy city of Mathura are many sacred hills and amongst them nine are most famous including; Ambarisha Tila, Dhruva Tila, Bali Tila, Sapta-rishi Tila, Gatashrama Tila, Kamsa Tila, Hanumana Tila, Kali-yuga Tila, and Rajakavada Tila.

MADHUVANA (Maholi)
Madhuvana is one of the twelve sacred forests of Vraja. At the present time Madhuvana
is known as Maholi and a large village now stands where the sacred forest once stood. The forest of Madhuvana has an individual parikrama of around five kilometers that passes through all the important places of interest including Krishna-kunda and Dhruva Tila.

Narada instructing Dhruva
Narada Muni went to meet Dhruva to enquire from him the reason for his leaving his
father’s opulent kingdom in exchange for a life of solitude and penance in the forest. On hearing that Dhruva had been badly insulted and wanted to achieve a kingdom that would be far greater than even his father’s own great kingdom, Narada was very surprised that a mere boy of only five years of age could posses such a powerful ksatriya spirit. Narada was also moved by the child’s sincerity and was extremely pleased that Dhruva was determined to meet the Supreme Lord directly in order to achieve his heart’s desire. Narada Muni advised Dhruva to go to the Madhuvana forest and perform austerities there, as he would very quickly achieve the desired result. Narada also gave Dhruva a very powerful mantra by which he could propitiate the Lord directly. The mantra given by Narada to Dhruva was “Om namah bhagavate vasudevaya.”

That a little boy of only five year of age was engaged in such severe forms of penance,
like standing on only one leg and subsisting only on air, the Supreme Lord Vishnu became very pleased with the sincerity and devotion of Dhruva Maharaja, and appeared before him in His four armed Narayana feature known as Lord Prishnigarbha. After hearing the heartfelt prayers of Dhruva, the Lord awarded the child the highest benediction of pure devotional service and liberation from repeated birth and death. The Lord also granted Dhruva a kingdom far greater than any earthly kingdom including that of his father, and appointed him as ruler of the localized Vaikuntha planet known as Swetadwipa, which is also called the Pole Star.

On top of the hill known as Dhruva Tila, where Dhruva performed austerities, is a
temple known as the Dhruva-Narayana Mandir, where two important shrines can be seen. One shrine contains the deity of Lord Vishnu in His merciful feature as Prishnigarbha, also called Dhruva-Narayana, giving His blessings to Dhruva, who is seen offering his obeisance’s to the Lord’s lotus feet. Also present in the same shrine is Shrila Narada Muni, as well as Garuda, the eagle carrier of Lord Narayana. In the second shrine are the deities of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Narayana, along with a deity of Shri Nathaji and Lord Krishna’s dear friend Uddhava.

Madhuvana lies south-west of Çré Mathurä,
about two-and-a-half miles from Bhüteçvara
Mahädeva. It is one of Vraja’s twelve famous
forests. In Satya-yuga, Bhagavän killed a demon
named Madhu here, for which He became
known as Madhusüdana. Likewise, this forest
became known as Madhuvana, because it is as
endearing and sweet as the Supreme Lord Çré
Madhusüdana Himself.1
Another name of Madhusüdana is Mädhava, because He
is the beloved (dhava) of Çrématé Rädhikä, who is the foremost
among all Lakñmés. This Çré Mädhava is the presiding deity of
this forest. While taking bath here or performing äcamana one
should chant the following mantra – oà hräà hréà madhuvanaadhipataye
mädhaväya namaù svähä. Chanting this mantra
renders one’s parikramä of this forest successful. The present
name of Madhuvana is Maholé-gräma. On the eastern side of the
village of Maholé is Dhruva-öélä, where the deities of the child Dhruva and his worshipful four-armed Çré Näräyaëa splendidly
reside. Dhruva performed severe austerities here to attract the
Supreme Lord, using the mantra Devarñi Närada had given him.
Being pleased with his worship, the Lord appeared before Dhruva
and awarded him absolute monarchy over the entire Earth for
36,000 years, followed by rulership of Dhruvaloka, an imperishable
abode of Çré Hari within this material universe.
In Tretä-yuga, the sages and other residents of Madhuvana were
terrified by the atrocities committed by the Madhu demon, who,
after performing severe austerities, had obtained a trident from
Çaìkarajé. As long as that trident remained in Madhu’s hands,
no demigod, demon or human being could defeat him. Although
Madhu was a prince in the dynasty of the Sungod (sürya-vaàça),
he became cruel and devoid of good conduct due to bad association.
His father rejected him and banished him from the kingdom.
Madhu lived in Madhuvana, where he established a new kingdom
in which he harassed the citizens. Mändhätä, the highly illustrious
king of the sun dynasty, wanted to punish Madhu and therefore
he attacked him, but he was slain by Madhu’s trident.
Before his death, Madhudaitya gave that trident to his son,
Lavaëäsura. He told him that as long as this infallible trident
remained in his hands no one would be able to kill him; rather, it
would kill all his enemies.
Trident in hand, Lavaëäsura’s tyranny was even more cruel
than his father’s. The great sages of Madhuvana and surrounding
areas, distressed by his atrocities, went to Çré Räma in Ayodhyä
and humbly prayed for protection. They informed Çré Räma of
Lavaëäsura’s might and of his infallible trident that rendered him
invincible. They explained that killing him would not be possible
as long as he had his trident at hand.
In Ayodhyä, the Supreme Lord Çré Rämacandra coronated His
younger brother Çatrughna as the king of Madhuvana. Çatrughna
asked Lord Rämacandra for the powerful deity of Çré Varäha,
that Rämacandra had brought from Laìkä, and his elder brother
happily agreed. Çatrughna then went with the sages to the äçrama
of Välméki Åñi and, after receiving his blessings, proceeded to
Madhuvana. Bow and arrows in hand, Çatrughna arrived at the
entrance of Lavaëäsura’s cave at a time when Lavaëäsura had gone
hunting in the woods, and had left his trident behind in the cave.
When the demon returned, carrying dead elephants, deer and other
animals, Çatrughna challenged him to battle and a fierce fight
ensued. In desperation, Lavaëäsura tried to get hold of his trident,
but Çré Çatrughna, the highly valorous warrior and subduer of his
enemies, was able to obstruct him, and with his sharp arrows he
succeeded in cutting off his head. Çatrughna then re-established
the deserted Madhupuré and installed Lord Varähadeva there. This
Ädi-varähadeva is still present at the very same location in present
day Mathurä, which lies within Madhuvana. Lord Mädhava’s dear Madhu-kuëòa also lies in Madhuvana, and
is now also called Kåñëa-kuëòa. Nearby is the cave of Lavaëäsura.
A deity of Çré Çatrughna resides in a temple near Kåñëa-kuëòa.
Towards the end of Dväpara-yuga, Çré Kåñëa would take
hundreds of thousands of cows out to graze, walking behind them
and calling out their names: “Dhaulé! Dhümré! Kälindé! …” He
would make sounds to instruct them, such as “Hiyo-hiyo! – Come,
come!”, “Dhéré-dhéré! – Slowly, slowly!” and “Téré-téré! – Come to the
river-bank to drink!” As He walked with Däü Bhaiyä (Baladeva),
Kåñëa played His sweet flute, and laughed and joked, placing His
hands on the shoulders of the sakhäs. As the boys herded the cows,
delightful uproars would break out amongst them. In this way, all
of Madhuvana was showered with the sweet nectar (madhu) of
prema, which Çré Kåñëa and Çré Balaräma relished while grazing
the cows. While walking along like this, sometimes Kåñëa’s thirsty
eyes would look with sidelong glances at the gopés who were hiding
within the kuïjas or on the balconies or windows of their palaces.
The beautiful young ladies of Vraja worshipped Kåñëa with their
loving sidelong glances as He returned from the forest. Kåñëa would
show that He accepted their worship by the movement of His eyes.
To the young ladies of Vraja, even a second in separation from
Kåñëa would feel like millions of millenniums, and a millennium
in His company would seem like a fraction of a second.
Kåñëa’s cow herding pastimes in Madhuvana are as sweet as
honey (madhu) and beyond description. In Kali-yuga, about five
hundred fifty years ago, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu visited Vraja
and came to Madhuvana, where a momentary vision (sphürti) of
Çré Kåñëa’s pastimes overwhelmed Him with ecstasy. Each year,
many groups of pilgrims stop here to rest.
In Madhuvana, Däüjé and the sakhäs would dance as they
relished the sweet nectar of this forest. This is well known. Today,
one can also take darçana of the black deity of Däüjé here. There
is a deep secret behind the black colour of this deity. After leaving
Våndävana and Mathurä, Çré Kåñëa and Baladeva resided in Dvärakä
with Their relatives. When Baladeva heard about the restlessness
and lamentation of all of Vraja in separation from Çré Kåñëa, He
wanted to take Kåñëa back there, yet because this was somehow
delayed, Baladeva went there alone. He did His best to console
everyone, but when He saw the extent of their state of separation
from Kåñëa, He also felt intense separation from Him. Meditating
upon Çyäma and His pastimes in Vraja, Baladeva began to relish
çyäma-rasa (or mädhura-rasa), and Himself took on a çyäma

Text 78
yatra vai deva-devasya
sannidhyaà hari-medhasaù
sarva-papa-hare tasmiàs
tapas térthe cakara saù

yatra – where; vai – indeed; deva-devasya – the master of the demigods; sannidhyam – nearness; hari-medhasaù – they who have fixed their hearts on Lord Hari; sarva-papa – all sins;hare – removing; tasmin – there; tapaù – austerities; térthe – at the holy place; cakara – did; saù – he.

He (Dhruva Mahäräja) performed austerities at this holy place, where all sins are destroyed, and where the the Supreme Personality of Godhead, on whom the devotees fix their hearts, always stays.

Text 251

adi-varahe

yatra dhruvena santaptam
icchaya paramaà tapaù
tatra vai snana-matrena
dhruvaloke mahéyate

adi-varahe – in the Ädi-varäha Puräna; yatra – where; dhruvena – by Dhruva; santaptam – austerities; icchaya – with a desire; paramam – supreme; tapaù – austerity; tatra – there; vai snana-matreëa – simply by bathing; dhruvaloke – on Dhruvaloka; mahéyate – glorified.

In the Ädi-varaha Puräëa it is said:

Simply by bathing there (in Dhruva-tirtha) where Dhruva Mahäräja earnestly performed servere austerities, a person becomes glorified on Dhruvaloka.

Text 252

dhruva-térthe tu vasudhe
yaù çraddhaà kurute naraù
pitån santarayate sarvan
pitå-pakñe viçeñataù

dhruva-térthe – at Dhruva-tirtha; tu – indeed; vasudhe – O earth; yaù – who; çraddham – sraddha; kurute – does; naraù – a person; pitån – to the pitäs; santarayate – delivers; sarvan – all; pitå-pakñe – in the pitäs; viçeñataù – specifically.

O earth-goddess, a person who performs çräddha at Dhruva-tirtha delivers all his ancestors.

Text 253

saura-purane

dhruva-térthaà iti khyataà
térthaà mukhyaà tataù param
yatra snanavato mokño
dhruva eva na saàçayaù

saura-puraëe – in the Saura Puräëa; dhruva-tértham – Dhruva-tirtha; iti – thus; khyatam – known; tértham – holy place; mukhyam – best; tataù param – then; yatra – where; snanavataù – from bathing; mokñaù – liberation; dhruva – indeed; eva – indeed;
na – not; saàçayaù – doubt.

In the Saura Puräëa it is said:

Famous Dhruva-tirtha is the best of holy places. Simply by bathing there one becomes liberated. Of this there is no doubt.

Text 254

skande mathura-khanòe

gayayaà pinòa-danena
yat phalaà hi nånaà bhavet
tasmac chata-gunaà térthe
pinòa-danad dhruvasya ca

skande mathura-khanòe – in the Skanda Puräna, Mathurä-khanòa; gayayam – at Gayä; piëòa – of piëòa; danena – by offering; yat – what; phalam – result; hi – indeed; nåëam – of people; bhavet – may be; tasmac – than that; chata-guëam – a hundred times more; térthe – at the holy place; piëòa-danad – than offering of piëòa; dhruvasya – of Dhruva; ca – and.

In the Skanda Puräëa, Mathurä-khanòa, it is said:

The result of offering pinòa at Dhruva-tirtha is hundreds of times more than piëòa offered at Gaya.

Text 255

dhruva-térthe japo homas
tapo danaà surarcanam
sarva-térthac chata-gunaà
nånaà tatra phalaà labhet

dhruva-térthe – at Dhruva-tirtha; japaù – japa; homaùsacrifice; tapaù – austerity; danam – charity; sura – of the demigods; arcanam – worship; sarva-térthac – than all holy places; chata-gunam – a hundred times more; nånam – of people; tatra – there; phalam – result; labhet – attains;

Mantras, agnihotra-yajïas, austerities, charity, and worship of the demigods are hundreds of times more fruitful at Dhruva-tirtha than at all other holy places.