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HOME > Braja Mandala > Braja Area > Mahavana Forest (Old Gokula) | |||||||||||||
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Mahavana Forest (Old Gokula) Gokula is where Krishna lived in the house of Nanda
and Yasoda, along with Balarama. Lord Balarama, the older brother
of Krishna, took birth here from Rohini, the wife of Vasudeva. Gokula
is in the forest of Mahavana. Vasudeva carried Krishna here from Mathura.
He crossed the Yamuna at Kole Ghata. The village that Old Gokula is
located in is called Mahavana. There are small temples on the way up the hill that mark the places where Krishna killed the demons Putana and Trinavarta. The bhajan kutir of Sanatana Gosvami is across from the entrance of the Nanda Bhavan Temple. Thakurani Ghata, in New Gokula, a few km north of Old Gokula, is said to be the place where Krishna was brought from Mathura to Gokula. Nanda Maharaja celebrated the birth of Krishna by giving in charity 18 lakhs (1.8 million) cows. Each cow was wearing a pearl necklace and golden ornaments. He also gave the brahmanas a large amount of jewelry and grains. Garga Muni did the name giving ceremony for Krishna and Balarama very secretly here in a cow barn, so Kamsa would not notice. Lord Caitanya came here. When he entered Gokula, he became overwhelmed with ecstatic love upon seeing the place of Krishna’s birth festival. “Lord Krishna exhibits His most astonishing qualities during His childhood pastimes in Vrindavana, where He steals butter from the cowherd ladies, dances with His girlfriends, and plays with His cowherd friends as their most dear companion. Although appearing like ordinary human activities, such sublime pastimes embody Lord Krishna’s immeasurable and innumerable transcendental qualities, which are the life and soul of the pure devotees.” (Srimad Bhag. 10.14.7 purport) “Behold the house of Nanda and Yasoda in Mahavana. See the birthplace of Lord Krishna. Mahavana and the birthplace of Lord Krishna, Gokula, are the same.” (Bhakti-ratnakara, Fifth Wave) How To Get Here This place is about 13km southeast of Mathura on the other side of the Yamuna River. Gokula (Mahavana) is close to the Yamuna River. It takes an hour by car to get to Mahavana from Vrindavana. It is 3km south of the town of New Gokula. There are only several temples and buildings here. Mostly everyone in the area knows where it is located. Raval and Baldeo (Dauji) can easily be visited on the same excursion. To get to this place you should ask the taxi driver to bring you to Mahavana (Old Gokula) and not just Gokula. NOTICE There are two places called Gokula. One is Old Gokula, which is now called Mahavana, and the other is New Gokula, or the present town of Gokula. New Gokula is a fairly big town. New Gokula also has a temple named Nanda Bhavan and on the temple wall is a sign that says that this is the real Nanda Bhavan temple. When you park to go to Old Gokula you will see nothing around you but a few roadside stands and a path going up the hill to the Nanda Bhavan temple. The places described in this section are in Old Gokula (Mahavana). Getting
Around Directly across the path from the entrance to the Nanda Bhavan temple compound is the bhajana kutir of Sanatana Gosvami. In the same building there is the Patala Devi Temple, which is about 7m (21 ft) underground. From the Nanda Bhavan temple, if you proceed down the hill about 40m (120 feet), you will come to a small temple on your right that marks the spot where the Trinavarta demon was said to have been killed by Krishna. Across the path from this temple is a dirt road. In this temple are a Deity of Krishna and Deities of Lakshmi and Narayana. If you proceed down the hill another 40m (130 feet) you will come to the temple that marks the spot where Putana is said to have been killed by Krishna. Another 30m (100 feet) down the hill is a Jagannatha Temple on the left. Immediately after this temple (1m) there is a path that leads up a hill about 100m to the Yogamaya Temple. This is said to be the birthplace of Balarama. Others say it is the birthplace of Yogamaya. If you then drive down the road towards Brahmanda Ghata, after about half a km, you come to Yamalarjuna Bhanjana (Utkhal) on your right. Further down this same road, another km, is Brahmanda Ghata. Krishna
Comes to Gokula “The night was very dark, but as soon as Vasudeva
took Krishna on his lap and went out, he could see everything just
as in the sunlight. On the other side, he went to the place of Nanda Maharaja situated in Gokula, where he saw that all the cowherd men were fast asleep. He took the opportunity of silently entering into the house of Yasoda, and without difficulty he replaced his son, taking away the baby girl newly born in the house of Yasoda. Then, after entering the house very silently and exchanging the boy with the girl, he again returned to the prison of Kamsa and silently put the girl on the lap of Devaki. He again clamped the shackles on himself so that Kamsa could not recognize that so many things had happened. “Mother Yasoda understood that a child was born
of her, but because she was very tired from the labor of childbirth,
she was fast asleep. When she awoke, she could not remember whether
she had given birth to a male or female child.” (Krishna Book,
“Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura discusses that Krishna appeared simultaneously as the son of Devaki and as the son of Yasoda, along with the spiritual energy Yogamaya. As the son of Devaki he first appeared as Vishnu, and because Vasudeva was not in the position of pure affection for Krishna, Vasudeva worshiped his son as Lord Vishnu. Yasoda, however, pleased her son Krishna without understanding his Godhead. This is the difference between Krishna as the son of Yasoda and as the son of Devaki. This is explained by Visvanath Chakravarti on the authority of Harivamsa.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.3.268 purport) Nanda
Bhavan Temple and Chaurasi Khambha The house of Nanda Maharaja was built over 5,000 years
ago by the architect Visvakarma. It on the top of the hill at Old
Gokula (Mahavana). To the left of the entrance of the temple compound is a temple dedicated to Balarama and Revati (the wife of Balarama in Dwarka). In the temple in the back of the compound is a temple with Deities of Baby Krishna, Vasudeva, Devaki, and Yogamaya in the form of Durga, sitting on her lion carrier. Yogamaya
Temple (Balarama’s Birthplace) Appearance
of Balarama The Lord thus informed Yogamaya: “Under the imprisonment
of Kamsa are Devaki and Vasudeva, and at the present moment, My plenary
expansion, Sesha, is within the womb of Devaki. You can arrange the
transfer of Sesha from the womb of Devaki to the womb of Rohini.” When the Supreme Personality of Godhead transferred
Lord Sesha from the womb of Devaki to the womb of Rohini, both of
them were under the spell of Yogamaya. When this was done, people
understood that Devaki’s seventh pregnancy was a miscarriage.
Thus although Balarama appeared as the son of Devaki, He was transferred
to the womb of Rohini to appear as her son.” (Krishna Book,
Killing
Trinavarta At that time, one of the servants of Kamsa, known as Trinavarta, as instructed by Kamsa, appeared there in the shape of a whirlwind. He picked the child up on his shoulders and raised a great dust storm all over Vrindavan. Because of this, everyone’s eyes became covered within a few moments, and the whole area of Vrindavana became densely dark so that no one could see himself or anyone else. During this great catastrophe, mother Yasoda could not see her baby, who was taken away by the whirlwind, and she began to cry very piteously. She fell down on the ground exactly like a cow who has just lost her calf. When mother Yasoda was so piteously crying, all the cowherd women immediately came and began to look for the baby, but they were disappointed and could not find Him. The Trinavarta demon who took baby Krishna on his shoulder went high in the sky, but the baby assumed such a weight that suddenly he could not go any further, and he had to stop his whirlwind activities. Baby Krishna made Himself heavy and began to weigh down the demon. The Lord caught hold of his neck. Trinavarta felt the baby to be as heavy as a big mountain, and he tried to get out of His clutches, but he was unable to do so, and his eyes popped out from their sockets. Crying very fiercely, he fell down to the ground of Vrindavana and died. The demon fell exactly like Tripurasura, who was pierced by the arrow of Lord Siva. He hit the stone ground, and His limbs were smashed. His body became visible to all the inhabitants of Vrindavana. (Krishna Book) Killing
Sakatasura and Putana “Baby Krishna had been placed underneath a hand-driven cart, and while He was kicking His legs, He accidentally touched the wheel of the cart, and it collapsed. The wheel of the cart separated from the axle, and the spokes of the wheel were all broken and scattered hither and thither” (Krishna Book, 7). At this time the Sakatasura demon was concealed in the cart and Krishna killed him. Yamalarjuna
Bhanga (Utkhal—Grinding Mortar) Utkhal is where Krishna was tied to the grinding mortar by mother Yasoda. Utkhal means “grinding mortar.” Embedded in the stone here is a small grinding mortar. Nanda Maharaja’s well is directly across the road from here (about 16m or 50 ft away). It is called Sapta Samadrika Kupa, or “the well of seven oceans.” You have to climb up a small hill, 5m (15 ft) high, to the small building next to the well. How To Get Here The grinding mortar (utkhal) is in a small hut-like concrete building, about half a km from the Nanda Bhavan temple in Old Gokula. If you just left the Nanda Bhavan temple going toward Brahmanda Ghata, the first buildings that you come to on the right is this place. From the outside this place looks like someone’s home. On the other side of the street you can see a small building on a little hill. This is the building next to Nanda Maharaja’s well. Damodara
Pastime “In the meantime, mother Yasoda returned to the churning place after setting the overflowing milk pan in order. She saw the broken pot in which the churning yogurt was kept. Since she could not find her boy, she concluded that the broken pot was His work. She began to smile as she thought, ‘The child is very clever. After breaking the pot He has left this place, fearing punishment.’ After she sought all over, she found a big wooden grinding mortar, which was kept upside down, and she found her son sitting on it. He was taking butter that was hanging from the ceiling on a swing, and He was feeding it to the monkeys. She saw Krishna looking this way and that way in fear of her because He was conscious of His naughty behavior. After seeing her son so engaged, she very silently approached Him from behind. Krishna, however, quickly saw her coming at Him with a stick in her hand, and immediately He got down from the grinding mortar and began to flee in fear. “Mother Yasoda then chased Krishna and eventually caught him. She then attempted to tie him up with a rope to a wooden grinding mortar. But when she tried to bind Him, she found that the rope she was using was too short—by two inches. She gathered more ropes from the house and added to it, but at the end she found the same shortage. In attempting to bind her son, she became tired. She was perspiring, and the garland on her head fell down. Then Lord Krishna appreciated the hard labor of His mother, and being compassionate upon her, He agreed to be bound up by the ropes. Krishna, playing as a human child in the house of mother Yasoda, was performing His own selected pastimes” (Krishna Book,. 9). “According to Srila Sanatana Gosvami’s Vaishnava Tosani, the incident of Krishna breaking the pot of yogurt, and being bound by mother Yasoda took place on Dipawali Day or Dipa-malika. This festival is celebrated very gorgeously in the month of Kartika by fireworks and lights.” (Srimad Bhag. 10.9.2 purport) “Oh Lord Damodara, in Your form as a baby Mother Yasoda bound You to a grinding stone with a rope for tying cows. You then freed the sons of Kuvera, Manigriva and Nalakuvera, who were cursed to stand as trees, and You gave them the chance to become Your devotees. Please bless me in the same way. I have no desire for liberation into your effulgence.” (Sri Damodara Asthtakam 7) Pastime
of Nalakuvara and Manigriva “Although the child Krishna was bound up to the wooden mortar, He began to proceed towards the growing trees in order to fulfill the prophecy of His great devotee Narada. Lord Krishna knew that Narada was His great devotee and that the trees standing before Him as twin arjuna trees were actually the sons of Kuvera, Nalakuvara and Manigriva. ‘I must now fulfill the words of my great devotee Narada, He thought. He then began to proceed through the passage between the two trees. Although he was able to pass through the passage between the two trees, the large wooden mortar stuck horizontally between the trees. Taking advantage of this, Lord Krishna began to pull the rope which was tied to the mortar. As soon as He pulled, with great strength, the two trees, with all branches and limbs, fell down immediately with a great sound. Out of the broken, fallen trees came two great personalities, shining like blazing fire. All sides became illuminated and beautiful by their presence. The two purified bodies immediately came before child Krishna and bowed down to offer their respects and prayers.” (Krishna Book,. 10) If you know of information that is not listed here, or if you would like to help update our listings, please e-mail us at: |
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