By Patita Pavana das Adhikary
Soon many devotees will be gathering in Mathura Mandala to discover and worship the sacred dham’s multitudinous glories by the grace of the legacy of the World Acharya. For many, it will be the first visit, while for others it will be the twentieth or more! Mathura District, or Vraja Mandala, encompasses the entire region of Lord Krishna’s all-attractive lilas, and every speck of dust bears the footprints of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Who appeared there as a gentle cowherd some 5100 years ago. For the ISKCON devotee, the sacred Samadhi shrine of Shrila Prabhupada is the holiest place in the entire region, for without the blessings of the Sage who brought Krishna Consciousness West, defeating mayavada in the process…would any of even know anything about Vrindavana? Remember when you visit the temples and shrines in Vrindavana and the surrounding lila-bhumis, a donation is expected, and that goes double for foreign visitors. When you see a request for donations at Prabhupada’s Samadhi or personal quarters, please Prabhus, put something—whatever you can afford—into the Hundi because such service is bhakti-yoga directly to Shrila Prabhupada. There is no estimation to the benefit you will receive.
Remember that visiting the holy dham means the opportunity to have the association of advanced devotees. There are many qualified devotees who have been blessed to remain in the dham for a number of years now and our head belongs at the feet of every one of them. Take the Vraja tour narrated by Shri Dinabhandu Prabhu and watch the Lord’s eternal lilas come alive through transcendental sound vibration of glorious Shri Krishna-katha at the very spot such pastimes were enacted. Visit the transcendental quarters where Shrila Prabhupada translated the Shrimad Bhagavatam with his every breath and meet our Godsister Mother Daiva Shakti who has been continuously serving her spiritual master in this one personal service for over three decades. What an example for you and me! At Radha Kund, our advanced Godbrother and true renunciate Shrila Parvata Maharaja chants 64 rounds each day before 6 am, thereby setting an example for the world. Another Godbrother Shrila Mahanidhi Swami also has also been serving penance there for some years now, although devotees and disciples around the world rely on him for spiritual guidance.
I urge all yatris visiting holy Vraja-bhumi obtain the “Govardhan, Radha Kund and Nandagram Series of Tours” (on DVD) by our Godbrother Shrila Bhakti Caitanya Swami. The Maharaja—with his gentle tone and flavorful South African English—has a real knack of revealing first hand many of Mathura Mandala’s best-kept secrets.
In the following essay by our Godbrother Suhotra Maharaja, the entire history of the region is succinctly encapsulated in such a way that Shrila Prabhupada’s vision for world Krishna consciousness becomes the clear conclusion. Truly Suhotra Maharaja had a dream worth sharing, and that is why I have requested my friends here at Dandavats to reprint his valuable and ever-timely comments at this time. Our late lamented Godbrother’s immortal words, for which I have suggested the title, are from the “Suhotra Maharaja Archives”; and were written in Sofia, Bulgaria for the In-2MeC Diaries of 7 July 2003.
FROM KRISHNA’S DHAM TO KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS
“Skanda Purana informs us that the sacred site upon which the city of Mathura would develop was established more than 2 million years ago, when Dhruva Maharaja performed austerities there.  Later, in the Treta Yuga, the area was covered by a dense forest. A demon named Madhu used to live in this forest. He named the forest after himself–Madhuban. His son Lavana inherited Madhuban upon Madhu’s death. Lavana challenged the then emperor of Bharata Varsa, who was none other than Lord Ramacandra. Lord Rama sent His youngest brother Satrugna to fight with Lavana. Satrugna dispatched the demon, chopped down all the trees, and established a city called Madhu Puri. This was one million years ago. Many, many years passed about which we have no record.
“We do know that somehow or other, Madhu Puri became known as Mathura. Math means “to churn,” and connotes a place flowing with milk.
“Five thousand years ago a sinful descendant of the Bhoja line ruled his kingdom from Mathura. His name was Kamsa, son of Maharaja Ugrasena. Old King Ugrasena was extremely pious, the opposite of Kamsa, who was a big demon. The Bhojas were a lineage within the Yadu dynasty, a great family of Vaisnava ksatriyas. The materialistic Kamsa feared that because his father was a devotee, he would not hand the crown to his evil-minded son.  In his previous birth Kamsa was the asura Kalanemi; his hatred of Visnu and Vaisnavas carried over into his next life. He learned about his previous birth from Narada Muni, who informed him that as Kalanemi he had been killed by Visnu Himself.  Furthermore, at the time of the marriage of his sister Devaki to Vasudeva, Kamsa heard a prophecy from the sky that Visnu would appear again as his devotee-sister’s eighth child.  Kamsa would be killed by this child. So, provoked by fear and loathing for the Lord and His devotees, he usurped the throne and imprisoned his father, his sister, and his brother-in-law. Despite cruel Kamsa’s murderous measures to thwart the prophecy, Krsna took His birth in Mathura, was removed by his father Vasudeva to Nandagram on the night of His birth, and enjoyed pastimes in Vrndavana for sixteen years.
“Then Krsna re-entered Mathura City and rid the world of Kamsa, killing him with His fist and dragging his body around a wrestling arena.  Krsna Himself became King of Mathura.  He defended it seventeen times against another demon, King Jarasandha, who was an ally of Kamsa. Finally Krsna moved His family, the Yadu dynasty, to the sea fort of Dvaraka on the coast of the present-day Indian state of Gujarat. Vajranabha Maharaja was Lord Krsna’s great-grandson. As ruler of Mathura he built a magnificent temple on the site of Sri Krsna’s appearance. Much later, in 326 BC, Mathura was reached by Greek envoys of the empire of Alexander the Great. Nearly two centuries later the Indo-Grecian kingdom of Bactria tried to conquer Mathura at least twice. During this time the city was one of the most important centers of Buddhism in India. Still, Krsna-bhakti remained Mathura’s heart then as does now.
“More centuries passed; Buddhism gradually declined while devotion to Krsna flourished. A king named Vikramaditya built a temple upon the ruins of the ancient one constructed by Vajrnanabha. Called the Keshava Deva Mandira, this temple was so massive it took two hundred years to complete.
“In 1018 AD Mathura was attacked by invading Muslim hordes. The tremendous Keshava Deva Mandira at Krsna’s appearance site was destroyed on the order of their leader, Mahmud of Ghazni. In place of the temple a mosque was put up. The mosque still stands to this day. In recent times a Krsna Janmabhumi Mandira has been constructed next to the mosque. Near this temple is a replica of the jailhouse in which Lord Krsna appeared before Vasudeva and Devaki. Some even say this is the real site of Krsna’s birth, not the land on which the mosque stands.  The Hindus of Mathura were sorely taxed and tormented by the Muslim occupation, but they remained steadfast in their devotion to Krsna.
“Centuries later there was a rectification of sorts when the Muslim emperor Akbar visited Nidhuban and met the Gosvamis. He had a divine experience and subsequently gave out a royal decree that declared Vrndaban and Mathura to be sacred places. However, this period of Muslim tolerance was short-lived. Three generations later Emperor Aurangzeb sat on the Mughal throne at Delhi. He unleashed terrible persecutions upon Mathura and its environs. But as is the way of history, the Mughal Empire soon came to a close after the British arrived in India. Â
“In 1832 the British made Mathura the capital of a district of their empire. Approximately one hundred years later at Radha Kund, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura ordered Srila Prabhupada, “If you ever get money, print books.” Thus the seed of a transcendental world-wide empire, with Mathura and Vrndavana at the center, was planted.  That empire is growing and will rule for an age of 10 000 years.”
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