Sofia, Bulgaria
7 July 2003
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 Gujerat.
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.
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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