Adhyaya 161: The Efficacy of the Sacred Forests: The Merit of Pilgrimage to Mathurā’s Twelve Groves
Devavanaprabhāvaḥ (Mathurā-dvādaśa-vana-yātrā-māhātmya)
Ancient-Geography (Tīrtha-Māhātmya) and Ethical-Discourse (Karmic Consequence)
教訓的な対話において、プリティヴィ（ダラニー）はヴァラーハに、ダルマから背き正しい知を欠く者たちの行く末、そして痛ましいカルマの果報を味わった後に残される道を問う。ヴァラーハは道徳的な救済を聖なる地理に見いだし、マトゥラーを「罪を滅する地」、地獄の苦を和らげる地として示す。マトゥラーに住むこと、そこにあるティールタ（聖地）に奉仕すること、あるいは森を拝し周回（プラダクシナー）するだけでも守護の功徳が得られると説く。続いて十二の名あるヴァナ（聖なる林・森）を順に列挙し、戒律と専心をもって巡礼すれば天界に至ると述べ、地上の景観を倫理的変容の器、そして大地に根ざす宗教的エコロジーとして捉え直す。
Speakers
Key Concepts
Shlokas in Adhyaya 161
Verse 1
अथ देववनप्रभावः ॥ धरण्युवाच ॥ ये धर्मविमुखा मूढाः सर्वज्ञानविवर्जिताः ॥ का गतिः कृष्ण तेषां हि विहिता नरके सुरैः
ここにデーヴァヴァナの霊威を説く。大地は言った。「ダルマに背き、迷妄にして一切の知を欠く者たちに、神々は地獄においていかなる行き先を、ああクリシュナよ、定め給うたのか。」
Verse 2
अभुक्त्वा नारकं दुःखं सुकृतैः पुण्यदैर्नृणाम् ॥ प्रयान्ति कर्मणा येन तमुपायं ब्रवीहि मे
「地獄の苦を味わうことなく、人々の功徳ある行い――プンニャを授ける善業――によって、いかなる行為により彼らはその苦を越えて進むのか。その方便を私に説き給え。」
Verse 3
श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ सर्वधर्मविहीनानां पुरुषाणां दुरात्मनाम् ॥ नरकार्त्तिहरादेवी मथुरा पापघातिनी ॥
聖なるヴァラーハは言った。あらゆるダルマを欠き、邪悪な性向をもつ人々に対しても、女神マトゥラーは地獄の苦患を取り除き、罪を滅する。
Verse 4
मथुरावासिनो ये च तीर्थानां चोपसेवकाः ॥ वनानां दर्शको वाथ मथुराक्रमकोऽपि वा ॥
マトゥラーに住む者、また聖なる渡し場（ティールタ）に仕え参詣する者。さらに、ただ森々を眺めるだけの者、あるいはマトゥラーに足を踏み入れる者でさえ——
Verse 5
एषां मध्ये कृतं यैश्च एकं च शतमोजसा ॥ न ते नरकभोक्तारः स्वर्गभाजो भवन्ति ते ॥
そしてその中で、この行を力強く修める者は——一度であれ百度であれ——地獄を受ける者とはならず、天界の分け前に与る。
Verse 6
आदौ मधुवनं नाम द्वितीयं तालमेव च ॥ वनं कुन्दवनं चैव तृतीयं वनमुत्तमम् ॥
第一はマドゥヴァナと呼ばれる森、第二はターラヴァナ。第三はまことに勝れた森で、クンダヴァナと名づけられる。
Verse 7
चतुर्थं काम्यकवनं वनानां वनमुत्तमम् ॥ पञ्चमं वै बहुवनं षष्ठं भद्रवनं स्मृतम् ॥
第四はカーミヤカヴァナであり、森々の中でも殊勝の森である。第五はバフヴァナ、第六はバドラヴァナとして伝えられる。
Verse 8
सप्तमं तु वनं भूमे खादिरं लोकविश्रुतम् ॥ महावनं चाष्टमं तु सदैव च मम प्रियम् ॥
第七の森は、地よ、世に名高いカーディラ（Khādira）である。第八はマハーヴァナ（Mahāvana）で、常にわたしに愛しい。
Verse 9
लोहर्गलवनं नाम नवमं पातकापहम् ॥ वनं बिल्ववनं नाम दशमं देवपूजितम् ॥
第九はローハルガラヴァナ（Lohargalavana）と呼ばれ、罪を除く。第十はビルヴァヴァナ（Bilvavana）という森で、神々の礼拝において尊ばれる。
Verse 10
यथाक्रमेण ये यात्रां वनानां च जितेन्द्रियाः ॥ करिष्यन्ति वरारोहे इन्द्रलोकं व्रजन्ति ते ॥
順序に従って諸森の巡礼を行い、感官を制した者たちは、麗しき腰の君よ、インドラの世界へ赴く。
Verse 11
एकादशं तु भाण्डीरं द्वादशं वृन्दका वनम् ॥ एतानि ये प्रपश्यन्ति न ते नरकभोगिनः ॥
第十一はバーンディーラ（Bhāṇḍīra）、第十二はヴリンダカーの森（Vṛndakā）である。これらを拝する者は地獄の苦を受けない。
Inside Adhyaya 161
How it unfolds
- Where it opens
Pṛthivī (Dharaṇī), concerned for beings who have turned away from dharma and right knowledge, asks Varāha what remedial course remains for them after they undergo painful karmic consequences (including naraka-like suffering).
- Central event
Varāha redirects the problem of moral failure into a geography of recovery: Mathurā is proclaimed a sin-destroying refuge where residence, tīrtha-sevā, darśana (seeing), and pradakṣiṇā/circumambulation of its sacred forests can protect and reform even ethically deficient persons, provided they cultivate restraint (jitendriyatā).
- Climax resolution
The teaching culminates in a structured catalog of Mathurā’s twelve vanas—Madhuvana, Tālavana, Kundavana, Kāmyakavana, Bahuvana, Bhadravana, Khādiravana, Mahāvana, Lohārgalavana, Bilvavana, Bhāṇḍīravana, and Vṛndakāvana—framing a disciplined vana-yātrā as a complete salvific itinerary that redirects karmic trajectory toward svarga.
- Closing phalashruti
An explicit phala is implied rather than formally concluded: one who lives in Mathurā, serves its tīrthas, or even merely sees and circumambulates these forests with sense-restraint is protected from hellish outcomes and attains heavenly merit (svarga-prāpti).
Geographical context
Mathurā region; the twelve vanas named: Madhuvana, Tālavana, Kundavana, Kāmyakavana, Bahuvana, Bhadravana, Khādira(vana), Mahāvana, Lohārgalavana, Bilvavana, Bhāṇḍīravana, Vṛndakāvana (Vṛndāvana).
Tirtha focus
- Primary TirthaMathurā (as a composite tīrtha-field encompassing forests and associated sacred sites)
- Associated RegionMathurā (Braj/Braja-maṇḍala)
- Pilgrimage MeritAssociation with Mathurā—vāsa (residence), tīrtha-upasevā (service), darśana (sight), and pradakṣiṇā/kramaṇa (circumambulation/ordered traversal) of the vanas—functions as expiation for dharma-averse persons, alleviating naraka-related suffering and yielding protective merit culminating in svarga.
Ritual instructions
- Primary RitualVana-yātrā and tīrtha-sevā in Mathurā with jitendriyatā (sense-restraint)
- BenefitMitigation of sin and hellish suffering for those lacking dharmic orientation; acquisition of protective merit through sacred-geographic association; culmination in heavenly attainment (svarga) and ethical reorientation.
The narrative frame
- VarāhaPṛthivī (Dharaṇī) · Didactic, remedial, and place-theological (tīrtha-māhātmya used as ethical instruction)
The emotional journey
- Dominant RasaŚānta (with undertones of Karuṇā)
- Emotional ProgressionAnxiety and compassion for the dharma-averse (Pṛthivī’s concern) → sober acknowledgment of karmic pain → reassurance through the promise of sacred-geographic remediation → uplift and confidence via the ordered list of vanas as a concrete path to recovery.
Planning a pilgrimage
- Visit FeasibilityFeasible as a Braj/Mathurā–Vṛndāvana circuit; several vanas correspond to identifiable modern locales or traditional pilgrimage points, though boundaries are often symbolic/traditional rather than strictly cartographic.
- Best SeasonOctober to March
- Modern Location NameMathura–Vrindavan region (Braj, Uttar Pradesh, India)
- Related FestivalKārttika month observances in Vṛndāvana; Holī in Braj; Janmāṣṭamī in Mathurā
Frequently Asked Questions
The chapter frames ethical recovery for dharma-averse individuals through a combination of karmic logic and place-based practice: association with Mathurā—residing there, serving its tīrthas, or undertaking disciplined viewing/circumambulation of its forests—is presented as a remedial pathway that mitigates naraka-related suffering and redirects karmic outcomes toward svarga.
No explicit chronological markers (tithi, nakṣatra, māsa, ṛtu) are stated in the provided verses. The instructions emphasize actions (vāsa, tīrtha-upasevā, darśana, kramaṇa, yātrā) and personal discipline (jitendriyatā) rather than calendrical timing.
Through Pṛthivī’s role as interlocutor and the focus on vanas, the text implicitly treats terrestrial spaces as ethically operative environments: forests and tīrthas are not passive backdrops but structured landscapes that cultivate restraint and moral reform. This supports an ecological reading in which stewardship and reverent engagement with Earth’s sacred groves are linked to social-ethical rehabilitation.
Within the provided passage, no dynastic lineages, royal genealogies, or named sages are referenced. The narrative is limited to the Varāha–Pṛthivī dialogue and a catalog of Mathurā’s named forests as the principal cultural-geographical referents.
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