Opening the text

Devavanaprabhāvaḥ (Mathurā-dvādaśa-vana-yātrā-māhātmya)
Ancient-Geography (Tīrtha-Māhātmya) and Ethical-Discourse (Karmic Consequence)
Dalam dialog bersifat didaktik, Pṛthivī (Dharaṇī) bertanya kepada Varāha tentang nasib mereka yang berpaling daripada dharma dan kekurangan pengetahuan yang benar: apakah jalan yang masih tinggal setelah menanggung hasil karma yang menyakitkan. Varāha menjawab bahawa pemulihan akhlak berakar pada geografi suci: Mathurā dipuji sebagai pemusnah dosa dan pereda penderitaan neraka, bahkan bagi insan yang lemah dari segi etika. Tinggal di Mathurā, berkhidmat kepada tīrtha-tīrthanya, atau sekadar melihat serta mengelilingi hutan-hutan sucinya memberi pahala yang melindungi. Bab ini kemudian menyenaraikan dua belas vana (rimba suci) Mathurā mengikut turutan dan menegaskan bahawa ziarah yang berdisiplin melaluinya membawa kepada syurga, menafsirkan landskap duniawi sebagai alat transformasi moral dan ekologi keagamaan yang berpusat pada Bumi.
Verse 1
अथ देववनप्रभावः ॥ धरण्युवाच ॥ ये धर्मविमुखा मूढाः सर्वज्ञानविवर्जिताः ॥ का गतिः कृष्ण तेषां हि विहिता नरके सुरैः
Kini (diceritakan) keagungan Devavana. Bumi berkata: “Mereka yang berpaling daripada dharma, dungu dan kehilangan segala pengetahuan—wahai Kṛṣṇa, apakah nasib yang telah ditetapkan para dewa bagi mereka di neraka?”
Verse 2
अभुक्त्वा नारकं दुःखं सुकृतैः पुण्यदैर्नृणाम् ॥ प्रयान्ति कर्मणा येन तमुपायं ब्रवीहि मे
“Tanpa menanggung penderitaan neraka, berkat perbuatan baik manusia yang menganugerahkan pahala—melalui amalan apakah mereka dapat melampauinya? Beritahulah aku upaya itu.”
Verse 3
श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ सर्वधर्मविहीनानां पुरुषाणां दुरात्मनाम् ॥ नरकार्त्तिहरादेवी मथुरा पापघातिनी ॥
Śrī Varāha bersabda: Bagi lelaki yang kehilangan segala dharma dan berhati jahat, Dewi Mathurā menghapus penderitaan neraka serta memusnahkan dosa.
Verse 4
मथुरावासिनो ये च तीर्थानां चोपसेवकाः ॥ वनानां दर्शको वाथ मथुराक्रमकोऽपि वा ॥
Mereka yang menetap di Mathurā, dan mereka yang berkhidmat serta menziarahi tirtha-tirtha suci; demikian juga orang yang sekadar memandang hutan-hutan, atau bahkan yang melangkah masuk ke Mathurā—
Verse 5
एषां मध्ये कृतं यैश्च एकं च शतमोजसा ॥ न ते नरकभोक्तारः स्वर्गभाजो भवन्ति ते ॥
Dan di antara mereka, sesiapa yang melaksanakan amalan ini dengan keteguhan—sekali atau seratus kali—tidak menjadi penghuni siksa neraka; mereka menjadi penerima bahagian di syurga.
Verse 6
आदौ मधुवनं नाम द्वितीयं तालमेव च ॥ वनं कुन्दवनं चैव तृतीयं वनमुत्तमम् ॥
Pertama ialah hutan bernama Madhuvana; kedua ialah Tālavana. Ketiga, sesungguhnya, ialah hutan yang unggul bernama Kundavana.
Verse 7
चतुर्थं काम्यकवनं वनानां वनमुत्तमम् ॥ पञ्चमं वै बहुवनं षष्ठं भद्रवनं स्मृतम् ॥
Keempat ialah Kāmyakavana, hutan yang unggul antara segala hutan. Kelima ialah Bahuvana; keenam dikenang sebagai Bhadravana.
Verse 8
सप्तमं तु वनं भूमे खादिरं लोकविश्रुतम् ॥ महावनं चाष्टमं तु सदैव च मम प्रियम् ॥
Wahai Bumi, rimba ketujuh ialah Khādira, masyhur di seluruh dunia. Rimba kelapan ialah Mahāvana, yang sentiasa amat kukasihi.
Verse 9
लोहर्गलवनं नाम नवमं पातकापहम् ॥ वनं बिल्ववनं नाम दशमं देवपूजितम् ॥
Rimba kesembilan bernama Lohargalavana, penghapus dosa dan pelanggaran. Rimba kesepuluh ialah Bilvavana, yang dimuliakan dalam pemujaan para dewa.
Verse 10
यथाक्रमेण ये यात्रां वनानां च जितेन्द्रियाः ॥ करिष्यन्ति वरारोहे इन्द्रलोकं व्रजन्ति ते ॥
Wahai yang bersusuk elok, sesiapa yang mengekang inderia dan menunaikan ziarah ke rimba-rimba itu menurut tertibnya, mereka akan menuju alam Indra.
Verse 11
एकादशं तु भाण्डीरं द्वादशं वृन्दका वनम् ॥ एतानि ये प्रपश्यन्ति न ते नरकभोगिनः ॥
Yang kesebelas ialah Bhāṇḍīra; yang kedua belas ialah rimba Vṛndakā. Mereka yang menyaksikan tempat-tempat ini bukanlah orang yang menanggung azab neraka.
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).
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).
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.
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).
Mathurā region; the twelve vanas named: Madhuvana, Tālavana, Kundavana, Kāmyakavana, Bahuvana, Bhadravana, Khādira(vana), Mahāvana, Lohārgalavana, Bilvavana, Bhāṇḍīravana, Vṛndakāvana (Vṛndāvana).
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.
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Varaha Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.