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)
在一段教诲性的对话中，地神普利提维（Dharaṇī）询问野猪化身瓦拉哈：那些背离达摩、缺乏正知之人，在承受痛苦的业报之后将归向何处，又还有什么道路可走。瓦拉哈将道德的补救安置于神圣地理之中：摩图罗（Mathurā）被称为“灭罪之地”，能为本属德行不足者解除地狱般的苦报。他教导说，居住在摩图罗、奉事其诸圣地（tīrtha），甚至仅仅瞻见并绕行其林苑（pradakṣiṇā），都能获得护佑的功德。随后经文依次列举十二处具名的圣林（vana），并宣说以戒律与专注完成穿行朝圣者可得升天之果，从而将大地景观重释为伦理转化的工具与面向大地的宗教生态。
Speakers
Key Concepts
Shlokas in Adhyaya 161
Verse 1
अथ देववनप्रभावः ॥ धरण्युवाच ॥ ये धर्मविमुखा मूढाः सर्वज्ञानविवर्जिताः ॥ का गतिः कृष्ण तेषां हि विहिता नरके सुरैः
今说提婆婆那（Devavana）之威力。大地说道：“那些背离正法者，愚迷而尽失诸知；噢黑天啊，诸天在地狱中为他们所定的归宿为何？”
Verse 2
अभुक्त्वा नारकं दुःखं सुकृतैः पुण्यदैर्नृणाम् ॥ प्रयान्ति कर्मणा येन तमुपायं ब्रवीहि मे
“若不受地狱之苦，凭借能赐福德（puṇya）的世人善业，他们以何种行为得以超越那苦？请为我宣说此方便。”
Verse 3
श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ सर्वधर्मविहीनानां पुरुषाणां दुरात्मनाम् ॥ नरकार्त्तिहरादेवी मथुरा पापघातिनी ॥
圣瓦拉哈说道：对于全然缺失法（dharma）且心性邪恶之人，女神摩图罗（Mathurā）能解除地狱之苦，并摧灭罪业。
Verse 4
मथुरावासिनो ये च तीर्थानां चोपसेवकाः ॥ वनानां दर्शको वाथ मथुराक्रमकोऽपि वा ॥
凡居住于摩图罗者，及侍奉并亲近诸圣地渡口（tīrtha）者；又如仅仅瞻望诸林者，乃至仅踏入摩图罗一步者——
Verse 5
एषां मध्ये कृतं यैश्च एकं च शतमोजसा ॥ न ते नरकभोक्तारः स्वर्गभाजो भवन्ति ते ॥
而在这些人中，凡以精进之力行此修持者——无论一次或百次——皆不受地狱之报；他们得享天界之分。
Verse 6
आदौ मधुवनं नाम द्वितीयं तालमेव च ॥ वनं कुन्दवनं चैव तृतीयं वनमुत्तमम् ॥
首先是名为摩杜瓦那（Madhuvana）的林；第二是塔拉瓦那（Tālavana）。第三确为殊胜之林，名为昆达瓦那（Kundavana）。
Verse 7
चतुर्थं काम्यकवनं वनानां वनमुत्तमम् ॥ पञ्चमं वै बहुवनं षष्ठं भद्रवनं स्मृतम् ॥
第四是卡米亚卡瓦那（Kāmyakavana），为诸林中之胜林。第五是巴胡瓦那（Bahuvana）；第六被称念为跋陀罗瓦那（Bhadravana）。
Verse 8
सप्तमं तु वनं भूमे खादिरं लोकविश्रुतम् ॥ महावनं चाष्टमं तु सदैव च मम प्रियम् ॥
第七处森林，哦大地，是举世闻名的佉陀罗林（Khādira）。第八处是摩诃林（Mahāvana），恒常为我所爱。
Verse 9
लोहर्गलवनं नाम नवमं पातकापहम् ॥ वनं बिल्ववनं नाम दशमं देवपूजितम् ॥
第九处名为罗诃伽罗林（Lohargalavana），能除罪障。第十处是毗卢婆林（Bilvavana），为神圣祭祀所尊崇。
Verse 10
यथाक्रमेण ये यात्रां वनानां च जितेन्द्रियाः ॥ करिष्यन्ति वरारोहे इन्द्रलोकं व्रजन्ति ते ॥
凡能制御诸根、依次巡礼诸森林者，哦美髋者，他们将往生因陀罗之界。
Verse 11
एकादशं तु भाण्डीरं द्वादशं वृन्दका वनम् ॥ एतानि ये प्रपश्यन्ति न ते नरकभोगिनः ॥
第十一处是般荼罗林（Bhāṇḍīra）；第十二处是温陀迦林（Vṛndakā）。凡得见此等者，不为地狱之苦所受。
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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