Chapter Fifteen Kapiṭaṅka-nṛga-kūpa-gopī-bhūmi-māhātmya The Glories of Nṛga-kūpa and Gopī-bhūmi

On this mountain King Raivata built a yajṣa-tīrtha. By performing a yajṣa at this place one attains the result of performing ten million yajṣas.

O king, this holy place, which destroys all sins, was named Kapiṭaṅka because it was created by the jumping of a gorilla (kapi).

With His thunderbolt fist, Lord Balarāma killed Bhaumāsura's friend, the demon gorilla Dviviḍa, in this place.

Even though he had offended many siantly persons, that gorilla attained liberation at that place. O great king, the demigods regularly come to bathe there.

By going on pilgrimage to Kalaviṅka-tīrtha and giving ten million cows in charity one attains a great pious result. This pious result is doubled when the pilgrimage and charity are performed in sacred Daṇḍakāraṇya.

A person attains a pious result is four times as great at Saindhavāraṇya and five times greater than that at Jambu-mārga.

That pious result is ten times greater than that at Puṣkarāraṇya and ten times greater again at Utpalāvārta.

That pious result is ten times greater again at Naimiṣāraṇya and hundred times greater than that at Utpalāvārta.

Nṛga-kūpa at Dvārakā is the best of holy places. Simply by seeing it one becomes free of the sin of killing a brāhmaṇa.

In this way King Nṛga, who had been the best of charitable men, fell into a wretched condition for four yugas. Finally, as the saintly devotees looked on, he was delivered by Lord Kṛṣṇa.

koṭi-janma-kṛtāt pāpān mucyate nātra saṁśayaḥ ekaṁ yatrāpi go-dānaṁ karoti vidhivan naraḥ koṭi-go-dāna-jaṁ puṇyaṁ labhate vai na saṁśayaḥ gopī-bhūmeś ca māhātmyaṁ śṛṇu pāpa-haraṁ param tad-dināt—from that day; nṛga-kūpam—Nṛga's well; tu—indeed; tīrthī-bhūtam—become a holy place; mahī-pate—on the earth; kārtike—in the month of Kārtika; pūrṇimāyām—on the full moon day; tu—indeed; tasmin—there; snānam—bath; samācaret—does; koṭi-janma-kṛtāt—performed in ten million births; pāpān—from the sins; mucyate—released; na—not; atra—here; saṁśayaḥ—doubt; ekam—one; yatra—where; api—also; go-dānam—giving a cow in charity; karoti—does; vidhivan—properly; naraḥ—a person; koṭi-gaḥ—ten million cows; dāna—from the charity; jam—produced; puṇyam—piety; labhate—attains; vai—indeed; na—no; saṁśayaḥ—doubt; gopī-bhūmeḥ—of Gopī-bhūmi; ca—and; māhātmyam—the glories; śṛṇu—please hear; pāpa-haram—removing sins; param—great. From that day Nṛga-kūpa (Nṛga's Well) has been one of the great pilgrimage places on this earth. A person who on the full moon day of the month of Kārttika (October-November) bathes at Nṛga-kūpa becomes free of the sins performed in ten million births. Of this there is no doubt. A person who at Nṛga-kūpa gives in charity a single cow attains the pious result of giving ten million cows. Of that there is no doubt. Now please hear the glories of Gopī-bhūmi. Hearing its glories removes all sins.

koṭi-janma-kṛtāt pāpān mucyate nātra saṁśayaḥ ekaṁ yatrāpi go-dānaṁ karoti vidhivan naraḥ koṭi-go-dāna-jaṁ puṇyaṁ labhate vai na saṁśayaḥ gopī-bhūmeś ca māhātmyaṁ śṛṇu pāpa-haraṁ param tad-dināt—from that day; nṛga-kūpam—Nṛga's well; tu—indeed; tīrthī-bhūtam—become a holy place; mahī-pate—on the earth; kārtike—in the month of Kārtika; pūrṇimāyām—on the full moon day; tu—indeed; tasmin—there; snānam—bath; samācaret—does; koṭi-janma-kṛtāt—performed in ten million births; pāpān—from the sins; mucyate—released; na—not; atra—here; saṁśayaḥ—doubt; ekam—one; yatra—where; api—also; go-dānam—giving a cow in charity; karoti—does; vidhivan—properly; naraḥ—a person; koṭi-gaḥ—ten million cows; dāna—from the charity; jam—produced; puṇyam—piety; labhate—attains; vai—indeed; na—no; saṁśayaḥ—doubt; gopī-bhūmeḥ—of Gopī-bhūmi; ca—and; māhātmyam—the glories; śṛṇu—please hear; pāpa-haram—removing sins; param—great. From that day Nṛga-kūpa (Nṛga's Well) has been one of the great pilgrimage places on this earth. A person who on the full moon day of the month of Kārttika (October-November) bathes at Nṛga-kūpa becomes free of the sins performed in ten million births. Of this there is no doubt. A person who at Nṛga-kūpa gives in charity a single cow attains the pious result of giving ten million cows. Of that there is no doubt. Now please hear the glories of Gopī-bhūmi. Hearing its glories removes all sins.

koṭi-janma-kṛtāt pāpān mucyate nātra saṁśayaḥ ekaṁ yatrāpi go-dānaṁ karoti vidhivan naraḥ koṭi-go-dāna-jaṁ puṇyaṁ labhate vai na saṁśayaḥ gopī-bhūmeś ca māhātmyaṁ śṛṇu pāpa-haraṁ param tad-dināt—from that day; nṛga-kūpam—Nṛga's well; tu—indeed; tīrthī-bhūtam—become a holy place; mahī-pate—on the earth; kārtike—in the month of Kārtika; pūrṇimāyām—on the full moon day; tu—indeed; tasmin—there; snānam—bath; samācaret—does; koṭi-janma-kṛtāt—performed in ten million births; pāpān—from the sins; mucyate—released; na—not; atra—here; saṁśayaḥ—doubt; ekam—one; yatra—where; api—also; go-dānam—giving a cow in charity; karoti—does; vidhivan—properly; naraḥ—a person; koṭi-gaḥ—ten million cows; dāna—from the charity; jam—produced; puṇyam—piety; labhate—attains; vai—indeed; na—no; saṁśayaḥ—doubt; gopī-bhūmeḥ—of Gopī-bhūmi; ca—and; māhātmyam—the glories; śṛṇu—please hear; pāpa-haram—removing sins; param—great. From that day Nṛga-kūpa (Nṛga's Well) has been one of the great pilgrimage places on this earth. A person who on the full moon day of the month of Kārttika (October-November) bathes at Nṛga-kūpa becomes free of the sins performed in ten million births. Of this there is no doubt. A person who at Nṛga-kūpa gives in charity a single cow attains the pious result of giving ten million cows. Of that there is no doubt. Now please hear the glories of Gopī-bhūmi. Hearing its glories removes all sins.

Simply by hearing about Gopī-bhūmi, which is so named because the gopīs resided there, one become free from the bondage of karma.

In Gopī-bhūmi gopī-candana was manifested from the gopīs' cosmetics. A person who marks his limbs with gopī-candana tilaka attains the result of bathing in the Gaṅgā.

A person who daily wears gopī-candana tilaka attains the pious result of daily bathing in all sacred rivers.

A person who daily wears gopī-candana tilaka attains the result of performing a thousand aśvamedha-yajṣas and a hundred rājasūya-yajṣas. He attains the reusult of giving charity and following vows at all holy places. He attains the goal of life. Of this there is no doubt.

Twice as sacred as the mud of the Gaṅgā is the dust of Citrakūṭa. Ten times more sacred than that is the dust of Pañcavatī-tīrtha.

A hundred times more sacred is the dust of gopī-candana. Please know that gopī-candana is equal to the dust of Vṛndāvana.

Even if in the past he has committed hundreds of sins, if a person wears gopī-candana tilaka, then Yamarāja cannot take him away. How, then, can Yamarāja's messengers touch him?

A sinner who daily wears gopī-candana tilaka goes to Lord Kṛṣṇa supreme abode, Goloka, which is beyond the world of matter.

While he was on the earth this cruel sinner murdered a hundred brāhmaṇas and ten pregnant women.

One day he mounted a sindhu horse and went hunting. With a flood of arrows he accidentally killed with a brown cow in that hunt.

One day, greedy to get his kingdom, with a sharp sword his angry minister killed him in the forest.

Seeing him fallen to the ground and dead, the Yamadūtas came, bound him, and, joking as they went, took him to the city of Yamarāja.

Seeing this sinner brought before him, powerful Yamarāja said to his scribe Citragupta, "What is the proper punishment for him?"

Śrī Citragupta said: O great king, he should be thrown into eight million four hundred thousand hells for as long as the sun and the moon shine in the sky.

On the earth he did not perform a single pious deed. He killed ten pregnant women. He killed a brown cow.

He killed thousands of deer in the forest. He offended the demigods and the brāhmaṇas. He is a great sinner.

sphurad aty-ucchalat-phene kumbhīpāke nyapātayan pralayāgni-samo vahniḥ sadyaḥ śītalatāṁ gataḥ śrī-nārada uvāca—Śrī Nārada said; tadā—then; yama—of Yamarāja; ājṣayā—by the order; dūtā—his messengers; nitvā—taking; tam—him; pāpa-rūpiṇam—sinner; sahasra-yojanāyāme—eight thousand miles across; tapta—boiling; taile—oil; mahā-khale—very terrible; sphurat—manifested; aty-ucchalat-phene—bubbling; kumbhīpāke—in Kumbhipaka; nyapātayan—thrown; pralaya—of cosmic devastation; agni—the fire; samaḥ—equal; vahniḥ—fire; sadyaḥ—at once; śītalatām—coldness; gataḥ—attained. Śrī Nārada said: Then, by Yamarāja's order, the Yamadūtas took that sinner and threw him into a terrible, eight-thousand mile wide cauldron of bubbling boiling oil in the hell of Kumbhīpāka. The moment that sinner came to it, the boiling oil, which was as hot as the great fires at the time of cosmic devastation, suddenly became cool.

sphurad aty-ucchalat-phene kumbhīpāke nyapātayan pralayāgni-samo vahniḥ sadyaḥ śītalatāṁ gataḥ śrī-nārada uvāca—Śrī Nārada said; tadā—then; yama—of Yamarāja; ājṣayā—by the order; dūtā—his messengers; nitvā—taking; tam—him; pāpa-rūpiṇam—sinner; sahasra-yojanāyāme—eight thousand miles across; tapta—boiling; taile—oil; mahā-khale—very terrible; sphurat—manifested; aty-ucchalat-phene—bubbling; kumbhīpāke—in Kumbhipaka; nyapātayan—thrown; pralaya—of cosmic devastation; agni—the fire; samaḥ—equal; vahniḥ—fire; sadyaḥ—at once; śītalatām—coldness; gataḥ—attained. Śrī Nārada said: Then, by Yamarāja's order, the Yamadūtas took that sinner and threw him into a terrible, eight-thousand mile wide cauldron of bubbling boiling oil in the hell of Kumbhīpāka. The moment that sinner came to it, the boiling oil, which was as hot as the great fires at the time of cosmic devastation, suddenly became cool.

O king of Videha, as Prahlāda was unhurt in the same situation, that sinner was not hurt by the boiling oil. Then the Yamadūtas described that great wonder to noble-hearted Yamarāja.

Yamarāja and Citragupta carefully reviewed the sinner's case and concluded that while he was on the earth the sinner had not for a moment performed even a single pious deed.

Then Vyāsadeva arrived in that assembly. Bowing down before Him, and carefully worshiping Him, saintly and noble-hearted Yamarāja asked Vyāsadeva the following question.

asya kṣepanato vahniḥ sadyaḥ śītalatāṁ gataḥ iti sandehataś cetaḥ khidyate me na saṁśayaḥ śrī-yama uvāca—Śrī Yamarāja said; anena—by this; pāpinā—sinner; pūrvam—before; na—not; kṛtam—done; su-kṛtam—pious deed; kvacit—ever; sphurad-agny-ucchalat-phene—bubbling with fire; kumbhīpāke—in the burning Kumbhīpāka; mahā-khale—terrible; asya—of him; kṣepanataḥ—by the throwing; vahniḥ—the fire; sadyaḥ—at once; śītalatām—coolness; gataḥ—attained; iti—thus; sandehataḥ—by doubt; cetaḥ—mind; khidyate—is tormented; me—of me; na—no; saṁśayaḥ—doubt. Śrī Yamarāja said: When a certain sinner, who had never performed even a single pious deed, was thrown into the terrible boiling oil of Kumbhīpāka, the oil suddenly became cool. Because of this my mind is now tortured with doubts.

Śrī Vyāsadeva said: O great king, the intelligent sages, who have studied all the scriptures, know that the ways of piety, sin, and spiritual progress are very subtle and difficult to understand.

Somehow or other, by destiny, this sinner did perform a pious deed, and by that deed he became purified. O noble-hearted one, please hear the story of this.

That sinner died in a place where from someone's hand some gopī-candana from Dvārakā had accidentally fallen. Dying in gopī-candana, that sinner became purified.

A person who wears gopī-candana tilaka attains a spiritual form like that of Lord Nārāyaṇa. Simply by seeing him one becomes free of the sin of killing a brāhmaṇa.

preṣayām āsa sahasā gopī-candana-kīrti-vit evaṁ te kathitaṁ rājan gopī-candanakaṁ yaśaḥ śrī-nārada uvāca—Śrī Nārada said; iti—thus; śrutvā—hearong; dharma-rājaḥ—Yamarāja; tam—him; ānīya—bringing; viśeṣataḥ—specifically; vimāne—on an airplane; kāma-ge—moving by desire; sthāpya—placing; vaikuṇṭham—in Vaikuṇṭha; prakṛteḥ—the world of matter; param—above; preṣayām āsa—sent; sahasā—at once; gopī-candana-kīrti-vit—aware of the glories of gopī-candana; evam—thus; te—to you; kathitam—told; rājan—O king; gopī-candanakam—gopī-candana; yaśaḥ—the glories. Śrī Nārada said: Hearing this, Yamarāja, who understands the glories of gopī-candana, took the sinner, placed him a an airplane that goes anywhere one wishes, and sent him to Vaikuṇṭha, which is above the worlds of matter. O king, thus I have described to you the glories of gopī-candana.

preṣayām āsa sahasā gopī-candana-kīrti-vit evaṁ te kathitaṁ rājan gopī-candanakaṁ yaśaḥ śrī-nārada uvāca—Śrī Nārada said; iti—thus; śrutvā—hearong; dharma-rājaḥ—Yamarāja; tam—him; ānīya—bringing; viśeṣataḥ—specifically; vimāne—on an airplane; kāma-ge—moving by desire; sthāpya—placing; vaikuṇṭham—in Vaikuṇṭha; prakṛteḥ—the world of matter; param—above; preṣayām āsa—sent; sahasā—at once; gopī-candana-kīrti-vit—aware of the glories of gopī-candana; evam—thus; te—to you; kathitam—told; rājan—O king; gopī-candanakam—gopī-candana; yaśaḥ—the glories. Śrī Nārada said: Hearing this, Yamarāja, who understands the glories of gopī-candana, took the sinner, placed him a an airplane that goes anywhere one wishes, and sent him to Vaikuṇṭha, which is above the worlds of matter. O king, thus I have described to you the glories of gopī-candana.

One who hears this account of gopī-candana's glories becomes exalted. He goes to the supreme abode of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.