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Madhuvana Forest

Krishna appeared in Madhuvana in all four yugas. In Satya-yuga He appeared before Dhruva Maharaja. In Treta-yuga He came as Satrughna and killed the demon Lavanasura. He came as Lord Krishna in Dwapara-yuga and as Lord Caitanya in Kali-yuga.

Ambarish Maharaja performed meditation and austerities in the forest of Madhuvana in Satya-yuga. He made a vow to stay in Braja Mandala for one year and strictly followed the Ekadasi vrata, especially the maha-dvadasis.

Parikrama of Madhuvana is done on the ekadasi day of the dark half of Bhadra.

How To Get Here To get here from Vrindavana you get on the Mathura bypass road, the main road from Delhi to Agra, going south. You drive on this road for about 20 minutes until you come to a large temple being built. At this temple you make a right and drive for about eight minutes, until you come to the village of Madhuvana. The present name of this village is Maholi.

Krishna Kunda
Krishna Kunda was made by Krishna striking His flute on the ground. Krishna would bring His cows to the bank of Krishna Kunda and the cows would drink water here.

How To Get Here When you reach the village of Madhuvana you continue through the village for a minute and you come to Krishna Kunda on your left. It is on the outskirts of the village.

Dhruva Tila
In the Madhuvana forest, Dhruva Maharaja, at the age of five, attained the darshan of Lord Vishnu, in His form as Prisnigarbha during Satya-yuga. On top of the hill here called Dhruva Tila is the Dhruva-Narayana Vishnu Temple. Dhruva Tila is where Dhruva Maharaja performed great austerities and where he had darshan of Lord Vishnu. On one altar in this temple is the Deity of Dhruva-Narayana and below Him is a deity of Dhruva Maharaja. On the right side of the altar are Narada Muni and Garuda. To the right of this altar on the side-wall is another altar with the Deities of Laksmi Narayana and Sri Nathji on it. Below the Deities of Laksmi Narayana is a deity of Uddhava.

How To Get Here Before you enter the village of Madhuvana you can see the Dhruva-Narayana temple on your left, on top of the Dhruva Tila hill. The hill is about 10m (30 ft) high. To get to this temple you can take the road that goes to the left from the main road, about a half kilometre before the village. You can also walk through the village from the road.

Balarama (Dauji) Temple
There is a Balarama (Dauji) Temple right next to Krishna Kunda The village Deity is Balarama. His right hand is raised, and He is pitch black. It is said that Balarama is black, because he became so absorbed in chanting Krishna’s name that he himself turned black.

How To Get Here This temple is the first building to the left of Krishna Kunda, on the road. From the outside, this building does not look like a temple.

Satrughna Deity
Satrughna, the brother of Lord Rama, made His capital in Madhuvana in Treta-yuga. There is a Deity of Satrughna, said to date back to Treta-yuga, in a temple next to Krishna Kunda. The brahmanas in this area were being disturbed by Lavanasura, the son of the demon Madhu. They prayed to Lord Ramacandra to help them. He sent his brother Satrughna here and He killed Lavanasura. He then made His capital here. There is a cave near the Dhruva-Narayana Temple in which the demon Lavanasura lived.

How To Get Here The ancient Deity of Satrughna is in a temple very near Krishna Kunda. If you are facing the kunda, standing near the road, this temple is on your right hand side, down a side road. It is a few doors down the road on the right.

Dhruva Maharaja’s Austerities
“Dhruva Maharaja, having arrived at Madhuvana, took his bath in the River Yamuna and observed fasting in the night with great care and attention. After that, as advised by the great sage Narada, he engaged himself in worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

“For the first month, Dhruva Maharaja ate only fruits and berries on every third day, only to keep his body and soul together, and in this way he progressed in his worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the second month Dhruva Maharaja ate only every six days, and for his eatables he took dry grass and leaves. In the third month he drank water only every nine days. Thus he remained completely in trance and worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is adored by selected verses. In the fourth month Dhruva Maharaja’s became a complete master of the breathing exercise, and thus he inhaled air only every twelfth day.

“By the fifth month, Maharaja Dhruva controlled his breathing so perfectly that he was able to stand on only one leg, just as a column stands, without motion, and concentrated his mind fully on the Parabrahman. He completely controlled his senses and their objects, and in this way he fixed his mind, without diversion to anything else, upon the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Dhruva Maharaja thus captured the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the refuge of the total material creation and who is the master of all living entities, the three worlds began to tremble.

“As Dhruva Maharaja, the King’s son, kept himself steadily standing on one leg, the pressure of his big toe pushed down half the earth, just as an elephant being carried on a boat rocks the boat left and right with his every step. When Dhruva Maharaja became practically one in heaviness with Lord Vishnu, the total consciousness, due to his fully concentrating, and closing all the holes of his body, the total universal breathing became choked up, and all the great demigods in all the planetary systems felt suffocated and thus took shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 4.8.71-80)

Lord Vishnu, the Personality of Godhead then got on the back of Garuda, who carried Him to the Madhuvana Forest to see His servant Dhruva. Dhruva’s meditation broke and he then saw in front of Him Lord Vishnu.

Lavanasura’s Cave
The cave that Lavanasura is said to have lived in is a few minutes walk down the road from the Dhruva-Narayana Temple. It is in a small temple complex. If you ask the priest at this place they can call the birds from the forest.

Killing of Madhu and Lavanasura
In the Ramayana of Valmiki it is described that there was a demon named Madhu. This demon was always irreligious and demonic in nature. This demon wandered around and eventually came to Braja. He built himself a small kingdom here and called it Madhuvana. His family was also demoniac. They would not allow any sages or rishis to come and mediate in this area nor would they allow anyone to come and take bath in the Yamuna or to drink water from the Yamuna. They would harass the yogis and sages at every opportunity.

These sages went to Ramacandra in Ayodhya and requested Him to help them. Lord Rama said he would go and slay the demons. His younger brother Satrughna volunteered to go kill the demons. Satrughna said he would go kill the demon Madhu, his wife Mayadana and their son Lavanasura. At this time he requested the Deity of Varahadeva to worship, that Lord Rama had gotten after defeating Ravana at Lanka.
His counselors told Satrughna before leaving Ayodhya that Lavanasura had many mystical weapons and if he had these weapons with him, then he would be almost unconquerable.

When Satrughna arrived in Mathura he went into the forest to search for Lavanasura. He then saw a huge ferocious man, Lavanasura, who was carrying several tigers, a water buffalo, an elephant, a big fat snake and a crocodile. This was going to be his dinner. Satrughna challenged him to a fight. Lavanasura told him to wait a few minutes and he would go get his weapons. Satrughna said you have a spear in your hand. Satrughna then killed Lavanasura after a great fight. He then killed Madhu and Mayadana. After this he converted Madhuvana to Madhupuri and this became his capital.

Copyright ©2001 John Howley and Spiritual Guides