DEHOTSARG TIRTH (Golok Dham), Somnath, Gujrat.. !!

Golok Dham, Dehotsarg Tirth, Somnath, Gujrat

          The whole 'Krishna Leela' is mystifying. Krishna comes into this world and very soon starts killing demons and "Rakshasa". Even as an infant he kills "Putna". He becomes a favorite of everyone in Gokul. Everybody there listens to him. When he says not to worship God Indra, all follow him and instead worship 'Govardhan Parvat'. And His followers never got disappointed. Even in the battle of 'Mahabharata' that side won which he favored (ie. Pandavas) not the opponent whom He gave His huge army, that too with the fact that Krishna did not arm Himself. (As you know both Kauravas and Pandavas had approached Him to fight from their side just before the Mahabharata war. He did not want to support only one side. So he made an offer - choose between 'Krishna without weapons' and 'Huge army of Krishna'. Arjuna opted for the first while Duryodhana for the other). 

Awesome View of Hiran River from Dehotsarg/GolokDham
Tirth, Somnath, Gujrat

           Though He was King of Mathura, He left Mathura with many of Yadavas to establish a new kingdom at Dwarka that was invincible due to its location. (Why? Because some of the kings like Jarasandh had personal enmity towards Him. So they repeatedly attacked Mathura thus disturbing the peace and putting the lives of people of Mathura and neighboring kingdoms in danger. So He took this intelligent decision). He made Yadavas mighty with their name and fame reaching a historically high position. But at this stage, the might of Yadavas became instrumental for the start of their downfall. They forgot the fact that their might, their name and their fame was all due to Krishna and his guidance. They started even disobeying Krishna. As an avatar of Vishnu in human form, His teaching was to give full respect to 'Brahmins', 'Cows', Gods and Saints. This thing has been told by the poet Tulsidas as follows:-

विप्र धेनु सुर संत हित लीन्ह मनुज अवतार,

निज इच्छा निर्मित तन माया गुन गो पार। 

          The frivolous and hedonistic Yadavas once played a prank to great 'Rishis' who visited Dwarka. In a funny mood, Krishna's son Samb dressed like a woman put an iron pan (कड़ाही) on his belly hidden under clothes and went to 'Rishis' with other Yadavas. They asked 'Rishis', "O great souls, this lady is pregnant. Please tell us what will she deliver - a boy or a girl." One of the 'Rishis' understood his prank and cursed them like this, "I do not know whether it will be a boy or a girl, but I do know that whatever is in her belly will destroy the whole race of Yadavas". Now they became worried and went to Ugrasena, told him the whole story. Ugrasena instructed to rub that iron pan (कड़ाही) on the stone to make it powder so that the root cause of all the evil be destroyed. The Yadavas went near the sea and rubbed it on the stone until a small piece of iron remained. They even tried to rub it to the powder but the small piece was difficult to hold and at last, it slipped from their hand and fell into the sea. There it was swallowed by a fish which was caught by a poacher named Jara (जरा). Jara found this last iron piece inside the fish and he made it the arrowhead. On the other hand, the powdered iron on the seashore emerged as tall eraká grass, leaves of which had sword-like edges. 

Wall of Lakshminarayan Temple with different avatar and
scenes from Krishna's life

            So the God Krishna acted to fulfill many purposes. One, the Yadavas on the wrong path had to be eliminated; second, the curse of 'Rishis' had to be made true and last, the curse of queen Gandhari that was accepted by Krishna was to be made true. (After the war of Mahabharata Gandhari blamed Krishna for the death of all her sons and cursed Him that He too will get whole of His clan destroyed in a similar manner). So the end of Yadavas began from the incident that took place at the same location where the eraká grass had grown up. The fun-loving frivolous Yadavas drank alcohol named "Varuni" to the brim and in this intoxicating state a quarrel erupted among them on some very minor issues. This took an ugly turn as they plucked the sword-like grass leaves and started fighting. In this way, they killed each other. Now Krishna called for Arjuna and asked him to take all remaining children, women and old Yadavas to Hastinapur. As Arjuna left Dwarka with them, within a few days Dwarka submerged into the sea. Krishna came to Bhalka, Prabhas Patan, Gujrat where Jara the poacher shot the arrow with the above-mentioned arrowhead. This incident has been narrated in the blog Bhalka Tirth, Somnath, Gujrat. From there Krishna came to the bank of river Hiran where His elder brother Balram (who was an avatar of 'Sheshnag') had gone under the ground through a hole in a cave in the form of a snake ending his part of Leela. There, in the neighborhood, He ended His Leela but not like an ordinary man because neither He was an ordinary man nor His body was made of five 'Tatva' (क्षिति, जल, पावक, गगन एवं समीर)  like an ordinary man. His body was not left behind. Instead, His body turned into "Srimad Bhagwat Mahapuran" to guide His followers to sail through this sea of worldly-woes. This fact is said in the prayer in this "Bhagwat" as this - शास्त्रं रूपं च लोके प्रकटयति मुदा यः स नो भूतिहेतुः ॥ (You can see the meaning of this prayer in the link - Vande Sri Krishna Devam .. under my blog "Bhagwat-path-in-short") That is why "Bhagwat" ("Srimad Bhagwat Mahapuran") is taken as God Krishna Himself. Every Sanatandharmi Hindu must possess it and keep it in a sacred place in the 'Puja' room duly wrapped in a red piece of preferably red cloth. It should be worshiped and if possible read, as it fulfills all the wishes. As it is said:--

श्रीभागवतरूपम्    च    पूजयेत्    भक्तिपूर्वकम्  ।

 अर्चकाया अखिलानकामान् प्रयच्छति नो शंशयः ॥ 

Sribhagwat   rupam     ch       pujayet   bhaktipurwakam 

archakaya  akhilankaman prayachchhati no shanshayah.

(Meaning: We should worship 'Bhagwat Mahapuran' that is himself Krishna's form, with full devotion; this fulfills all the wishes of devotees, no doubt in it.)

               This place on the bank of river Hiran is a place of pilgrimage called "Dehotsarg Tirth" or "Golok Dham" means the place where Krishna changed his body and went to his "Nij Dham" (Golok Dham). This place is so peaceful and full of spiritual feeling that you will get an experience of lifelong. A memorial with footprints of Krishna has been made here. It is situated in an open area and a campus with many temples. Temple of Balram (With the cave from where he went into the ground), Geeta Mandir, Lakshminarayan Mandir, and Mahaprabhuji ki Baithak are all on this campus. In Geeta Mandir the Krishna,s idol is in 'Tribhangi mudra' with the flute to His lips and the marble-clad big hall has its walls and pillars engraved with 'shlokas' of Geeta. All the eighteen chapters of Geeta is engraved in Sanskrit. It was very logical to construct such type of temple here because "Geeta" is the 'Gyana' that Krishna gave to Arjuna in the battlefield when Arjuna refused to fight on seeing all his relatives and friends in the opposition. In fact, Krishna gave this 'Gyana' famous as "Geeta" to the whole world through Arjuna. He motivated Arjuna to do his duty without any wishes in turn. It is called "Karmayoga". 

The "Geeta Mandir" at Dehotsarg Tirth, Somnath, Gujrat

Krishna in 'Tribhangi Mudra' at Geeta
Temple, Dehotsarg Tirth, Somnath,
Gujrat

 

Geeta engraved on pillars of Geeta
Mandir, Somnath, Gujrat

                Next to Geeta Mandir is 'Baldev Temple' and 'Sheshawatar temple'. Inside the 'Sheshawatar temple' few steps down is a cave in which you can see a Shivlinga and behind it on the wall is a hole through which Balram entered into the ground in the form of a snake to end his part of "Krishna Leela".

Idol in Baldev
Temple, Somnath,
Gujrat

Idols in Lakshminarayan Temple,
Dehotsarg Tirth/Golok Dham,
Somnath, Gujrat

                  Just beside Baldev Temple is the 'Lakshminarayan Mandir'. This temple is like Geeta Mandir. Idols of Vishnu and Lakshmi in marble stand there. In front of these idols is a small idol of 'Garuda' which faces Lakshmi-Narayan.

                Next to 'Lakshminarayan Mandir' is an old building in which you can see the sitting place of famous Krishna Bhakta Harihar Mahaprabhuji. This place is known as "Harihar Mahaprabhuji ki Baithak".

Garuda in front of Lakshmi
Narayan Idol at Laxmi -
Narayan Temple, Somnath,
Gujrat

                 If you go further on the campus on the kuchcha way you will find some old structures and some trees. In the end, is an old Mahadev temple with a big Shivlinga. Name painted on the temple is as "Somnath Mahadev" in Gujarati script. In front of this temple is a banyan tree with a platform beneath it. There are many neem trees too.

An old Mahadev Temple at the end of Dehotsarg Tirth, Somnath,
Gujrat.It is also named as Somnath Mahadev!

                 We saw the Hiran river full of tranquil water in the month of February. The water level was about 15 feet below us as the temple campus has a high retaining wall towards the river. With the height the scenery becomes beautiful.

A wide view of Dehotsarg Tirth, Somnath, Gujrat
(Showing Golokdham, Lakshminarayan Temple, and the courtyard)

                 This temple complex is about 2 km from the famous Somnath Temple. As you go past the gate of Triveni Tirth about a km further the way ends there. For a Hindu or a Krishna Bhakta, this place is a must-see.

                  We hail to the total avatar of God that was Krishna and His manifestation "Srimadbhagwat Mahapuran":-

सच्चिदानन्दरुपाय विश्वोत्पत्यादि  हेतवे, 

तापत्रय: विनाशाय श्रीकृष्णाय वयं नुमः ॥