तत्र द्वादशादित्या एकादश रुद्रा अष्टौ वसवः सप्त मुनयो ब्रह्मा नारदश्च पञ्च विनायका वीरेश्वरो रुद्रेश्वरोऽम्बिकेश्वरो गणेश्वरो नीलकण्ठेश्वरो विश्वेश्वरो गोपालेश्वरो भद्रेश्वर आद्यानि लिङ्गानि चतुर्विंशतिर् भवन्ति
tatra dvādaśādityā ekādaśa rudrā aṣṭau vasavaḥ sapta munayo brahmā nāradaśca pañca vināyakā vīreśvaro rudreśvaro'mbikeśvaro gaṇeśvaro nīlakaṇṭheśvaro viśveśvaro gopāleśvaro bhadreśvara ādyāni liṅgāni caturviṁśatir bhavanti
There are the twelve Ādityas, the eleven Rudras, the eight Vasus, the seven sages, Brahmā and Nārada, the five Vināyakas, and Vīreśvara, Rudreśvara, Ambikeśvara, Gaṇeśvara, Nīlakaṇṭheśvara, Viśveśvara, Gopāleśvara, Bhadreśvara; and the primal signs there are twenty-four.
19edc605f1bd · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:30:24 PM UTC
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A list of the inhabitants and the shrines. Almost all the classes of the Vedic pantheon are named: the twelve Ādityas, the eleven Rudras, the eight Vasus, the seven sages, the creator and Nārada.
Then come eight "lords" — the names under which shrines of Śiva have long been honoured in Mathurā and its neighbourhood: Vīreśvara, Rudreśvara, Ambikeśvara, Gaṇeśvara, Nīlakaṇṭheśvara, Viśveśvara, Gopāleśvara, Bhadreśvara. And the "primal signs" are spoken of, twenty-four in number: liṅga here means the honoured images.
This enumeration matters more than it seems. The book, having declared Kṛṣṇa the supreme Deity, does not sweep the others out of His abode: the gods and the shrines of Śiva stand there too, by the same woods. Seniority is asserted not by expulsion but by order.
The same trait was in the first part, where on the diagram for worship His associates, kinsmen and the gods were placed together with Kṛṣṇa.
Mathurā as thus described turns out to be not a separate sanctuary but a centre where the whole fullness of what is honoured comes together.