Mathurā-māhātmya

Author: Rūpa Gosvāmī

"The Glory of Mathurā" — Rūpa Gosvāmī's anthology of 446 verses from the Varāha, Padma, Skanda and Viṣṇu Purāṇas, the Bhāgavatam and the Tantras on the holiness of Mathurā and all the land of Vraja. Rūpa arranges them by theme — how Mathurā purifies, why it surpasses every holy place, why living there is best, what the month of Kārttika means there — and then leads the reader through its holy sites: Viśrānti, the Yamunā, the twelve forests, Govardhana, Rādhā-kuṇḍa, Nandīśvara. The book became the basis of the Vraja pilgrimage.