Muchukunda Gufa is a sacred cave located in Mana near Badrinath, where King Muchukunda achieved perfection in devotional service to Lord Narayana and attained moksha. Muchukunda Gufa lies less than a kilometre from the Vyasa Gufa in Mana Village of Chamoli district in Uttarakhand.
Muchukunda Gufa hosts the lotus footprints of Lord Vishnu Who had blessed him with darshan. These footprints are the main attraction of the cave which brings in devotees and makes it even more sacred. The sacred cave is set amidst the pristine beauty of the Garhwal Himalayas. The route to this cave has a peculiar ruggedness lined with lavish patches of green grass thus making it challenging for many devotees to reach the place.
The lila of Muchukunda Gufa
The lila of Lord Krishna with King Muchukunda has been elaborated in the tenth skanda (volume) of Srimad-Bhagavata Purana. King Muchukunda was from the Ikshvaku dynasty, in which Lord Ramachandra appeared. He was the son of King Mandhata and very popular too. He exhibited the characteristics of the kings of the Ikshvaku dynasty who upheld the principles of Vedic culture strictly.
King Muchukunda was so powerful that Lord Indra asked him to fight the asuras alongside the devatas. The king readily agreed without any personal considerations and fought on for many years corresponding to the time-period of the upper planetary systems. Once, Lord Karthikheya, the commander-in-chief of the devatas called him and asked him to retire from fighting and take rest.
King Muchukunda Begins Resting
Karthikeya was very satisfied with the king for his contributions and told him that it would be useless to go back home as a long time had passed and hence, his queen, children, relatives, ministers, etc had passed away with time. He requested the king to take any benediction from him except liberation. All he could think was about sleeping.
The king was extremely tired, and his limbs slackened. He told Karthikeya that he just wanted to sleep. He requested the benediction to burn to ashes anyone who would wake him up untimely. Karthikeya gave King Muchukunda the benediction that he could take complete rest along with the benediction the king requested.
Now, King Muchukunda went inside a cave which lay on the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Later, during the presence of Lord Krishna on earth, the king was shown mercy by the Lord.
Mathura is Attacked
Lord Krishna had killed His demoniac uncle Kamsa whose wives became widowed and sorrowful. The wives of Kamsa were the daughters of Jarasandha, the king of Magadha. He could not see the plight of his daughters after Kamsa’s death. Hence, he decided that he would kill Krishna.
In the process, he tried to invade Mathura and destroy the Yadus entirely along with Lord Krishna. Jarasandha invaded Mathura 17 times and each time, he was captured by Lord Sri Krishna and released in a humiliating way. Even though Jarasandha had a huge army, it was destroyed by the Yadus all the 17 times.
During the 18th attack, a Yavana king by the name Kalayavana tried to attack Mathura along with Jarasandha. He simply took advantage of Jarasandha’s attack to prove his strength. He was the son of Garga Muni, the priest of the Yadus, who was begot in the womb of a yavana king’s wife. On the instigation of Narada Muni, Kalayavana was eager to fight Lord Krishna.
Lord Krishna felt that Mathura would not be safe for the Yadus anymore. After consulting with Lord Balarama, He decided to build the Dwarka Fort and shift all the residents of Mathura there. A city unparalleled anywhere in the universe was built for the Yadus in the sea using the help of the celestial architect Vishwakarma. Following this, all the inhabitants of Mathura were shifted to the new city of Dwarka.
Kalayavana Enters a Cave
It was now time to take care of the menace of Kalayavana, who was very eager to fight the Yadus. Lord Krishna came out of the city without any weapons or shoes but wearing a lotus garland around His lotus neck.
He walked amidst the army of Kalayavana without any worries. This surprised the soldiers and Kalayavana himself. Appearing in the four-handed Vishnu form to Kalayavana, He mesmerized his mind. The Lord ignored Kalayavana and went further walking his way.
Seeing that Krishna was unarmed, Kalayavana decided to capture Him and fight Him hand to hand. Kalayavana ran behind the Lord to catch Him but it was a futile attempt. Each time he thought that he had caught up with Lord Krishna, he would be disappointed as Lord Krishna would get far away from him.
Finally, Lord Krishna entered the cave where King Muchukunda was sleeping. Seeing this, Kalayavana abused Krishna saying that He was a coward. He followed the Lord into the cave abusing Him. In the pitch-dark cave, as he looked around, he saw a person sleeping who was covered with the upper yellow cloth of Lord Krishna.
Kalayavana is Killed
Assuming that it was Lord Krishna, he kicked the sleeping person very hardly. The sleeping person was none other than King Muchukunda. On being kicked, the king woke up and looked all around. Finally, he saw Kalayavana standing. Flames gushed out of the king’s eyes immediately onto Kalayavana and burnt him to ashes. Kalayavana woke the king untimely and hence, suffered the consequences.
Following this, Lord Krishna came in front of King Muchukunda and revealed Himself. The king was blessed by the Lord to advance in His devotional service thereafter. However, Lord Krishna asked him to visit Badrikashrama and attain perfection by meditating.
Muchukunda comes to Badrikashrama
Abiding by the instruction of Lord Sri Krishna, Muchukunda visited Badrikashrama and chose to live in the cave nearby Vyasadev’s ashram. He perfected himself by focussing his mind on the transcendental form of Lord Sri Krishna. Pleased by his penances, Lord Narayana blessed him with darshan and one more life as an unalloyed devotee to preach the mission of the Lord.
The place where Lord Narayana stood and gave darshan bears the impression of Lord’s lotus feet. Since then, Muchukunda Gufa became a holy place of pilgrimage. Earlier their existed Muchukunda Kunda here. This kunda was worshiped by the demigods and demons. Anyone who took bath in this kunda even once achieved liberation. (Vaishnava Khanda, Skanda Purana)
kundan tatra samaakhyaatam mauchukundeti sanjitam |
yatra snaatva sakrd api na sa bhuyo abhi jaayate ||
Best Time to Visit Muchukunda Gufa
The time period from May to June and from September to October is a pleasant period to visit Muchukunda Gufa. The September to October period is more pleasing owing to a cooler climate.
How to Reach Muchukunda Gufa
A devotee would be always eager to have the darshan of the Lord’s lotus footprints in a holy place such as Muchukunda Gufa. If you can’t wait or even if you intend to wait to visit the Muchukunda Gufa, the Sapta Badrinath Yatra by Tirtha Yatra is highly recommended.
Once you reach Badrinath, you can get taxis or even a lift from a passing vehicle to the point from where you climb on further to Muchukunda Gufa. These traveling methods might help you –
By Road: Badrinath is well connected to cities in Uttarakhand via bus services and taxis. You can get direct buses or taxis from Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh, etc. From cities outside Uttarakhand, you can reach cities like Dehradun or Haridwar and then catch a taxi or bus for the journey forward to Badrinath to reach Muchukunda Gufa.
There are regular buses from ISBT, Kashmiri Gate, New Delhi to Dehradun and onto Badrinath thereafter.
By Rail: The nearest railway station is at Rishikesh 289 kms away. You can board a train to Rishikesh Railway Station (RKSH) and then board a bus or hire a taxi to Badrinath from Rishikesh. If you are traveling to Badrinath from other cities in Uttarakhand by rail, you can adopt the same procedure to reach Muchukunda Gufa.
By Air: Jolly Grant International Airport at Dehradun is the nearest airport 306 kms away. You can fly in here and use the rail or road route to reach Badrinath.
Helicopter services are available from Dehradun to Badrinath. They are the fastest and bring you closest to Badrinath even though costly.
Remember – Muchukunda Gufa lies closer to India-Tibet border, hence special permission from local authorities is required to visit it.
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