Variational Monte Carlo calculations for ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{4}\mathrm{H}$ (ground and excited states) and ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{5}\mathrm{He}$ are performed to decipher information on \ensuremath{\Lambda}-nuclear interactions. Appropriate operatorial nuclear and \ensuremath{\Lambda}-nuclear correlations have been incorporated to minimize the expectation values of the energies. We use the Argonne ${\ensuremath{\upsilon}}_{18}$ two-body NN along with the Urbana IX three-body NNN interactions. The study demonstrates that a large part of the splitting energy in ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{4}\mathrm{H}$ ${(0}^{+}{\ensuremath{-}1}^{+})$ is due to the three-body $\ensuremath{\Lambda}\mathrm{NN}$ forces. ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{17}\mathrm{O}$ hypernucleus is analyzed using the s-shell results. \ensuremath{\Lambda} binding to nuclear matter is calculated within the variational framework using Fermi-hypernetted-chain technique. There is a need to correctly incorporate the three-body $\ensuremath{\Lambda}\mathrm{NN}$ correlations for \ensuremath{\Lambda} binding to nuclear matter.