Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.15.21

rāma rāma mahā-bāho

kṛṣṇa duṣṭa-nibarhaṇa

ito 'vidūre su-mahad

vanaḿ tālāli-sańkulam

SYNONYMS

rāma rāma — O Rāma: mahā-bāho — O mighty-armed one; kṛṣṇa — O Kṛṣṇa; duṣṭa-nibarhaṇa — O eliminator of the miscreants; itaḥ — from here; avidūre — not far; su-mahat — very expansive; vanam — a forest; tāla-āli — with rows of palm trees; sańkulam — filled.

TRANSLATION

[The cowherd boys said:] O Rāma, Rāma, mighty-armed one! O Kṛṣṇa, destroyer of the miscreants! Not far from here is a very great forest filled with rows of palm trees.

PURPORT

As stated in the Śrī Varāha Purāṇa:

asti govardhanaḿ nāma

kṣetraḿ parama-durlabham

mathurā-paścime bhāge

adūrād yojana-dvayam

"Not far from the western side of Mathurā, at a distance of two yojanas [sixteen miles], is the holy place named Govardhana, which is most difficult to attain." It is also stated in the Varāha Purāṇa:

asti tāla-vanaḿ nāma

dhenakāsura-rakṣitam

mathurā-paścime bhāge

adūrād eka-yojanam

"Not far from the western side of Mathurā, one yojana away [eight miles], is the forest known as Tālavana, which was guarded by Dhenukāsura." Thus it appears that the Tālavana forest is located midway between Mathurā and Govardhana Hill. The forest of Tālavana is described in the Śrī Hari-vaḿśa as follows:

sa tu deśaḥ samaḥ snigdhaḥ

su-mahān kṛṣṇa-mṛttikaḥ

darbha-prāyaḥ sthulī-bhūto

loṣṭra-pāṣāṇa-varjitaḥ

"The land there is even, smooth and very expansive. The earth is black, densely covered with darbha grass and devoid of stones and pebbles."

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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