Text 21
rāma rāma mahā-bāho
kṛṣṇa duṣṭa-nibarhaṇa
ito ’vidūre su-mahad
vanaṁ tālāli-saṅkulam
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; saṅkulam — filled.
[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.
As stated in the Śrī Varāha Purāṇa:
asti govardhanaṁ nāma
kṣetraṁ 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-vanaṁ 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-vaṁśa 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.”