Devanagari
राम राम महाबाहो कृष्ण दुष्टनिबर्हण ।
इतोऽविदूरे सुमहद् वनं तालालिसङ्कुलम् ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
rāma rāma mahā-bāho
kṛṣṇa duṣṭa-nibarhaṇa
ito ’vidūre su-mahad
vanaṁ tālāli-saṅkulam
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
;
saṅkulam
—
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.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
[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.
KB 10.15.21
“Dear Balarāma, You are very powerful; Your arms are very strong. Dear Kṛṣṇa, You are very expert in killing all kinds of disturbing demons. Will You kindly note that just near this place there is a big forest of the name Tālavana? This forest is full of palm trees, …
Purport
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.”
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
O lord who plays (rāma)! Since you have that name, perform one pastime for us. Or, you cause play, enjoyment and happiness. Please give us happiness. They repeat his name out of respect. In order to encourage you, we first call your name. There is nothing you cannot do (mahā-sattva -greatly courageous)! Another version has mahā-bāho. O Kṛṣṇa! You can give us happiness because you attract everyone (kṛṣṇa) by your nature of giving the highest bliss. O destroyer of sinners! They had directly seen Kṛṣṇa kill Vatsāsura and others. You are suitable to kill Dhenuka who is obstructing the tāla forest and you can make the fruits fall. By addressing him as a killer of demons they indicate that Kṛṣṇa’s strength would be successful. They use the word mahā-sattva to cause excitement, by showing that Balarāma’s strength was not being put to any use.
Not far from here, at Govardhana, there is a tāla forest. Generally they herded the cows there. Hari-vaṁśa says:
ājagmatus tau sahitau godhanaiḥ saha-gāminau
giriṁ govardhanaṁ ramyaṁ vasudeva-sutāv ubhe
The two sons of Vasudeva along with friends would go to pleasing Govardhana with all the cows
The place was not far away, about four krośas from Govardhana. As stated in the 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.
West means south-west in the verse. Hari-vaṁśa also says:
govardhanasyottarato yamumā-tīram āśritam
dadṛṣāte ‘tha tau vīrau ramyaṁ tālavanaṁ mahat
From the north of Govardhana the two boys gazed at the pleasant, huge tālavana which takes shelter of the bank of the Yamunā.
Standing in the northern part of Govardhana in the north-east section, they looked at the forest.
From the edge of Madhuvana, within which Mathurā is situated, starting from part of the Yamunā in the southeast, there is a village called Tālasī at the edge of the forest. The forest is southwest of the village. West of that is the place called Tāraphara. The forest of Tālavana is described in the 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.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
O lord who plays (rāma)! Since you have that name, perform one pastime for us. Or, you cause play, enjoyment and happiness. Please give us happiness. They repeat his name out of respect. In order to encourage you to make the tāla fruits fall, we first call your name. There is nothing you cannot do (mahā-sattva –greatly courageous)! Another version has mahā-bāho. O Kṛṣṇa! You can give us happiness because you attract everyone (kṛṣṇa) by your nature of giving the highest bliss. O destroyer of sinners! They had directly seen Kṛṣṇa kill Vatsāsura and others. You are suitable to kill Dhenuka who is obstructing the tāla forest and you can make the fruits fall. Because of his great courage he can kill the demons and because he kills the demons he is known as most courageous (mahāsattva). By these names they indicate that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma need not worry from these demons
Not far from here, at Govardhana, there is a tāla forest. Generally they herded the cows there. Hari-vaṁśa says:
ājagmatus tau sahitau godhanaiḥ saha-gāminau
giriṁ govardhanaṁ ramyaṁ vasudeva-sutāv ubhe
The two sons of Vasudeva along with friends would go to pleasing Govardhana with all the cows
The place was not far away, about four krośas from Govardhana.
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. Adi-varāha Purāṇa
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.
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.