rÄma rÄma mahÄ-bÄho
kṛṣṇa duá¹£á¹a-nibarhaṇa
ito 'vidūre su-mahad
vanaá¹ tÄlÄli-saá¹…kulam
rÄma rÄma - O RÄ ma: mahÄ-bÄho - O mighty-armed one; kṛṣṇa - O Kṛṣṇa; duá¹£á¹a-nibarhaṇa - O eliminator of the miscreants; itaḥ - from here; avidÅ«re - not far; su-mahat - very expansive; vanam - a forest; tÄla-Äli - with rows of palm trees; saá¹…kulam - filled.
[The cowherd boys said:] O RÄma, RÄma, 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 ÅšrÄ« VarÄha PurÄṇa:
asti govardhanaá¹ nÄma
ká¹£etraá¹ parama-durlabham
mathurÄ-paÅ›cime bhÄge
adÅ«rÄd yojana-dvayam
“Not far from the western side of MathurÄ, 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 VarÄha PurÄṇa:
asti tÄla-vanaá¹ nÄma
dhenakÄsura-raká¹£itam
mathurÄ-paÅ›cime bhÄge
adÅ«rÄd eka-yojanam
“Not far from the western side of MathurÄ, one yojana away [eight miles], is the forest known as TÄlavana, which was guarded by DhenukÄsura.†Thus it appears that the TÄlavana forest is located midway between MathurÄ and Govardhana Hill. The forest of TÄlavana is described in the ÅšrÄ« Hari-vaá¹Å›a as follows:
sa tu deśaḥ samaḥ snigdhaḥ
su-mahÄn kṛṣṇa-má¹›ttikaḥ
darbha-prÄyaḥ sthulÄ«-bhÅ«to
loá¹£á¹ra-pÄá¹£Äṇa-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.â€
