tāla-trayaḿ mahā-sāraḿ
dhanur yaṣṭim ivebha-rāṭ
babhañjaikena hastena
saptāham adadhād girim
tala-trayam -- as long as three palm trees; maha-saram -- extremely solid; dhanuh -- the bow; yashtim -- a stick; iva -- as; ibha-rat -- a royal elephant; babhanja -- He broke; ekena -- with one; hastena -- hand; sapta-aham -- for seven days; adadhat -- held; girim -- a mountain.
With the ease of a royal elephant breaking a stick, Krishna broke a powerful, giant bow three talas long. He also held a mountain aloft for seven days with just one hand.
According to Acarya Visvanatha, a tala ("palm tree") is a measurement of about sixty hastas, or ninety feet. Thus the great bow Krishna broke was two hundred seventy feet long.
