Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 1 - Verse 21

Sanskrit:

राम राम महाबाहो कृष्ण दुष्टनिबर्हण ।इतोऽविदूरे सुमहद् वनं तालालिसङ्कुलम् ॥ २१ ॥

ITRANS:

rāma rāma mahā-bāhokṛṣṇa duṣṭa-nibarhaṇaito ’vidūre su-mahadvanaṁ tālāli-saṅkulam

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