Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
One day, while herding the cows, Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva together with the cowherd boys wandered near Tālavana. The boys were so ravenous that they implored Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva to protect them from the demon of hunger and said that they could smell sweet, ripe tāla fruits coming from nearby. Hearing this, Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva led them into Tālavana53. In the forest, Baladeva shook one of the palm trees. The fruit thudded to the ground and the cowherd boys jumped for joy. Hearing the sound of the falling fruits, Dhenukāsura and his followers attacked Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva with great force, kicking Them with their hind legs. Without strain or effort, Baladeva Prabhu caught the hind legs of the valorous Dhenukāsura, whirled him around in the sky and threw him on to the top of a huge palm tree. The demon passed stool and urine and then died. Kṛṣṇa started killing Dhenukāsura’s donkey followers, and soon their urine, stool and blood contaminated the entire forest. All the palm trees fell on each other and were destroyed. Later, when Tālavana was again clean, the sakhās and everyone else could easily go there.
This pastime carries some deep and important teachings. Śrī Baladeva Prabhu is akhaṇḍa guru-tattva, the complete and undivided principle of guru. In other words, He is that personality from whom all bona fide spiritual masters manifest. It is only by the mercy of the spiritual master that a sādhaka can protect his heart from ignorance. A genuine guru alone can remove all types of ignorance from the heart of a sincere disciple and infuse it with devotion to Śrī Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇa-bhakti). Dhenukāsura is the personification of ignorance. Realisation of the truth about Śrī Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇa-tattva), the science of devotional service to Him (bhakti-tattva) and the nature of the illusory energy (māyā-tattva) is only possible by the mercy of Śrī Baladeva Prabhu. Only then will bhakti for Kṛṣṇa become strong and fixed.
Due to foolishness, donkeys carry all kinds of loads in this material world. They are very lusty, and tolerate the kicks of she- donkeys and the beatings of washermen. Those who, out of gross foolishness, neglect to worship the Supreme Lord, carry all the bad qualities of a donkey. During the rainy season, when there is plenty of grass, the foolish donkey assumes he has not eaten anything and thus becomes lean and thin. And during the summer, when there is a scarcity of grass, the donkey assumes he has eaten it all and thus becomes fat.
Here, at Tālavana, lies Balabhadra-kuṇḍa and a temple of Baladeva.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
This very large lake is generally known as Sankarshana-kunda, but is also known by the names Baladeva-kunda and Balabhadra-kunda. The various names of the kunda refer to Lord Balarama who killed the Dhenukasura demon here at Talavana. The local Vrajavasis usually refer to this lake as Talavana-kunda or Tarasi-kunda. It is said that while herding cows in the Talavana forest, Lord Krishna created this kunda by striking His cow-herding stick into the ground so that the cowherd boys and cows could quench their thirst.
