Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
Kanovāro is another of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s cow herding places. It is also Kaṇva Muni’s famous place of worship, which is why it has been named Kanovāro. Nearby, one can have darśana of Sunaharā Kadamba-khaṇḍī, Pānihārī-kuṇḍa, Kṛṣṇa-kuṇḍa and other places.
After taking darśana of Badrī-nārāyaṇa (Ādi-badrī), some pilgrims go straight to Kāmyavana via Seū-ghāṭī and Indraulī. Kāmyavana lies two miles north-west of Indraulī. Some pilgrims make their way from Badrī-nārāyaṇa to Kāmyavana via Guhānā, Khoha-gaon, Dhavala-parvata and so forth. Other pilgrims go to Kāmyavana five miles north via Ādi-badrī, Ālīpura and Paśapa- gaon. Some proceed to Kāmyavana after having darśana of Ādi- kedāranātha, which lies five miles west of Paśapa-gaon. Kāmyavana is situated six miles north-east from Kedārnātha. The village Bilonda lies two miles north-east of Kedāranātha, Caraṇa-pahāḍī lies two miles north-east from Bilonda, and Kāmyavana lies two miles north-east of Caraṇa-pahāḍī.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
It is mentioned in the Bhakti-ratnakara that this is the place where the great sage Kanva Muni had an ashrama and where he performed penance, “O Srinivasa, see Kanoyaro-grama where Kanva Muni performed austerities.” In the Shrimad-Bhagavatan, an incident has been recounted where Vishvamitra fell down from his vows and engaged in coitus with the beautiful heavenly Apsara named Menaka, who had been sent by Indra to break the Muni’s severe penance. The result was a baby girl who neither Menaka nor Vishvamitra wanted, and who was then abandoned in the forest. Finding the baby girl in the forest, out of compassion Kanva Muni rescued her and raised her in his ashrama. The girl’s name was Shakuntala and she grew up to become one of the most beautiful women in the history of the world.
One day, while on a hunting trip, the great king Maharaja Dushmanta of Hastinapura visited the ashrama of Kanva Muni and upon seeing the incredible beauty of Shakuntala, immediately fell in love with her and made a proposal of marriage. According to the rites of the ‘gandharva-vivaha’, Shakuntala accepted Maharaja Dushmanta as her husband and after spending some time together, the king eventually returned to his kingdom. Within due course of time, Shakuntala gave birth to a son who later became very famous and was known as Bharata Maharaja, who was a partial expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All the rituals of birth were performed by Kanva Muni who gave the child the name Sarvadhaman. As the child grew up he became so strong that he would play with lions the same as other children play with kittens. He would catch a lion and after opening its mouth count how many teeth it had. When the child reached youth-hood, Shakuntala took him to meet his father Maharaja Dushmanta, the Chandra-vamsha Emperor, in his capital city. Because none of the citizens knew about the king’s gandharva-vivaha marriage to Shakuntala, when Maharaja Dushmanta was informed that his son had arrived at the palace, not knowing about the birth, he did not at first acknowledge the existence of any son. At that moment there was an ominous voice from the sky, which proclaimed that this boy was in fact the king’s legitimate son, whose name would now be Bharata. Hearing the omen, Dushmanta immediately accepted both Bharata and Shakuntala and they remained with the king at Hastinapur.
After the death of King Dushmanta, his son Bharata Maharaja ascended the throne in 25 million BCE, and expanded the kingdom from the Bay of Bengal to Iran, Turkey, and Greece, and it included all the heavenly varshas, such as Ketumala and Ramnaka, which lay to the west of Meru. These same varshas were later conquered by Parikshit as well as Pradyumna. He became as equally famous as his namesake, Bharata, the son of Lord Rishabha Deva. He also delivered the demigods from the torment of the demons and in recognition the demigods named the tract of land he ruled as Bharatavarsha. (The Bhagavatam says that Bharatavarsha was named after Rishabha’s son, Bharata Maharaja). After becoming the Emperor of the world, Bharata Maharaja the son of Dushmanta, performed ninety-nine ashvamedha-yajnas at all the holy places along the banks of the Ganga. He also performed a great sacrifice to Lord Indra in Vraja on the bank of the Yamuna near present-day Agra. (Some say the incident of Bharata’s birth from the womb of Shakuntala occurred in the Shivalik Hills where Kanva Muni also had an ashrama; however the Bhakti-ratnakara says that Kanva Muni’s ashrama was located at Kanavaro).
