Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
This pastime place lies one mile west of Narī and two miles north of Sahāra. It was here that Kṛṣṇa killed Śaṅkhachūḍa, removed the jewel from his forehead, and gave it to Śrī Baladeva.
One day, Kṛṣṇa and His sakhās were playing in the colourful Holī festival with Rādhā and Her sakhīs near Rādhā-kuṇḍa at the foot of Govardhana. At that time, the demon Śaṅkhacūḍa caught the gopīs and fled. With śāla trees in Their hands, Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva ran after the demon to kill him. Seeing Their raging speed, Śaṅkhacūḍa left the gopīs and fled for his life. Kṛṣṇa left Dāū Bhaiyā to protect the gopīs, and He pursued the demon alone, and killed him. Kṛṣṇa then removed the jewel from Śaṅkhacūḍa’s forehead and gave it to Baladeva, who sent it to Śrīmatī Rādhikā through Dhaniṣṭhā. Śrīmatī Rādhikā accepted that jewel with great honour.
Nearby is Rāma-kuṇḍa, which is also called Rāma-talā.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
This is where Krishna killed the demon Shankhachuda, removed the priceless conchshaped jewel from his head, and presented it to Balarama as a gift. Shankachuda was a follower of Kuvera, the Lord of the Yakshas and the treasurer of the demigods. Due to being puffed-up with immense wealth and false prestige, he believed he had the right to enjoy all the beautiful women in the world. The demon Shankhachuda foolishly attempted to kidnap a number of gopis while they were enjoying pastimes with Krishna and Balarama at Shyama Kutira during the annual Holi-mela festivities. The atmosphere was very pleasing and the gopis were completely enraptured in listening to Krishna and Balarama sing a duet of melodious songs. Shankhachuda suddenly appeared on the scene and after separating some of the gopis from the main group, began leading them away as fast as he could into the jungle. When Krishna and Balarama saw what had happened, They immediately gave chase. Seeing the two brothers close on his heels, Shankhachuda left the gopis behind and ran in fear for his life. Krishna told Balarama to take charge of the rescued gopis while He went in pursuit of the demon. Although Shankachuda ran as fast as he could, Krishna didn’t give up the chase and finally caught up with the demon near this village. Catching hold of the Shankhachuda, Krishna beat him on the head so hard with His powerful fist that the demon died on the spot. Because Krishna killed Shankhachuda here, this village became celebrated as Sankhi. Krishna then removed the precious conch-shaped gem from the demon’s head and after returning to where Balarama was waiting, presented the gemstone to Him as a gift. Balarama later arranged that this fabulous gemstone was given to Radharani.
The Bhakti-ratnakara also mentions that near this village there was a very beautiful place known as Rama-kunda or Rama-talao, which is where Balarama used to spend some of His time. This is also the place where Balarama, with the help of Madhumangala, presented the fabulous conch-shaped gemstone taken from Shankachuda to Radharani as a gift. It is also said that Radharani and the gopis used to visit Rama-kunda and felt ‘great pleasure’ and were overwhelmed with ‘great joy’ whenever they came to this beautiful place. The word ‘rama’ also means ‘pleasure’ or ‘great joy’ and is one of the reasons why the kunda achieved its name.
