Since very ancient times many virtuous persons journeyed to the in the sacred land of Vrindavan to perform tapasya and meditate on the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, in order to achieve liberation and fulfill their innermost desires. Amongst them was the famous child-saint Dhruva Maharaja, who in the Raivata-manvantara underwent severe austerities in the celebrated Madhuvan forest just to please Lord Vishnu. Another was the righteous king Ambarisha Maharaja, who performed penance in Madhuvan by observing an Ekadashi-vrata for one year for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. The grandson of Prahlada Maharaja, King Bali, worshiped the sun-god Surya Narayana and performed a great Vedic sacrifice (yajna) on the bank of the Yamuna in Madhuvan so that he could conquer the world. Maharaja Shantanu, the king of Hastinapura, also performed penance at Satoya to please Surya Narayana, so that he could obtain a saintly and heroic son. Even the goddess of fortune, after hearing from Narada Muni about Krishna’s divine pastimes with the gopis, underwent severe austerities in Bilvavan forest to become a gopi and take part in those transcendental lilas.