Vaisampayana said, “The heroic sons of Pandu, accompanied by their
followers, proceeding from place to place, at last arrived at Naimisha. O
king, reaching the Gomati, the Pandavas bathed in the sacred tirtha of
that stream, and having performed their ablutions there, they gave away,
O Bharata, both kine and wealth! And repeatedly offering oblations of
water, O Bharata, to the gods, the pitris, and the Brahmanas, in the
tirthas called Kanya, Aswa, and Go and staying (as directed) in Kalakoti
and the Vishaprastha hills, the Kauravas then, O king, reached Vahuda and
performed their ablution in that stream. Proceeding next, O lord of
earth, to the sacrificial region of the gods known by the name Prayaga,
they bathed in the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna and residing there
practised ascetic penances of great merit. And the Pandavas, of truthful
promises, bathing in the tirtha, cleansed themselves of every sin. The
sons of Pandu then, O king of the Bharata race, accompanied by those
Brahmanas, proceeded to the tirtha called Vedi, sacred to the Creator and
adored by the ascetics. Residing there for some time and gratifying the
Brahmanas with the fruit and roots of the wilderness and clarified
butter, those heroes began to practise ascetic penances of great merit.
They then proceeded to Mahidhara consecrated by that virtuous royal sage
Gaya of unrivalled splendour. In that region is the hill called Gayasira,
as well as the delightful river called Mahanadi, with fine banks graced
by bushes of canes. On that celestial hill of holy peaks is a sacred
tirtha called Brahmasara which is much adored by ascetics. There on the
banks of that lake had dwelt of yore the eternal god himself of justice,
and it was thither that the illustrious Rishi Agastya had repaired to
behold that deity. It is from that lake that all the rivers take their
rise and there in that tirtha, Mahadeva the wielder of the Pinaka, is
present for aye. Arriving at that spot, the heroic sons of Pandu
practised the vow that is known by the name of the Chaturmasya according
to all the rites and ordinances of the great sacrifice called Rishiyajna.
It is there that that mighty tree called the Eternal banian stands. Any
sacrifice performed there produces merit that is eternal. In that
sacrificial platform of the gods producing eternal merit, the Pandavas
began to fast with concentrated souls. And there came unto them Brahmanas
by hundreds endued with wealth of asceticism. And those Brahmanas also
all performed the Chaturmasya sacrifice according to the rites inculcated
by the Rishis. And there in that tirtha, those Brahmanas old in knowledge
and ascetic merit and fully versed in the Vedas, that constituted the
court of the illustrious sons of Pandu, talked in their presence upon
various subject of sacred import. And it was in that place that the
learned vow-observing, and sacred Shamatha, leading, besides, a life of
celibacy, spake unto them, O king, of Gaya, the son of Amurttaraya. And
Shamatha said, ‘Gaya, the son of Amurttaraya, was one of the foremost of
royal sages. Listen to me, O Bharata, as I recite his meritorious deeds.
It was here, O king, that Gaya had performed many sacrifices
distinguished by the enormous quantities of food (that were distributed)
and the profuse gifts that were given away (unto Brahmanas). Those
sacrifices, O king, were distinguished by mountains in hundreds and
thousands of cooked rice, lakes of clarified butter and rivers of curds
in many hundreds, and streams of richly-dressed curries in thousands. Day
after day were these got ready and distributed amongst all comers, while,
over and above this, Brahmanas and others, O king, received food that was
clean and pure. During the conclusion also (of every sacrifice) when
gifts were dedicated to the Brahmanas, the chanting of the Vedas reached
the heavens. And so loud, indeed, was the sound of the Vedic Mantras that
nothing else, O Bharata, could be heard there. Thus sacred sounds, O
king, filled the earth, the points of the horizon, the sky and heaven
itself. Even these were the wonders that persons noticed on those
occasions. And gratified with the excellent viands and drinks that the
illustrious Gaya provided, men, O bull of the Bharata race, went about
singing these verses. In Gaya’s great sacrifice, who is there today,
amongst creatures, that still desireth to eat? There are yet twenty-five
mountains of food there after all have been fed! What the royal sage Gaya
of immense splendour hath achieved in his sacrifice was never achieved by
men before, nor will be by any in future. The gods have been so surfeited
by Gaya with clarified butter that they are not able to take anything
that anybody else may offer. As sand grains on earth, as stars in the
firmament, as drops showered by rain-charged clouds, cannot ever be
counted by anybody, so can none count the gifts in Gaya’s sacrifice!”
“O son of the Kuru race, many times did king Gaya perform sacrifices of
this description, here, by the side of this Brahmasara!”