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 subjects 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!'"