तीर्थयात्रा पर्व — गय के यज्ञ का वर्णन

Vaishampayana said : O ruler of earth, those heroes, (the Pandavas) accompanied by their followers, going from place to place, at last reached Naimisha forest.

O king, O descendant of Bharata, the Pandavas bathed in the sacred Tirtha of Gomati and gave away kine and wealth (in charity). O descendant of Bharata, again and again offering oblations there to the Pitris and the celestials and the Brahmanas and living in Kalkoti and Brishaprastha hills, these descendants of Kuru, O ruler of earth, reached Vahuda and all performed there oblations. O king, going then to the sacrificial ground of the celestials. Those truth-observing men purified their bodies by bathing in the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna and performed excellent austerities.

Having been thus cleansed of all their sins, those high-souled heroes gave much wealth to the Brahmanas. O descendant of Bharata, then the son of king, O Pandu went to the (sacrificial altar) Vedi of the Creator, ever adored by the ascetics. There lived those heroes and performed excellent asceticism. Always gratifying the Brahmanas with the offer of fruits and ghee.

Then they went to Mahidhara, consecrated by the virtuous. Royal sage Gaya of matchless effulgence. Here stands the hill called Gayasira and where flows the sacred great river. With charming banks adorned with bushes of cane plants. On that celestials and sacred hill of holy peaks. Is the highly sacred Tirtha called Brahmasara adored by the Rishis, where Agastya went to the high-souled Vivasvata.

And where dwelt the eternal king of justice (Yama) himself. O king, all the rivers have taken their rise from it.

The wielder of Pinaka, the great god (Shiva) is always near it. The heroic Pandavas performed there the vow called Chaturmasa, according to the rites of the Rishi Jagma. Here is also the great banian tree called Akshayavata.

Any sacrifice performed there produces ever-lasting merit.

They (the Pandavas) began to fast there with subdued mind. And there came to them hundreds of ascetic Brahmanas.

Those Brahmanas, learned in the Vedas and old in knowledge, also performed the vow called Chaturmasa according to the rites ordained by the Rishis and they, becoming he court of the illustrious heroes talked on various subjects.

O king, the learned and vow-observing and celebrated Samatha spoke of Gaya, the son of Amurtaya.

Samatha said: The son of Amurtaya is Gaya, the foremost of royal sages. O descendant of Bharata, listen to me, as I recite his virtuous deeds.

O king, here it was that he performed many sacrifices, in which food and gifts were in abundance and in which cooked rice was in hundreds and thousands of mountains. Ghee and curds were in hundreds of lakes and rivers and richly cooked curries in thousands of streams.

O king, day after they were given away to all that asked for them. Besides Brahmanas were fed with food which was pure.

O descendant of Bharata, when the time for distributing Dakshina (gift) came, the chanting of the Vedas reached heaven. Nothing else could be heard for that chanting of the Vedas.

O king, those sacred sounds filled earth, the points of the firmament, the sky and the heaven itself; and great wonders were seen. O best of Bharata race, greatly gratified with the food and the drink, men went about singing the following verse in various countries.

“Who is there among creatures that desires to day to eat more in the sacrifice of Gaya? There are still twenty-five mountains of food (uneaten).

What the immeasurably effulgent royal sage Gaya has done was never done by any man before or will be done by any man in future.

The celestials have been so very much fed with the Ghee that Gaya has offered them that they are not able to take anything more offered by any one else.

As sand-grains on earth, as stars in the sky, as the drops of falling rains cannot be counted by any body, so will none be able to count the Dakshina given away in Gaya's sacrifice.”

O descendant of Kuru, O king, many such sacrifices of his were performed on the banks of this lake.