and obtained prosperity and the consequence.
And because the gods always performed sacrifices and
holy deeds abandoning every practice that was evil,
and visited the
tirthas, as the consequence
thereof they acquired great good fortune. Guided
by this, O king, do thou also, with thy brothers,
bathe in
tirthas, for then thou wilt obtain
prosperity once more. Even this is the eternal
road. And, O monarch, as king Nriga and Shivi
and Ausinara and Bhagiratha and Vasumanas and Gaya
and Puru and Pururavas, by practising ascetic penances
and visiting
tirthas and touching sacred waters
and beholding illustrious ascetics, obtained fame and
sanctity and merit and wealth, so wilt thou also obtain
prosperity that is great. And as Ikshwaku with
his sons, friends and followers, as Muchukunda and
Mandhatri and king Marutta, as the gods through power
of asceticism and the celestial Rishis also, had all
obtained fame, so wilt thou also obtain great celebrity.
The sons of Dhritarashtra, on the other hand, enslaved
by sinfulness and ignorance, will, without doubt,
be soon exterminated like the Daityas.’”
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
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