to
me as I mention certain sacred asylums and regions and _tirthas_ and
mountains that are approved of by Brahmanas. O king, listen to me as I
speak, thyself with the daughter of Drupada and thy brothers, wilt, O
lord of men, be relieved from grief. And, O son of Pandu, by hearing
only of these places, thou wilt acquire merit. And by visiting them thou
wilt obtain merit a hundred times greater, O best of men! First, O king,
I will, so far as I recollect, speak of the beautiful eastern country,
much regarded, O Yudhishthira, by royal Rishis. In that direction, O
Bharata is a place called Naimisha which is regarded by the celestials.
There in that region are several sacred tirthas belonging to the gods.
There also is the sacred and beautiful Gomati which is adored by
celestial Rishis and there also is the sacrificial region of the gods
and the sacrificial stake of Surya. In that quarter also is that best of
hills called Gaya, which is sacred and much regarded by royal ascetics.
There on that hill, is the auspicious lake called Brahmasara which is
adored by celestial Rishis. It is for this that the ancients say that
one should wish for many sons, so that even one among them may visit
Gaya, celebrate the horse-sacrifice or give away a _nila_ bull, and
thereby deliver ten generations of his race up and down. There, O
monarch, is a great river, and spot called Gayasira. In Gayasira is a
banian, which is called by the Brahmanas the _Eternal_ banian, for the
food that is offered there to the Pitris becometh eternal, O exalted
one! The great river that floweth by the place is known by the name of
Phalgu, and its waters are all sacred. And, O bull among the Bharatas,
there also, in that place, is the Kausiki, whose basin abounds in
various fruit and roots, and where Viswamitra endued with wealth of
asceticism acquired Brahmanahood. Towards that direction also is the
sacred Ganga, on whose banks Bhagiratha celebrated many sacrifices with
profuse gifts (to Brahmanas). They say that in the country of Panchala,
there is a wood called Utpala, where Viswamitra of Kusika's race had
performed sacrifices with his son, and where beholding the relics of
Viswamitra's superhuman power, Rama, the son of Jamadagni, recited the
praises of his ancestry. At Kamyaka, Kusika's son had quaffed the _Soma_
juice with Indra. Then abandoning the Kshatriya order, he began to say,
_I am a Brahmana_. In that quarter, O hero is the sacred confluence of
Ganga