irthas 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, le