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up and down by gusts of wind, to cry out from afar, " Come and attain
salvation."
In that city he fasted for three days, and then worshipped Śiva with various meat-offerings, as became his own rank, and then set out for Gayá. As he travelled through the woods, the trees, which were bent down by the weight of their fruit, and in which the birds were sweetly singing, seemed at every step to be bowing before him and praising him at the same time; and the winds, throwing about the woodland flowers, seemed to honour him with posies. And so he crossed the forest districts and reached the sacred hill of Gayá.*[1] And there he duly performed a śráddha, in which he bestowed many gifts on Bráhmans, and then he entered the Holy Wood. And while he was offering the sacrificial cake to his father in the well of Gayá, there rose out of it three human hands to take the cake. When the king saw this, he was bewildered, and said to his own Bráhmans; " What does this mean? Into which hand am I to put the cake?" They said to him, " King, this hand in which an iron spike is seen, is certainly the hand of a thief; and this second hand, which holds a colander,†[2] is the hand of a Bráhman; and this third hand, which has the ring and the auspicious marks, is the hand of a king. So we do not know into which hand the sacrificial
- ↑ * Literally " head of Gayá." When Gayásura was engaged in devotion on the hill Koláhal about 30 miles from Gayá, Brahmá and the other gods came to him, and asked him what object he had in view. He said his wish was that his body might become the holiest thing in the world, so that all, who touched it, might at once obtain salvation. The request was granted. But Yama complained to Brahma, that no one now came to hell, so that his position had become a sinecure. Thereupon Brahmá, after taking counsel with the other gods, went to Gayásura, and asked him to give his body for a place on which to perform a sacrifice. He consented. Then Brahmá per- formed his sacrifice on the body of Gayásura, placed several gods on it, and made it immovable. His body now lies with its head towards the north and its feet towards the south. It is therefore called Gayákshetra. The area of Gayákshetra is ten square miles. The interior part of Gayákshetra, about two square miles in extent, is called Gayáśirah or the head of Gayá. A more usual form appears to be Gayáśirah the head of the Asura Gaya. It is a little south-west of BIshnu Pad. The pilgrims offer pindas there. The principal part of Grayalirah is called Gayamukha. S'raddhas are performed there. Dharmáranya which I have translated " Holy wood" is a place in the east of Bodh Gayá whore Dharmarája performed a sacrifice. Gayákúpa or the well of Gayá is in the south-west of Gayáśirah. Here pindas are offered to ancestors who have been great sinners. The above note is summarized from some remarks by Babu Sheo Narain Trivedi, Deputy Inspector of Schools, made for my information, at the request of W. Kemble, Esq. C. S., Magistrate of Gayá. Pandit Maheśa Chandra Nyáyaratna has pointed out to me, that there is an account of the glories of Gayá in the Váyu Purána, and another in the Padma Púrana. [These agree pretty nearly with that given above.] See also Barth's Religions of India, p. 278, note 2.
- ↑ † Used for filtering the soma- juice, see Böhtlingk and Roth, s. v.
