Mahabharata 13.99.9

13.99.9

tasmāttāṃste pravakṣyāmi taḍāge ye guṇāḥ smṛtāḥ |
yā ca tatra phalāvāptirṛṣibhiḥ samudāhṛtā || 9 ||

I shall, therefore, tell thee what the merits are that have been said by great Rishis to be attached to tanks, and what the rewards are that are attainable by persons that cause them to be excavated. The wise have said that that man reaps the merit of an Agnihotra sacrifice in whose tank water is held in the season of the rains. The high reward in the world that is reaped by the person who makes a gift of a thousand kine is won by that man in whose tank water is held in the season of autumn. The person in whose tank water occurs in the cold season acquires the merit of one who performs a sacrifice with plentiful gifts of gold. That person in whose tanks water occurs in the season of dew, wins, the wise have said, the merits of an Agnishtoma sacrifice. That man in whose well-made tank water occurs in the season of spring acquires the merit of the Atiratra sacrifice. That man in whose tank water occurs in the season of summer acquires, the Rishis say, the merits that attach to a horse-sacrifice. That man rescues all his race in whose tank kine are seen to allay their thirst and from which righteous men draw their water. That man in whose tank kine slake their thirst as also other animals and birds, and human beings, acquires the merits of a horse-sacrifice.