[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Epic, Poetry, Drama & Narrative](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit) › [The Mahābhārata and its versions](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata) › [The Great Epic of the Bhārata dynasty](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) › 3.85.8 # The Great Epic of the Bhārata dynasty 3.85.8 Mahābhārata 3.85.8 - **Language:** Sanskrit ### [3.85.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.3.85.8) mahānadī ca tatraiva tathā gayaśiro'nagha | yatrāsau kīrtyate viprairakṣayyakaraṇo vaṭaḥ | yatra dattaṃ pitṛbhyo'nnamakṣayyaṃ bhavati prabho || 8 || > 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 and Yamuna which is celebrated over the world. Holy and sin-destroying, that tirtha is much regarded by the Rishis. > — Kisari Mohan Ganguli 1883, The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa - [Previous: 3.85.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.3.85.7) - [Next: 3.85.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.3.85.9) - [Up: 3.85](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.3.85) ## Translations (1) - [The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa~en-ganguli.3.87.1.2) — Kisari Mohan Ganguli 1883, English ## Commentaries (5) - [Jñānadīpikā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa!devabodha) — Devabodha, Sanskrit - [Bhāratabhāvadīpa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa!nilakantha) — Nīlakaṇṭha Caturdhara, Sanskrit - [Lakṣaślokālaṅkāra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa!vadiraja) — Vādirāja, Sanskrit - [Mahābhārataṭīkā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa!nilakantha-mahabharatatika) — Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita, Sanskrit - [Lakṣābharaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa!vadiraja-laksabharana) — Vādirāja Sūri, Sanskrit ## Other recensions (2) - [Southern recension](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa*southern.3.85.11) — Sanskrit - [Vulgate (Nīlakaṇṭha's text)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa*vulgate.3.87.11) — Sanskrit ## Linked texts (1) - [Purāṇic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Purāṇic Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c9.2094) — Vettam Mani, English --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.3.85.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa.3.85.8) · Pramāṇa