History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t2.152.2

v5.c74.t2.152.2

The Daśāśvamedha-ghāṭ has been famed for centuries. Jayaswal's interpretation of the epithets applied to the Bhāraśivas in Vākāṭaka grants should be accepted viz. the Bhāraśivas were an imperial dynasty, were crowned with the holy waters of the Ganges and took their ceremonial baths on the Ganges at the end of ten Aśvamedha sacrifices, on account of which the Daśāśvamedha-ghāṭ¹⁴⁵⁴ at Banaras was so named (Jayaswal's 'History of India' 150 A. D.-350 A. D p. 5). In order to realize the grandeur of Banaras on the side of the river one must be at the Daśāśvamedhaghāṭ at dawn. For the eulogy of Daśāśvamedha, vide Kāśīkhaṇḍa 52. 83 ff and Tri. S. p. 159. The Kāśīkhaṇḍa says that formerly the tīrtha was called Rudrasaras, but as Brahmā performed ten Aśvamedhas there it came to be called Daśāśvamedha (chap 52. 66–68). The Maṇikarṇikā (also called Mukti-kṣetra) pool is the very centre of the religious life of Banaras and ¹⁴⁵⁵ is the most holy among all the Banaras tīrthas. The Kāśīkhaṇḍa gives a phantastic story of its origin (in chapter 26 verses 51–63 quoted in Tri. S. pp. 145–146): Viṣṇu dug with his discus a puṣkariṇī, filled it with the perspiration from his own body and performed severe austerities on its bank for 1050 (or 50000) years. Śiva came there and being pleased shook his head and an ear-ornament studded with jewels fell into the pool, which thenceforward came to be called Maṇikarṇikā. The word is ¹⁴⁵⁶ derived in two ways in the Kāśīkhaṇḍa.