:THE PLIGRIM PRIEST OF GAYA
Satyendra kumar pathak
The history of Gaya has a unique place in the evolution and development of Hindu civilisation . The Vedas ,the earliest record of India do not mention this name . As said above the earliest reference to Gaya is found in the Nirukt. But the much later works like the Valmiki Ramayan , rigved , Adhyatm raksha and the Mahabharat do mention it copiously . The godes sanhita of yagavalikya , Vashishtha ,and Atri do recognise Gaya as a place where the offeringof pindas is gratifying to the manes . From ancient times the hindus have been worshipping spirits etc . The practice which was and is still prevalent among the indigenous people of India .When the arabization took place the Aryan ,too ,took many a custom prevailing among the Nan Aryans. The worship at the Pretshila and other offerings to the ancestors by the policy of the give and take of the Aryans made above. In the religious history of India Gaya accupies a unique place. It is one of the great place of pilgrimage . According to the religion of the puran Garudpuran , vayu puran , suru puran,brahm puran, vishnu puran Which is the modern religion of the Hindus of India . It incumbent on every Hinduyo visit Gaya and make offerings for the souls of his ancestors . This type of sanctity of Gaya is recorded in the Gayamahatmya which from part of the Vayu puran and is given in the abridged forms in the Shani purana and Garud puranas. It was probably at the end of the month century when there wa a revival of Hinduism due to the efforts of shankaracharya that Gaya was given a place among the five spots of Northern India sacred to manes as mentioned in the above sloka . Kurukshetra Gaya Ganga prabhas upakaranon ch . Tirtho ye tani panchani shraddha kale bhavantih . A great demon named Gaya Asura performed a rigid penance for a thousand years . The Gods anxiously fearing that they could give no sufficient recompense for his piety come to him and asked what reward he wanted his request that he might be the holiest of all things was granted with the consequences that all he saw was touched by him went to heaven.Yama the God of hell finding that he was monarch of an empty realm appealed to the Gods. They persuaded Gayasura to allow a sacrifice to be performed on his body .
The sacrifice Yajana was accordingly performed but the demon was not yet laid . Yama then brought a sacred rock from his home which he placed on the demons head and oll the Gods sat on his body stil tine demon moved .At last bhagavan Vishnu was called in.He struck Gaya with his club and removed with his blow oll his fatigue and pain .Gayasura begged as a last boon that the Gods should abide for all time on his body and that his should be the holiest of spots within the limits of which all men might itani salvation by offering shraddha.His prayer was granted and his body be come the holy ground of Gaya . The city of Gaya is one of the oldest existing cities of the world . The first structure of the buildings the foundation bricks of which can easily be seen if we go along the faltu river and mark the mounds of the old Gaya probably belong to the vrat yaa ,kikatas ,prachy the original inhabitants of the place marking a definite phase of the river valley civilisation and a Urban culture . Secondly the place was later on due to the give and take policy of the Aryans completely Aryanised and a fusion of Aryan and NanAryan faiths took place Spirit worship become prevalent which was destined to go down centuries be fore Buddha's religion found a specific recognition among the inhabitants. The succeeding ages were swept by the teachings of Bhagavan buddha . Side by side jainism also flourished and left it's distinctive marks on the land . Thirdly during the wake of the purnima Hinduism brahminism after the patronage of the king of the Gupta dynasty and when Buddhism due to its followers conflicting notions degenerated the land saw another phase when Buddhism was supplanted by thinkers like shankracharya and his flowers. Hinduism got the upper hand and since then the place had the association of the Hindu religion Brahmanism and it's various ideologies expressed in the purana and the smritis .Thus the Gaya recorded in its environs the imprints of the varta,prachya , Aryan , Buddhist ,Hai ise, and Hindu civilizations . Gaya according to Bhagvat purana , Garud purana , vayu puran owes it's origin to a demon king Gayasur who dwelt in the Gaya town in the Treta Yuga .But according to vayu puran Gaya was the name of a demon whose story has been described in the chapter on history.Gaya is one of the holiest spots for the Hindus and hardly a day passes when there is no Hindu pilgrim to offer lindas in the Gaya dham or Gaya kshetra as it is called . Situated seven miles south of Gaya Gaya town is BodhGaya the most holy place for the Buddhists . Buddhists from deferent countries visit the spot all most daily . It is at BodhGaya that lord Buddha achieved nirvan enlightenment.Brahmayonini hill 793 feet ,Ramalila Hill 715 feet , katari Hill 454 feet , pretshila Hill 873 feet ,vishnu giri , Bhashmgiri at Gaya presents a striking picture of low land country dotted with hills . The town of Gaya has a ring of hills round her the Ramalila on the north ,katari hill on the west and Brahm yoni hill on the south and north west of the town is the pretshila hill. The pilgrim priests of Gaya who preside over the shraddha ceremonies performed by pilgrims . The legend of their origin has been given separately from which it will be seen that they have special claims to sanctity as without them the Gaya shraddha would be impossible.At the end of the pilgrimage it is obligatory to worship the Gayawal ' s feet and receive his blessing . When he pronounces the word SUPHAL and thereby certifies that the offerings have been fruitful and the souls of the ancestors are saved .They alone are supposed to have the right to officiate as priests and receive offering and no shraddha is efficacious without their patronage . There position is therefore a high one and a committee of Hindu gentlemen appointed by the District Magistrate of Gaya during 1901 to determine the classification of castes held them to be a high class of Brahmans as the Hindus of the whole of India including Brahmans of all the countries who come to Gaya worship the Gayaval in the same way as if they were worshipping Bhagavan vishnu himself . They accordingly classed the Gayawals , with the shakadvipiya brahmans ,panchayat Gaur and ,pancha Dravid .
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