Brahma's Sacrifice on Mahendra Mountain
Among the sacred mountains of the east, one stands above all others in purity — Mahendra, the mountain of Parashurama. There, in ancient times, Brahma himself performed a sacrifice, with the Bhagirathi river serving as the seat for the officiating priests, consecrating the land forever.
There is a mountain more pure and sacred than all other mountains. This is Mahendra, the mountain of the great-souled Bhargava — Parashurama, the Brahmin-warrior who had once cleansed the earth of the kshatriya (warrior) caste twenty-one times over.
In earlier times, the grandfather — Brahma, the soul of all beings — performed a sacrifice there. The sacred Bhagirathi river was where the officiating priests were seated, their rituals sanctifying the mountain itself.
Nearby stands Brahmashala, sacred and famous. Its mere sight is enough to purify. Its banks are crowded by those whose sins have been cleansed — pilgrims who have come seeking release and found it.
There too is the hermitage of the great-souled Matanga, known to the world by the name of Kedara — pure, auspicious, eternal, supreme. And the beautiful Kundoda mountain, with its roots and fruits and water, where a thirsty nishada (hunter) once found water and shelter.
The beautiful grove of the gods is there, adorned with ascetics. The rivers Bahuda and Nanda flow on the peak of the mountain.
These are the tirthas (sacred fords), rivers, mountains and sacred spots of the eastern direction — each one a place where the divine touched the earth, and the earth remembers. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 382