dharti par kuch aise vishisht tirth sthal bhi hain, jahan parmpita parmatma ne apni upasthiti darj karakar lokakalyanarth n sirf apni lilaon ka sanchalan kiya varan apne bhakton ko darshana-updesh se chamatkrit bhi kiya. aisa hi ek ati prachin jagrat tirth sthal bihar rajya ki rajdhani patna se takriban 105 ki. mi. duri par sthit hai ise punyamay mokshatirth gaya kaha gaya hai. j han tak namakaran ka saval hai ki is tirth ka nam gaya kyon para? is par mukhya rup se tin mat milte hain. prachya bhartiya vanngamay men rigvaidik kalin chakravarti samrat gay ka ullekh hai.
kuch log use amutrtarayas ke putra rajarshi gaya batate hain, jisapar is nagar ka namakaran hua. gaya tirth ka sanbandh devashri surya narayan ke jyeshth putra sughunn ke putra ‘gay’ se bhi jora jata hai, jinhonen is kshetra men 900 ashvamedh yagya kie the. par sarvamanya tark yah hai ki gaya ka namakaran vishnu bhakt dharmanishth asur gaya par hua jiske sharir par panchkoshi gaya tirth asin hai. bhartiya dharmashastra men prayah pratyek tirth ko kisi n kisi sangya se abhihit kiya jata hai. isi kram men yah aksharashah satya hai ki gaya samast ‘bhartiya tirthon ka pran hai. manav jivan ke taran taran hetu jagat pita brahma ji dvara jin-jin tirthon ka sthapan aur vikas kiya gaya usmen gaya panktey hai. vaidik kal se abad gaya madhyakal men char fatak v terah khirki se yukt sudirgh char divariyon ke bich falta-fulta raha, is kshetra ko aj andar gaya kaha jata hai.
angrejon ke jamane men bhi gaya vikas-path par agrasar raha aur nagar ‘sahebganj’ ke nam se ek or prasiddh hua. isi kal men gaya nagarasth pindvediyon ki sudhi li gai. aj bhi nagar men yatra-tatra-sarvatra pind vediyon ki upasthiti kayam hai jo mandir, nadi, pahar, vriksh v talab ke rup men upasthit hain. aise to bharat desh men shraddh, pinddan v tarpan ke kitne hi sthal hain par in sab men gaya ki mahatta sarvadhik hai. yahan ke dharmik anushthan se pitron ko sayujya mukti v akshay tripti hoti hai. pura kal men yahan 365 pindvedi upasthit thin jahan ek-ek din karke pure varsh tak shraddhadi ka karya nirantar chalta rahta tha, par ab iski sankhya 45 ke karib hi shesh bachi hai jismen ‘shri vishnupd’, ‘‘falguji’ ‘va’ ‘akshayavata’ ko vishisht sthan prapt hai. bhramnshil sanskriti ka murdhanya kendra gaya yugon-yugon se shraddh pinddan ka sarvamanya kendra raha hai jahan vaidik kal se aj tak pratyek aitihasik yug men kisi n kisi mahanatma ka pardapan hota raha hai.
yahan vaidik kal ke bad ramayan kal men shri ram, lakshman, janki v bharat lala ka agaman hua. mahabharat kal men panchon pandvon ne gaya ke dharmaranya men chaturmas samapann kie the. tathagat ke dada ayodhan ne yahan pinddan kiya aur svayan isi bhumi par siddharth buddhatva ki prapti ki. bad ke samay men raja ashok, punyamitra yung, samudragupt, chandragupt vikramaditya, raja anunayakarma, aditya varman, adi shankracharya, farhan, hyensang, itsing, (dharm svami), lama taranath, raja man sinh, gurunanak , chaitanya mahaprabhu, kabir, guru teg bahadur, maharaja tatha raja ram mohan ray, kabir, ravindranath taigor, svami vivekanand, man sharda, sain baba, shri shri vijay krishn gosvami, mahatma gandhi, vinoba bhave, dae. rajendra babu sarikhe mahanatmaon ne samy-samay par gaya men upasthit hokar gaya ke is dharmik anushthan ko pushpit-pallavit kiya hai.
aj bhi pitripaksh ke dauran yahan desh-videsh se lakhon hinduon ka agaman hota hai. gaya men ‘svapinddan kendra’ bhi hai jo anyatra durlabh hai. dhyan dene ki bat hai ki gaya ko ved-puranon men ‘‘pitritirtha’’ kaha gaya hai. gaya ki bhumi pitreksharon ki bhumi hai to pitron ka tirth v purvajon ka dham hai jahan adi anadi kal se shraddha pinddan ka karya hota chala a raha hai aur aj bhi iski paranpra akshun bani hai. islie prachin kal se hi gaya ki prakriti dharmamay hai. gaya ki bhumi punyamay tirth ki bhumi hai, yog v sadhna ki divya sthali hai. tal-talaiya, shail shikhro v mandiron se yukt gaya prakritik saundarya ka sundar drishyaman upasthit karta hai.
kahte hain pitripaksh ke samay yahan samast pitron ka agaman hota hai jo apne parijnon se tript hone ke lie ashanvit raha karte hain. yahi karan hai ki pitripaksh ke dinon men samast desh-duniya ke hinduon ka yahan jamavra lag jata hai.