Tirtha dashashvamedharantam prathitam jagati tale /
Tadaprabhuti tatrasidvaranasya shubhapradam //

Pura rudra saronam tirtha kalashodbhava /
Dashashvamedhakam pashcajjatam vidhi parigrahat //

- (Skandha Purana 4/52/68-69)

Meaning - From that day that Tirtha became famous as Dashashvamedha in Varanasi. Earlier it was called Rudra Sarovar. Ten Ashvamedhas were performed there and hence its name was given Dashashvamedha (Dasha - means ten).

A description of performance of Ashvamedha by king Ugrasen, on being inspired by Lord Krishna, is found in Ashvamedha khanda 10/7 of Garga Samhita. The details of Ashvamedha yajna performed by king Yudhishthira, again inspired by Lord Krishna and supervised by Vyasa, are found in Ashvamedhik Parva 71/14 of Mahabharata. According to this scripture, Yudhishthira performed three Ashvamedhas. This great tradition was maintained by his successors Parikshita and Janmejaya.

After Janmejaya, the tradition of Ashvamedha was broken. The result of this break could be seen in the form of political disorder, loss of prosperity and the decline of moral values in public life. Upon analyzing the situation seriously, brave Pushyamitra performed Ashvamedha Anushthana in 185 B.C and reorganized the nation. A detailed description of this yajna is found in Epigraphia Indica.

After Pushyamitra, India remained a strong nation till the reign of Agnimitra-Vasumitra. But then with the passage of time this series broke. The Ashvamedha valour of repairing and reorganization was again taken up by the son of Samrat Chandra Gupta I, that is, Samrat (king) Samudra Gupta. With the help of Ashvamedha Anushthana he taught the lesson of national unity to the inhabitants of, Samtata, Duvaka, Kamrupa, Nepal, Kartapur, Eastern and Central Punjab, Malawa and the provinces of Western India, Kushans and Sakas. The effect of Ashvamedha was so much that the entire Indian peninsula was united as one nation. The western historians are so much impressed by the valour of Samudra Gupta that they call him Napolean of India. The details of revival of Ashvamedha by him may be seen in the Vilsand record of Kumargupta and in the pages of Epigraphia Indica.

The available descriptions of the performance of ­ Ashvamedha by the kings after Samudra Gupta tell us that they were merely symbolic rituals. They possessed neither, cultural magnificence nor the spiritual breadth and vision. They had neither the capacity nor the strength to impart knowledge to the public. The present series of Ashvamedha maha yajnas may be thought to be the first real and successful attempt after Samrat Samudra Gupta. Through these mahayajnas, not only the historical events of ancient India are going to be repeated but, as a result of these yajnas unusual gains like, the ushering in of the golden age, prosperity, expansion of spiritual knowledge and science, the emergence of true world union and the spirit of " Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" etc, are also going to be definitely achieved.