inculcated by the Rishis. And there in
that _tirtha_, those Brahmanas old in knowledge and ascetic merit and
fully versed in the Vedas, that constituted the court of the illustrious
sons of Pandu, talked in their presence upon various subjects of sacred
import. And it was in that place that the learned vow-observing, and
sacred Shamatha, leading, besides, a life of celibacy, spake unto them,
O king, of Gaya, the son of Amurttaraya. And Shamatha said, 'Gaya, the
son of Amurttaraya, was one of the foremost of royal sages. Listen to
me, O Bharata, as I recite his meritorious deeds. It was here, O king,
that Gaya had performed many sacrifices distinguished by the enormous
quantities of food (that were distributed) and the profuse gifts that
were given away (unto Brahmanas). Those sacrifices, O king, were
distinguished by mountains in hundreds and thousands of cooked rice,
lakes of clarified butter and rivers of curds in many hundreds, and
streams of richly-dressed curries in thousands. Day after day were these
got ready and distributed amongst all comers, while, over and above
this, Brahmanas and others, O king, received food that was clean and
pure. During the conclusion also (of every sacrifice) when gifts were
dedicated to the Brahmanas, the chanting of the Vedas reached the
heavens. And so loud, indeed, was the sound of the Vedic _Mantras_ that
nothing else, O Bharata, could be heard there. Thus sacred sounds, O
king, filled the earth, the points of the horizon, the sky and heaven
itself. Even these were the wonders that persons noticed on those
occasions. And gratified with the excellent viands and drinks that the
illustrious Gaya provided, men, O bull of the Bharata race, went about
singing these verses. In Gaya's great sacrifice, who is there today,
amongst creatures, that still desireth to eat? There are yet twenty-five
mountains of food there after all have been fed! What the royal sage
Gaya of immense splendour hath achieved in his sacrifice was never
achieved by men before, nor will be by any in future. The gods have been
so surfeited by Gaya with clarified butter that they are not able to
take anything that anybody else may offer. As sand grains on earth, as
stars in the firmament, as drops showered by rain-charged clouds, cannot
ever be counted by anybody, so can none count the gifts in Gaya's
sacrifice!

"'O son of the Kuru race, many times did king Gaya perform sacrifices of
this description, here, by the sid