Shamatha Recounts Gaya's Great Sacrifice

Shamatha was a brahmana — learned, immersed in vows, celibate. He began to speak about Gaya, the son of Amurtarayas, to the king. "O descendant of the Bharata lineage," he said, "Gaya, the son of Amurtarayas, is supreme among rajarshis (royal sages). Listen to me as I recount his virtuous deeds." The sacrifice Shamatha described was unlike any other. It had a great deal of food and a great many stipends. Mountains of food stood in hundreds and thousands. Several hundred rivers of ghee and clarified butter flowed through the grounds. Thousands of streams of rich condiments ran alongside them. Day after day, everything was given freely to whoever asked for it. The brahmanas ate special food that had been cooked well. When the time came for distributing gifts, the sound of the brahman — the sacred chant — rose up to heaven. Nothing else could be heard. The sacred sound travelled through the earth, through the sky, through the firmament, and filled them all. It was extraordinary. Satisfied with the pure food and drink, the men who had gathered began to sing a verse that radiated in every direction: "Who is there among beings who still wishes to eat at Gaya's sacrifice? There are still twenty-five mountains of food left. No men earlier, nor men hereafter, will do what the immensely radiant rajarshi Gaya did at this sacrifice. The gods have been extremely satisfied by the offerings tendered by Gaya. They will never be able to accept anything offered by others." Shamatha told the king that many such verses were sung at the sacrifice of the great-souled one, near the banks of the lake.