Shloka 1
नारदजी कहते हैं--सृंजय! राजा अमूर्तरयके पुत्र गयकी भी मृत्यु सुनी गयी है। राजा गयने सौ वर्षोतक नियमपूर्वक अग्निहोत्र करके होमावशिष्ट अन्नका ही भोजन किया
nārada uvāca—sṛñjaya! rājñaḥ amūrtarayaputrasya gayasya api mṛtyuḥ śrutā. rājā gayaḥ śata-varṣāṇi niyamapūrvakam agnihotraṃ kṛtvā homāvaśiṣṭa-annam eva bhojanaṃ cakāra.
Narada said: “O Sṛñjaya, it is also heard that King Gaya, the son of Amūrtaraya, met his death. King Gaya, for a full hundred years, maintained the Agnihotra with strict discipline, and sustained himself only on the food that remained after the sacrificial oblations.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even exemplary ritual discipline and long-term vow-based living do not exempt one from mortality; the passage highlights dharmic steadiness (niyama, agnihotra) while reminding the listener of impermanence and the limits of worldly life.
Narada reports to Sṛñjaya the death of King Gaya and briefly summarizes Gaya’s life of strict Vedic observance—performing Agnihotra for a hundred years and eating only the sacrificial remainder—setting up a reflective exemplum within the broader Drona Parva discourse.