One day desirous of showering His Grace on Markandeya, the Lord assuming the form of the twin immortal Rishis, Nara and Narayana, approached the hermitage of the sage. Seeing the divine Rishis from afar, splendid like flashes of lightning, the very embodiment of ascetism and capable of purifying the three worlds, Markandeya instantly stood up and rushed to welcome them, his heart thrilled with joy.

Falling flat at their feet like a log and bringing them excellent seats, the sage washed their feet, his hair standing on end all the while. Worshipping them with sandalpaste, incense and garlands, the rishi sang with a pure heart the praises the Lord, who, for the welfare of all beings had assumed these most wonderful forms of Nara and Narayana.

Highly pleased with his devotion, the Rishi Narayana spoke to him,

“Greetings to you, most noble soul! Perfection has indeed been attained by you through concentration of mind, study of the Vedas, self-control, ascetism and unceasing devotion to Me. May all be well with you! Receive thou a boon of your choice from Me!”

Markandeya replied,

“Oh Immortal Lord, what other boon can be asked from me, whose life stands fulfilled by the very sight of You. Nevertheless, I would like to witness the glory of your Maya, under whose sway even the wisest stand deluded.”

Saying “So be it”, the Lord smilingly withdrew to his own hermitage in Badarikashrama. The sage then entered into deep meditation, overjoyed in his heart for having been blessed with the darshan of the Supreme Being.

In The Whirlpool of Dissolution

After a short while though, suddenly a furious wind started blowing. Frightful clouds made their appearance accompanied by terrible claps of thunder and bolts of lightning, while sheets of rain as thick as the axle of a chariot poured down. Then the oceans filled with enormous whirlpools and dreadful aquatic animals engulfed the earth on all sides with their mountain-like waves, tossed by the fury of the wind.

The sage felt highly perburbed to witness the whole creation, including himself, tormented by the enormous waves as well as by severe blasts and bolts of lightning. In this manner, the whole of the Earth was submerged under the waters, Markandeya being the only one left alive. Drifting along like a blind, stupid creature, oppressed by hunger and thirst and assailed by alligators and whales, the great sage lost all sense of the direction of the sky and Earth, nay, even of himself.

Now fallen into a whirlpool, now attacked by some aquatic animal, now a victim of grief and now of infatuation, being constantly afflicted by fear, he experienced one death after another. Millions of years passed by his eyes, as he kept drifting along in that infinite deluge, his wisdom having been clouded by the enchanting potency of the Lord.

The Luminous Babe

Then he beheld a wonderful banyan tree on elevated ground. Lying in the hollow of a leaf was a babe, luminous like the sun, driving away all darkness with his pure splendour. With eyes like fresh lotuses and soft, curly hair waving under the impact of his breath, and a smiling countenance, inebriating to the mind, the babe was holding his lotus-like foot with his tender hands and was playfully sucking it.

At the very sight of the babe, all the Rishi’s pains and fatigue vanished, and with heart and eyes wide open, his hair standing on end as he was filled with unprecedented bliss, he rushed towards the babe.

Coming close to him, even as a mosquito, the sage entered his body through the babe’s incoming breath. There to his great wonder, he beheld the whole creation arranged as before the dissolution. He saw the sun and the moon and the star-lit sky, he saw the Earth girded by the oceans, he saw the lakes and rivers and forests and even his own hermitage. He saw all beings engaged in their natural duties and all aspects of worldly life, gross as well as subtle.

While he was thus staring in amazement, he was thrown out of the babe’s body, through his outgoing breath. Then, with his heart overfilled with love, he proceeded to embrace the baby. At that very moment the babe disappeared, along with the banyan tree, the deluge water and the whole dissolution of the universe as well, and the sage found himself just as before, in his hermitage.

Bowing down to the Lord, Markandeya glorified Him as well as his powerful Maya, that can so easily delude even the wisest of men.

ॐ ॐ ॐ

● The version of this tale is from the booklet, Vedic Tales from the Srimrad Bhagavatam.

🔵 🔵 🔵 🔵 🔵 🔵 🔵