Vaishampayana said: - -
1. Then Dharmaraja Yudhishthira again asked the illustrious Markandeya in all humility.
2. “O great Rishi, you have seen many thousands of ages pass away. In this world there is none who is seen to be so long lived as you.
3. O foremost of Brahmanas, there is none equal to you in years except the high-souled Brahma Parameshthi.
4. O Brahmana, you worship Brahma at the time of the great dissolution of the universe when this world becomes devoid of sky, the celestials and the Danavas.
5-6. When that dissolution ceases and the grandsire awakes, you alone, O great Rishi, see the Parameshti (Brahma) duly recreate the four orders of beings after having filled the cardinal points with air and placed the waters in their proper places.
7. O foremost of Brahmanas, you have worshipped in his own presence the great Lord and the grandsire of all creatures with your soul in great Samadhi.
8. O Brahmana, you have many times seen with your eyes, the primeval acts of creation. Being deeply engaged in severe asceticism, you have also excelled the celestials themselves.
9-10. You are considered to be one who is near Narayana in the next world. In the days of yore you had many times seen the supreme creator of the world with spiritual eyes and with renunciation which first opened your pure and lotus-like heart, the only place where the multiform Vishnu of universal knowledge might be seen.
11. Hence through the favour of Parameshti, O Brahmana Rishi, neither death nor old age that causes the destruction of the body has any power over you.
12. When neither the sun nor the moon nor fire, nor earth, nor air, nor sky, remains,
13. When the world with its mobile and immobile creation being destroyed looks like an ocean, when the celestials, the Asuras and the great Nagas are destroyed,
14. When (at such a period) the lord of creatures takes his seat on a lotus and sleeps there, then you alone remain to worship him.
15-16. O foremost of Brahmanas, you have seen with your own eyes all that happened before. You alone have seen many things by your senses. There is nothing in all the world that is not known to you. Therefore, I eagerly desire to hear all about things.
Markandeya said: - -
17-18. Bowing down to that self-existent, primordial Being, who is eternal, undeteriorating and inconceivable who is both endued and devoid of attributes, I shall explain to you all. O foremost of men, Janardana clad in yellow garb,
19. Is the great mover and creator of all; he is the soul and the framer of all things. He is the lord of all; he is called great, incomprehensible, wonderful and immaculate,
20. He is without beginning and without end, he pervades all the world, he is unchangeable and undeteriorating. He is the creator of all. But himself is increate, the cause of all power.
21. His knowledge is greater than that of all the celestials. O foremost of kings, alter dissolution, all this wonderful creation,
22-23. O best of men, again comes to life. It is said Krita Yuga constitutes four thousand years, including its morning and evening which comprise four hundred years. Treta Yuga is said to comprise three thousand years.
24. Its morning and evening comprise three hundred years. The Yuga that follows is called Dvapara and it is said to comprise two thousand years.
25. Its morning and evening comprise two hundred years. It is said that Kali Yuga constitutes one thousand years.
26. Its morning and evening comprise one hundred years. Know that the duration of the morning and evening (of a Yuga) is the same.
27. After Kali Yuga is over, Treta Yuga comes again; and thus it is said that all the Yugas comprise a cycle of twelve thousand years.
28-30. One full thousand of such cycles would constitute a day of Brahma. O foremost of men, when this universe is withdrawn and taken back within its (original) home, (namely) Brahma himself, that disappearance of all things is called by the learned “the universal dissolution.” O best of the Bharata race, at the end of the last mentioned one thousand years, men become addicted to falsehood. O son of Pritha, they then perform sacrifices and gifts by representatives.
31. Vows observed by representatives are also introduced. The Brahmanas perform acts that should be performed by the Shudras and the Shudras take to earn wealth.
32-33. The Kshatriyas also adopt the practices of the Brahmanas. In the Kali Yuga the Brahmanas will abstain from sacrifices and the study of the Vedas. They will give up their staff and deer skin and they will eat everything. O child, the Brahmanas will give up prayer and the Shudras will betake themselves to these.
34. O ruler of men, the course of the world then looks subverted, there are the signs of the universal dissolution. Then will rule over the earth many Mlechchha kings.
35. These sinful kings addicted to falsehood will govern their subjects on principles that are false. The Andhras, the Shakas, the Pulandas, the Yavana kings,
36. The Kambojas, the Balhikas and the Abhiras will then O foremost of men, be endued with courage and they will possess the sovereignty of the earth. O descendant of Bharata, at the end of the Kali Yuga such becomes the stale of the world. Not a single Brahmana then adheres to the duties of his order.
37. O king, the Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas also follow practices contrary to those of their own orders. Men become short-lived, weak in strength, energy and prowess.
38. They possess little strength and diminutive bodies; and they hardly become truthful. The country becomes deserts and all directions are filled with beasts and wild animals.
39. When the end of the Yuga comes, the uttering of the Vedas become futile. The Shudras address (others) saying “Bho;” while the Brahmanas address (others) saying “Noble Sir.”
40. O foremost of men, at the end of the Yuga animals enormously increase. O rulers of men, perfumes even do not become agreeable to our sense of smell.
41. O foremost of men, the tastes of things do not become so agreeable to our sense of taste as at other times. Women give birth to numerous children who become of diminutive body, destitute of good conduct and good manners. O king at the end of the Yuga women’s mouth serves the purpose of intercourse.
42. O king, at the end of the Yuga, famine ravages the habitations of men and the highways are infested by women of ill fame. O king, all women become hostile to their husbands and destitute of all modesty.
43. O ruler of men, cows yield little milk; trees are crowded with swarms of crows; they do not produce any fruits and flowers.
44. O ruler of earth, the Brahmanas, polluted with the sin of killing the twice-born, accept gifts from kings who are addicted to falsehood.
45. Filled with covetousness and ignorance; and bearing the outward symbols of religion, the Brahmanas afflicting the people of the earth rove about for alms.
46-47. Men, leading domestic life, being afraid of the weight of taxation, become deceivers; while Brahmanas assuming the disguise of ascetics earn wealth by trade. O foremost of men, many Brahmanas become from their avarice of wealth religious mendicants of the Brahmacharya order.
48. O king, men at such a time behave contrary to the mode of life to which they belong; they become addicted to intoxicating drinks, they become capable of violating even the bed of their preceptors. They are deluded with the desires of this world and they pursue things that only give pleasure ministering to flesh and blood.
49. O foremost of men, at the end of the Yuga the hermitage of ascetics becomes crowded with sinful and insolent wretches who always praise the life of dependence.
50. O descendant of Bharata, the illustrious chastiser of Paka (Indra) never showers rain according to the season. The seeds that are scattered on earth never spring forth.
51. Unholy both in thought and deed, men take pleasure in envy and malice. O sinless one, the earth becomes full of sin and immorality.
52. O ruler of earth, he who becomes virtuous in such periods does not at all live long. The earth becomes devoid of virtue in every shape.
53. O foremost of men, traders, becoming full of deceit, sell their goods with false weights and measures.
54. The virtuous men do not prosper, only the sinful men then exceedingly prosper. Virtue then loses her strength and sin becomes all powerful.
55. Those that are devoted to virtue then become poor and short-lived. At the end of the Yuga those that are sinful become wealthy and long-lived.
56. At the end of the Yuga people behave sinfully even in places of public entertainment, in cities and towns. Men then always seek the accomplishment of their ends by means that are sinful.
57-58. Having earned fortunes that are really small, men become intoxicated with the pride of wealth. O king, many men at the end of Yuga try to rob the wealth that has been secretly deposited with them by others out of trust. Full of sinful practices, they shamelessly declare, “they have nothing in deposit.”
59. Beast of prey and other animals and birds are seen to lie down in places of public entertainments, in cities and towns, as well as in sacred temples.
60. O king, girls of seven and eight years of age, give birth to children and boys of ten or twelve years beget offspring.
61. In their sixteenth year men are over-taken by decripitude. And a man’s life is soon run out.
62. O great king, when men become so short-lived, mere youths act like old men, while all that is seen in the youths is seen in old men.
63. Women, prone to impropriety of conduct and distinguished by bad manners, deceive even the best of husbands and forget themselves with servants and slaves, even with animals.
64. O king, even women who are the wives of good men forget themselves with others even at the life time of their husbands.
65. O king, at the end of those thousands of years and when men become so short-lived, a draught takes place which extends for many years.
66. O lord of earth, then men and (other) creatures, possessing but little strength and vitality, die of starvation by thousands.
67. O ruler of men, seven blazing suns then appear in the sky and drink up all the waters of the earth that are in the rivers and in the seas.
68. O descendant of Bharata, O best of the Bharata race, then everything of the nature of wood and grass, whether dry or wet, is burnt down and reduced to ashes.
69. O descendant of Bharata, then the fire (called) Samvartaka helped by the wind appears on earth which has been already burnt (to ashes) by the seven suns.
70. Thereupon it (fire), penetrating the earth and reaching the nether region, creates great terror to the celestials, the Danavas and the Rakshasas.
71. O ruler of earth, burning down the nether region and also everything on this earth, that fire then destroys all things in a moment.
72. That Samvartaka fire, helped by that inauspicious wind, consume this world which extends for hundreds of thousands of yojanas.
73. That lord of all things, that fire, blazing forth in great effulgence, burns down this universe with the celestials, the Asuras, the Gandharvas, the Yakshas, the Nagas and the Rakshasas.
74. Then there rise in the sky great masses of clouds resembling herds of elephants all adorned with garlands of lightning beautiful to look at.
75. Some of them are of the colour of blue lotus, some like lilies, some like the colour of the filaments of the lotus and some are red.
76. Some are yellow as turmeric, some are of the colour of a crow’s egg, some are like that of the lotus leaves and some red as vermilion.
77. Some in shape are like palatial cities, some resemble herds of elephants, some are in the form of lizards and some of crocodiles and sharks.
78. O great king, the clouds adorned with garlands of lightning that gather in the sky on that occasion, are terrible to behold and they fearfully roar. Those masses of clouds charged with rain soon cover the whole of the firmament.
79. O great king, those masses of clouds then flood with water the whole earth with her mountains, forests and mines.
80. O foremost of men, then commanded by Parameshthi (Brahma) those clouds roaring fearfully soon flood all places.
81. Pouring a great quantity of water and filling the whole earth (with it), they extinguish that fearful, terrible and in auspicious fire.
82. Commanded by the supreme lord, they shower continually for twelve years and fill the earth with their downpour.
83. O descendant of Bharata, the ocean then over-floods it bounds; the mountains fall down in fragments and the earth sinks under the increasing flood.
84. Then suddenly moved by the wind, those cloud go over the entire expanse of the sky and then disappear from the view.
85. O ruler of men, O descendant of Bharata, the Self Create, lord, the first cause, the deity whosoever abode is the lotus (Lakshmi) drinks up these fearful winds and goes then to sleep.
86. Then when earth becomes one great ocean, when all mobile and immobile creatures have been destroyed, when the celestials and the Asuras are annihilated, when the Yakshas and the Rakshasas are no more,
87. O ruler of earth, when there is no human being, when trees and wild animals have disappeared, when the firmament itself has ceased to exist, I alone in affliction rove about.
88. O foremost of kings, once thus roving over that one great ocean, my heart was filled with great affliction on not seeing any creature,
89. O ruler of men, then thus roving about for a long time, I became fatigued; but I did not get any resting place.
90. O ruler of earth, thereupon one day I saw in that great expanse of water a great and wide extending banian tree.
91. O great king, O descendant of Bharata, I then saw seated on a cot overlaid with a celestials bed and attached to one of the far-extending boughs of that banian tree.
92. A boy with a face as beautiful as the lotus or the moon, O ruler of men, with eyes as large as the petals of full blown lotuses.
93. O ruler of earth, thereupon I was filled with great astonishment and (I asked myself) “how can this child alone lie here when all the world is destroyed.”
94. O ruler of men, though I knew the Present, the Past and the Future and though I took the help of ascetic meditation, I could not learn anything about the boy.
95. Possessing the lustre of the Atasi flower and adorned with the mark of Srivatsa, he appeared to me as if he were the abode of Lakshmi.
96. That lotus-eyed and greatly effulgent boy with the mark of Srivatsa then thus spoke to me in words highly pleasant to the ear.
97. “O child, I know you are fatigued and you are eager for rest. O descendant of Bhrigu, O Markandeya, rest here as long as you like.
98. O foremost of Rishis, enter into my body and rest there. That is the place assigned to you be me. I am gratified with you.”
99. O descendant of Bharata, thus addressed by that boy, a sense of total disregard possessed me in respect both of my long life and state of manhood.
100. Then suddenly that boy opened his mouth and as fate would have it, I having lost all power of locomotion, entered his mouth.
101. O ruler of men, thus suddenly entering his stomach, I beheld the whole earth (there within it) with all its cities and kingdoms.
102-106. O foremost of men when wandering about in his stomach, I saw within it, the Ganga, the Satalaj, the Sita, the Yamuna, the Kausi, the Charmanvati, the Vetravati, the Chandrabhaga, the Sarasvati, the Sindhu, the Vipasa, the Godavari, the Vasvokasara, the Nalini, the Narmada, the Tamra, the Vena of fearful currents and sacred waters, the Suvena, the Krishnavena, the Irama, the Mahanadi, the Vitasta, that large river Kaveri, the Vishalya, the Kimpuna and many others.
107. O chastiser of foes, I saw there also the ocean inhabited by alligators and sharks, that mine of gems, that excellent abode of waters.
108. I saw there also the sky adorned with the sun and the moon, blazing in great effulgence and possessing the lustre of the sun.
109. O king, I saw there also the earth beautiful with the forests and woods. O king, (I also saw) many Brahmanas engaged in many sacrifices,
110-111. Many Kshatriyas engaged in doing good to all the other orders, many Vaishyas engaged in the pursuits of agriculture and many Shudras engaged in serving the Brahmanas. Then wandering in the stomach of that high-souled being,
112. I saw the mountains of Himavat and Hemakuta. I also saw the Nishada and Shveta abounding in silver.
113. O ruler of earth, I saw also the mountain Gandhamadana and O foremost of men, I also saw Mandara and the great mountain Nila.
114. O great king, I saw also the golden mountain Meru, also Mahendra and also that excellent mountain Vindhya.
115. I also saw there the mountains of Malaya and Paripatra. These and many mountains.
116. Were seen by me in his stomach. They were all decked with gems and jewels. O ruler of men, I saw also there the lions, the tiers and the bears.
117. O ruler of the earth, all the other creatures that are on earth were all seen by me in his stomach as I was wandering about there.
118. O foremost of men, having entered his stomach, as I wandered about, I saw the whole race of the celestials, Indra and others,
119. The Saddhya, the Rudra, the Adityas, the Guhyakas, the Pitris, the Nagas, the birds, the Vasus, the Asmas,
120. he Gandharvas, the Rishis, the Daityas, the Danavas, the Nagas,
121. The son of Singhikas and all other enemies of the celestials. Whatever mobile and immobile things I saw on earth.
122-23. O king, I saw them all in the stomach of that high-souled one. O lord, living on fruits, wandering over the entire universe which was there, I lived within his body for many hundred years. But I did not see the end of his body.
124. O king, though I continuously roved about within his body in great anxiety, I could not find the limit of the body of that high-souled one.
125. Then in both thought and deed I sought the protection of that boon-giving and preeminently great deity and duly acknowledged his superiority.
126. O king, O foremost of men, then I suddenly came out of the open mouth of that high-souled one by means of a great gust of wind.
127-28. O king, O foremost of men, I then saw seated on the branch of the banian tree that immeasurably effulgent being in the form of a boy, with the mark of Srivatsa, who had swallowed up the universe.
129. O foremost of men, that greatly effulgent boy with the mark of Srivatsa and with yellow robes on, being gratified wit me smilingly thus spoke to me,
130. “O foremost of Rishis, O Markandeya, you were living for sometime within my body, I shall however speak to you.”
131. As he said to me, within that very moment, I acquired as if new sight; in consequence of which I saw myself possessed of true knowledge and freed from the illusions of the world.
132-35. O child, having seen the inexhaustible prowess of that immeasurably effulgent being, I worshipped his revered and well-shaped feet with soles as bright as the burnished copper and with toes of mild red colour. Having placed them reverentially on my head and joined my hands in humility and having gone to him with all reverence, I saw that Divine Being who is the soul of all things and whose eyes are like the petals of lotus. Having thus bowed to him with joined hands I spoke to him thus, “O God, I desire to know you and also this wonderful illusion.
136. O excellent one, having entered into your body through your mouth, I have seen the entire universe in your stomach.
137. O god, the celestials, the Danavas, the Rakshasas, the Yakshsas, the Gandharvas, the Nagas, may the whole universe mobile immobile are all within your body.
138. Though I continuously ran over your body, yet through your grace, O god, my memory did not fail.
139. O great lord, I have come out through your desire and not mine. O lotus-eyed one, I desire to know you who are faultless.
140. Why do you stay here becoming a boy and swallowing up the universe? You should explain to me all this.
141. O sinless one, O chastiser of foes, why does the universe is within your body? How long will you stay here?
142. O lord of celestials, I desire to hear all this in detail and as they all happened. O lotus-eyed one, it is not improper for a Brahmana to desire to know it.
143. O lord, what I have seen is wonderful and inconceivable.” Having been thus addressed by me, that highly effulgent and blessed god of gods, that foremost of all speakers, duly consoling me, thus spoke to me.
Thus ends the one hundred and eighty-eighth chapter, the wonderful child in the Markandeya Samashya of the Vana Parva.