Markandeya Sees Maya

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Markandeya Sees Maya (Bhagavat Purana)

 

SB 12.9.1: Suta Gosvami said: The Supreme Lord Narayana, the friend of

Nara, was satisfied by the proper glorification offered by the

intelligent sage Markandeya. Thus the Lord addressed that excellent

descendant of Bhrigu.

 

SB 12.9.2: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Markandeya,

you are indeed the best of all learned brahmanas. You have perfected

your life by practicing fixed meditation upon the Supreme Soul, as well

as by focusing upon Me your undeviating devotional service, your

austerities, your study of the Vedas and your strict adherence to

regulative principles.

 

SB 12.9.3: We are perfectly satisfied with your practice of lifelong

celibacy. Please choose whatever benediction you desire, since I can

grant your wish. May you enjoy all good fortune.

 

SB 12.9.4: The sage said: O Lord of lords, all glories to You! O Lord

Acyuta, You remove all distress for the devotees who surrender unto

You. That you have allowed me to see You is all the benediction I want.

 

SB 12.9.5: Such demigods as Lord Brahma achieved their exalted

positions simply by seeing Your beautiful lotus feet after their minds

had become mature in yoga practice. And now, my Lord, You have

personally appeared before me.

 

SB 12.9.6: O lotus-eyed Lord, O crest jewel of renowned personalities,

although I am satisfied simply by seeing You, I do wish to see Your

illusory potency, by whose influence the entire world, together with

its ruling demigods, considers reality to be materially variegated.

 

SB 12.9.7: Suta Gosvami said: O wise Saunaka, thus satisfied by

Markandeya's praise and worship, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

smiling, replied, " So be it, " and then departed for His hermitage at

Badarikasrama.

 

SB 12.9.8-9: Thinking always of his desire to see the Lord's illusory

energy, the sage remained in his ashrama, meditating constantly upon

the Lord within fire, the sun, the moon, water, the earth, air,

lightning and his own heart and worshiping Him with paraphernalia

conceived in his mind. But sometimes, overwhelmed by waves of love for

the Lord, Markandeya would forget to perform his regular worship.

 

SB 12.9.10: O brahmana ?aunaka, best of the Bhr?gus, one day while

Markandeya was performing his evening worship on the bank of the

Puspabhadra a great wind suddenly arose.

 

SB 12.9.11: That wind created a terrible sound and brought in its wake

fearsome clouds that were accompanied by lightning and roaring thunder

and that poured down on all sides torrents of rain as heavy as wagon

wheels.

 

SB 12.9.12: Then the four great oceans appeared on all sides,

swallowing up the surface of the earth with their wind-tossed waves. In

these oceans were terrible sea monsters, fearful whirlpools and ominous

rumblings.

 

SB 12.9.13: The sage saw all the inhabitants of the universe, including

himself, tormented within and without by the harsh winds, the bolts of

lightning, and the great waves rising beyond the sky. As the whole

earth flooded, he grew perplexed and fearful.

 

SB 12.9.14: Even as Markandeya looked on, the rain pouring down from

the clouds filled the ocean more and more until that great sea, its

waters violently whipped into terrifying waves by hurricanes, covered

up all the earth's islands, mountains and continents.

 

SB 12.9.15: The water inundated the earth, outer space, heaven and the

celestial region. Indeed, the entire expanse of the universe was

flooded in all directions, and out of all its inhabitants only

Markandeya remained. His matted hair scattered, the great sage wandered

about alone in the water as if dumb and blind.

 

SB 12.9.16: Tormented by hunger and thirst, attacked by monstrous

makaras and timingila fish and battered by the wind and waves, he moved

aimlessly through the infinite darkness into which he had fallen. As he

grew increasingly exhausted, he lost all sense of direction and could

not tell the sky from the earth.

 

SB 12.9.17-18: At times he was engulfed by the great whirlpools,

sometimes he was beaten by the mighty waves, and at other times the

aquatic monsters threatened to devour him as they attacked one another.

Sometimes he felt lamentation, bewilderment, misery, happiness or fear,

and at other times he experienced such terrible illness and pain that

he felt himself dying.

 

SB 12.9.19: Countless millions of years passed as Markandeya wandered

about in that deluge, his mind bewildered by the illusory energy of

Lord Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

SB 12.9.20: Once, while wandering in the water, the brahmana Markandeya

discovered a small island, upon which stood a young banyan tree bearing

blossoms and fruits.

 

SB 12.9.21: Upon a branch of the northeast portion of that tree he saw

an infant boy lying within a leaf. The child's effulgence was

swallowing up the darkness.

 

SB 12.9.22-25: The infant's dark-blue complexion was the color of a

flawless emerald, His lotus face shone with a wealth of beauty, and His

throat bore marks like the lines on a conchshell. He had a broad chest,

a finely shaped nose, beautiful eyebrows, and lovely ears that

resembled pomegranate flowers and that had inner folds like a

conchshell's spirals. The corners of His eyes were reddish like the

whorl of a lotus, and the effulgence of His coral-like lips slightly

reddened the nectarean, enchanting smile on His face. As He breathed,

His splendid hair trembled and His deep navel became distorted by the

moving folds of skin on His abdomen, which resembled a banyan leaf. The

exalted brahmana watched with amazement as the infant took hold of one

of His lotus feet with His graceful fingers, placed a toe within His

mouth and began to suck.

 

SB 12.9.26: As Markandeya beheld the child, all his weariness vanished.

Indeed, so great was his pleasure that the lotus of his heart, along

with his lotus eyes, fully blossomed and the hairs on his body stood on

end. Confused as to the identity of the wonderful infant, the sage

approached Him.

 

SB 12.9.27: Just then the child inhaled, drawing Markandeya within His

body like a mosquito. There the sage found the entire universe arrayed

as it had been before its dissolution. Seeing this, Markandeya was most

astonished and perplexed.

 

SB 12.9.28-29: The sage saw the entire universe: the sky, heavens and

earth, the stars, mountains, oceans, great islands and continents, the

expanses in every direction, the saintly and demoniac living beings,

the forests, countries, rivers, cities and mines, the agricultural

villages and cow pastures, and the occupational and spiritual

activities of the various social divisions. He also saw the basic

elements of creation along with all their by-products, as well as time

itself, which regulates the progression of countless ages within the

days of Brahma. In addition, he saw everything else created for use in

material life. All this he saw manifested before him as if it were

real.

 

SB 12.9.30: He saw before him the Himalaya Mountains, the Puspabhadra

River, and his own hermitage, where he had had the audience of the

sages Nara-Narayana. Then, as Markandeya beheld the entire universe,

the infant exhaled, expelling the sage from His body and casting him

back into the ocean of dissolution.

 

SB 12.9.31-32: In that vast sea he again saw the banyan tree growing on

the tiny island and the infant boy lying within the leaf. The child

glanced at him from the corner of His eyes with a smile imbued with the

nectar of love, and Markandeya took Him into his heart through his

eyes. Greatly agitated, the sage ran to embrace the transcendental

Personality of Godhead.

 

SB 12.9.33: At that moment the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is

the original master of all mysticism and who is hidden within

everyone's heart, became invisible to the sage, just as the

achievements of an incompetent person can suddenly vanish.

 

SB 12.9.34: After the Lord disappeared, O brahmana, the banyan tree,

the great water and the dissolution of the universe all vanished as

well, and in an instant Markandeya found himself back in his own

hermitage, just as before.

 

 

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