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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 12: Chapter 9: Verses 13-22
The sage felt perturbed at heart and was dismayed to behold the fourfold creation (as consisting of mammals, oviparous creatures, the sweat-born and those sprouting from the soil) alongwith himself tormented inside as well as outside by waves that rose to the skies as well as by severe blasts and strokes of lightning, and the earth deluged with water. While he was thus looking on, the boundless ocean-that looked terrible with its waves and with its waters tossed about by a violent wind, and was being flooded by the raining clouds-submerged the earth alongwith its Dwipas (broad divisions) and Varsas (subdivisions) and mountains. The whole universe, comprising the earth and the aerial region and including heaven and the hosts of luminaries, was deluged alongwith the (four) quarters (and the entire living creation). The great sage Markandeya, who was the only living being left alive, drifted along like a stupid and blind creature tossing about his matted looks. Oppressed with hunger and thirst, assailed by alligators and whales, beaten by storm and waves, enveloped in endless darkness and overcome with exhaustion, the sage, while drifting along, could not make out the directions, nor the sky and earth. Now fallen into a great whirlpool, and now buffeted by waves, he was sometimes bitten by the aquatic creatures, themselves killing one another (in their attempt to seize him). Now he fell a prey to grief and now to infatuation; now he experienced sorrow and at other times joy; now he fell a victim to fear and now he suffered death; while at other times he was afflicted with diseases and so on. Millions upon millions of years rolled away in the eyes of the sage, (even) as he remained drifting along in that deluge, his judgment having been clouded by the enchanting potency of Lord Visnu.Rolling about in that deluge, the said Brahmana once beheld on an elevation of earth a young (and tender) banyan tree adorned with leaves and fruits. On a branch of the tree located in the north-east he saw a babe as well lying in a hollow leaf and swallowing up the
darkness by its splendour. Markandeya (the foremost of the Brahmanas) was amazed to behold the babe, which possessed the dark-green hue of a precious emeraled, had a beautiful lotus-like countenance, a conch-shaped neck, a broad chest, a shapely nose and charming eyebrows, and was graced with locks waving under the impact of its breaths. Its ears, shaped like the opening of a conch, were decked with the blossoms of pomegranate; its milk-like bright smiles were rendered rosy by the (crimson) lustre of its coral-hued lips. The ends of its eyes,were reddish like the interior of a lotus; its glances were enlivened with a smile that captivated one's heart; its deep navel throbbed alongwith the folds of its belly-shaped like a leaf of the sacred fig-tree-that heaved with its breaths. The babe had placed its lotus-
like foot into its mouth, lifting it up with its hands, that had charming fingers, and was sucking it.
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