Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 12 Chapter 9: 23-34

Book 12: Chapter 9

Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 12: Chapter 9: Verses 23-34 At the (very) sight of the babe the fatigue of the sage altogether disappeared, the lotuses of his heart and eyes opened for (very) joy, the hair of his body stood on end and the sage headed towards the babe in order to make inquiries of it, though filled with awe at the sight of its wonderful form. Meanwhile, (even) like a mosquito, Markandeya (a scion of Bhrgu) entered into the body of the babe alongwith its breath. There (inside the belly of the babe) too he saw the universe in its entirety (systematically) arranged as before (the deluge) and felt astonished and perplexed. He saw (there) the aerial region, heaven and earth, the hosts of luminaries, the mountains and seas, the broad divisions of the earth including their subdivisions, the quarters, the gods and the demons, forests, countries and rivers, towns and mines, residences of peasants and farmers, stations of herdsmen, the (four) Varnas (grades of society) and Asramas (stages in life) as well as their functions; the five gross elements as well as their products, Time with the various (divisions such as) Yugas and universe, V Kalpas conceived in it, nay, whatever else makes worldly life possible, in short, the whole as though real. He (further) saw the Himalaya mountain, the same river Puspabhadra, his own hermitage (on its bank) and the sages dwelling there. (Even) while he was perceiving (thus) the (whole) universe, he was thrown out of the belly of the babe through its breath and fell back, as is well-known, into the sea of deluge. Perceiving there (once more) the banyan tree growing on an elevation of earth and the babe too lying in a hollow leaf, and gazed at (by the babe) with a sidelong glance accompanied by a smile full of the nectar of love, the sage, who was much too afflicted, proceeded to embrace the babe-who was no other than Lord Visnu, and had (already) entered his heart through (the door of) his eyes and taken His seat there. That very moment the babe-who was the almighty Lord Himself, the Master of Yoga, Who dwells in the hearts of all-suddenly disappeared, and the effort of the sage (to hug the babe) met the same fate as the undertaking of an unlucky person. Following the Lord, 0 Brahmana sage ! the banyan tree, the (deluge) water and the dissolution of the universe (also) disappeared in an instant from the sight of the sage, who stood in his hermitage as before. Thus ends the ninth discourse entitled "Markandeya witnesses (the Lord's) Maya," in Book Twelve of the great and glorious Bhagavata-Purana, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Samhita.