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Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 3: Chapter 21: Verses 1-15
The sage Kardama practises austere penance and the Lord confers a boon on him
Vidura said : The line of Swayambhuva Manu was the one most esteemed (by all): Pray, give me, O worshipful sage, an account of that race, the progeny of which multiplied through sexual union. (You have already told us that) the two sons of Swayambhuva, Priyavrata
and Uttanapada, piously ruled over the entire globe with its seven divisions (Dwipas as they are called). His daughter, known by the name of Devahuti, O holy Brahmana, has been spoken of by you as the spouse of the sage Kardama, a lord of created beings, O sinless one ! How many issues did that great Yogi beget through that princess, who was endowed with the eight limbs of Yoga (such as the five Yamas and so on)? Pray, tell me all this, keen as I am to hear it. Similarly, O holy sage, tell me how the worshipful Ruci (another lord of created beings) and Daksa, a son of Brahma (and also a lord of created beings), procreated children after securing as their wife the other two daughters of Swayambhuva Manu (Akuti and Prasuti respectively). Maitreya replied : Commanded by Brahma in the words "Beget children !" the worshipful Kardama practised penance on the bank of the river Saraswati for a period of ten thousand years. During that penance the sage Kardama devoutly waited upon Sri Hari-the Bestower of blessings on those who flee to Him for protection-through various modes of worship accompanied by deep meditation. Pleased (with his austerities), O Vidura, the lotus-eyed Lord showed Himself to him at the beginning of Satyayuga in a form consisting of His own divine essence, which is ordinarily known only through the divine Word (the Vedas). Kardam beheld the Lord in His purely divine form, dffulgent like the sun, wearing a garland of white lotuses and water-lilies and clad in spotless (yellow) silk, His lotus face frnged with sleek dark locks of curly hair. Adorned with a crown and ear-rings, he held His (characteristic) conch, discus (Sudarsana) and mace (in three of His hands) and a white lily to play with (in His fourth); while His smiling look captivated the heart having set his lotus-feet on the shoulders of Garuda He stood in the air with a golden streak (symbol of Goddess laksmi) on his breast and the famous kaustubha gem suspended from His neck. Having realized the ambition (of his life) and full of joy, the sage fell prostrate with his head touching the ground and (rising) began to extol the Lord in the following words with a mind naturally full of love and his palms joined (in prayer). The sage said : Ah ! the fruit of our eyes has been fully attained today by beholding You, the repository of all goodness, whose sight, O praiseworthy Lord, is coveted even by Yogis established in Yoga (deep meditation) after going through higher and still higher births. Your lotus-feet are a veritable vessel to take one across the ocean of mundane existence. Only they who have been deprived of their senses by Your Maya (deluding potency) worship those feet with a view to attaining the trivial and momentary pleasures of sense, that can be had even in hell. You, however, O Lord, bestow on them such pleasures of sense too. You are a wish-yielding tree, while my heart is impure (tainted by carnality). Therefore, desirous of marrying a girl of like disposition, that may prove a veritable cow of plenty (yield all the three objects of human pursuit) in my married life, I too have likewise sought the shelter of Your feet, which are the source of all blessings.
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