Soul sleep overwhelming all creatures in insensibility.  And, O best of regenerate Rishis, I stay here thus for all time, in the form of a boy though I am old, until Brahma waketh up.  O foremost of Brahmanas, gratified with thee, I who am Brahma have repeatedly granted thee boons, O thou who art worshipped by regenerate Rishis!  Beholding one vast expanse of water and seeing that all mobile and immobile creatures have been destroyed, thou wert afflicted with melancholy.  I know this, and it is for this that I showed thee the universe (within my stomach).  And while thou wert within my body, beholding the entire universe, thou wert filled with wonder and deprived of thy senses.  O regenerate Rishi, it is for this that thou wert speedily brought out by me through my mouth.  I have (now) told thee of that Soul which is incapable of being comprehended by the gods and the Asuras.  And as long as that great ascetic, the holy Brahma, doth not awake, thou, O regenerate Rishi, canst happily and trustfully dwell here.  And when that Grandsire of all creatures awaketh up, I will then, O best of Brahmanas, alone create all creatures endued with bodies, the firmament, the earth, light, the atmosphere, water, and indeed all else of mobile and immobile creatures (that thou mayst have seen) on the earth!’

’Markandeya continued, ’Having said so unto me that wonderful Deity vanished, O son, from my sight!  I then beheld this varied and wondrous creation start into life.  O king, O thou foremost of the Bharata race, I witnessed all this, so wonderful, O thou foremost of all virtuous men, at the end of the Yuga!  And the Deity, of eyes large as lotus leaves, seen by me, in days of yore is this tiger among men, this Janardana who hath become thy relative!  It is in consequence of the boon granted to me by this one that memory doth not fail me, that the period of my life, O son of Kunti, is so long and death itself is under my control.  This is that ancient and supreme Lord Hari of inconceivable soul who hath taken his birth as Krishna of the Vrishni race, and who endued with mighty arms, seemeth to sport in this world!  This one is Dhatri and Vidhatri, the Destroyer of all the Eternal, the bearer of the Sreevatsa mark on his breast, the Lord of the lord of all creatures, the highest of the high, called also Govinda!  Beholding this foremost of all gods, this ever-victorious Being, attired in yellow robes, this chief of the Vrishni race, my recollection cometh back to me!  This Madhava is the father and mother of all creatures!  Ye bulls of the Kuru race, seek ye the refuge of this Protector!’

Vaisampayana continued, “Thus addressed, the sons of Pritha and those bulls among men—­the twins, along with Draupadi, all bowed down unto Janardana.  And that tiger among men deserving of every respect thus revered by the sons of Pandu, then consoled them all with words of great sweetness.”

SECTION CLXXXIX