ures
is half my body; I am called Narayana, and I am bearer of the
conch-shell, the discus and the mace. O regenerate Rishi, for a period
measured by a thousand times the length of the Yugas, I who am the
Universal 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