Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvadasha Skandha, Shloka 30
Mārkaṇḍeya’s Request to See Māyā and the Vision of the Cosmic Deluge
हिमालयं पुष्पवहां च तां नदीं निजाश्रमं यत्र ऋषी अपश्यत । विश्वं विपश्यञ्छ्वसिताच्छिशोर्वै बहिर्निरस्तो न्यपतल्लयाब्धौ ॥ ३० ॥
himālayaṁ puṣpavahāṁ ca tāṁ nadīṁ nijāśramaṁ yatra ṛṣī apaśyata viśvaṁ vipaśyañ chvasitāc chiśor vai bahir nirasto nyapatal layābdhau
He beheld the Himālaya, the Puṣpabhadrā River, and his own hermitage where he had received the darśana of the sages Nara and Nārāyaṇa. Then, as Mārkaṇḍeya gazed upon the entire universe, the Infant exhaled, cast the sage out from His body, and flung him back into the ocean of dissolution.
FAQs
This verse depicts the overwhelming inundation of dissolution (layābdhi), showing how the universe can be withdrawn by the Lord’s inconceivable potency, beyond ordinary perception and control.
In the narrative, Mārkaṇḍeya witnesses a wondrous infant whose mere exhalation casts him outward—revealing the Supreme Lord’s immeasurable power and the tiny position of even great sages before divine līlā.
It cultivates humility: even vast experiences and achievements are fragile before time and the Lord’s will, so one should seek steadiness through bhakti and remembrance of the Supreme.