Shloka 3
Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi Tested by Indra and Blessed by Nara-Nārāyaṇa
आहुश्चिरायुषमृषिं मृकण्डतनयं जना: । य: कल्पान्ते ह्युर्वरितो येन ग्रस्तमिदं जगत् ॥ २ ॥ स वा अस्मत्कुलोत्पन्न: कल्पेऽस्मिन् भार्गवर्षभ: । नैवाधुनापि भूतानां सम्प्लव: कोऽपि जायते ॥ ३ ॥ एक एवार्णवे भ्राम्यन् ददर्श पुरुषं किल । वटपत्रपुटे तोकं शयानं त्वेकमद्भुतम् ॥ ४ ॥ एष न: संशयो भूयान् सूत कौतूहलं यत: । तं नश्छिन्धि महायोगिन् पुराणेष्वपि सम्मत: ॥ ५ ॥
āhuś cirāyuṣam ṛṣiṁ mṛkaṇḍu-tanayaṁ janāḥ yaḥ kalpānte hy urvarito yena grastam idaṁ jagat
Les autorités disent que le Ṛṣi Mārkaṇḍeya, fils de Mṛkaṇḍu, fut un sage d’une longévité exceptionnelle ; à la fin du kalpa, lorsque l’univers entier fut englouti par le déluge de la dissolution, lui seul demeura. Or ce même Mārkaṇḍeya, le plus éminent de la lignée de Bhṛgu, est né dans ma propre famille durant le kalpa présent, et jusqu’à ce jour nous n’avons vu, en ce jour de Brahmā, aucune annihilation totale. On rapporte encore que, dérivant sans secours dans le vaste océan de la dissolution, il aperçut dans ces eaux terrifiantes une Personne merveilleuse : un enfant couché seul dans le pli d’une feuille de banian. Ô Sūta, de là vient notre grand doute et notre vive curiosité. Ô grand yogī, reconnu comme autorité même parmi les Purāṇa, daigne dissiper notre trouble.
Lord Brahmā’s day, consisting of his 12 hours, lasts 4 billion 320 million years, and his night is of the same duration. Apparently Mārkaṇḍeya lived throughout one such day and night and in the following day of Brahmā continued living as the same Mārkaṇḍeya. It seems that when annihilation occurred during Brahmā’s night, the sage wandered throughout the fearful waters of destruction and saw within those waters an extraordinary personality lying on a banyan leaf. All of these mysteries concerning Mārkaṇḍeya will be clarified by Sūta Gosvāmī at the request of the great sages.
FAQs
This verse distinguishes the present time from a total inundation of beings, implying that the extraordinary pralaya-experience being discussed is not an ordinary, ongoing worldly flood but a special cosmic event connected with Markandeya’s vision.
They emphasize Markandeya’s historical presence and credibility—he is a revered Bhargava sage known within their own tradition—making their curiosity about his pralaya vision more grounded and urgent.
It encourages perspective: worldly upheavals are not ultimate; time moves in vast cycles, so one should cultivate steady devotion and inner clarity rather than panic over changing external conditions.