Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvadasha Skandha, Shloka 2
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
人々は言う。ムリカンドゥの子、聖仙マールカンデーヤは比類なき長寿であり、劫の終わり、滅尽の大洪水に宇宙が呑まれたとき、ただ彼一人が生き残った、と。しかるにその同じマールカンデーヤ—ブリグ族の最勝者—が、この現今の梵天の日の劫において我が一族に生まれており、しかも今に至るまで、この梵天の日に全面的な滅尽は起こっていない。さらに周知のとおり、彼は滅尽の大海を無力に漂ううち、恐るべき水の中で、榕樹（バニヤン）の葉の折り目にただ一人横たわる不思議な幼子という、驚異の人格を見たという。おおスータよ、これゆえ我らの疑念と好奇は甚だ大きい。大ヨーギーよ、プラーナにおいても権威と認められるあなたよ、どうか我らの迷いを断ち切ってください。
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.