Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvadasha Skandha, Shloka 4
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
権威ある人々は語る。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のリシであり、梵天の一日が終わるとき、宇宙全体が滅尽の大洪水に呑み込まれる中で、ただ一人生き残ったという。しかるにその同じマールカンデーヤは、ブリグの裔の最勝者として、現今の梵天の日に我が一族に生まれたが、この梵天の日において、我らはいまだ全的な滅尽を見ていない。さらに周知のとおり、彼が滅尽の大海を無力に漂うとき、恐るべき水の中に、驚くべき御方—一本のバニヤンの葉の折り目に、ただ独り横たわる男児の乳児—を見たという。おおスータよ、私はこの大聖マールカンデーヤ・リシについて、深く惑い、知りたい思いに満ちている。大ヨーギーよ、あなたは諸プラーナにおいても権威として認められている。どうか我が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.
FAQs
The “wondrous child” is the Supreme Lord (Viṣṇu/Nārāyaṇa), revealing His transcendence: even when the universe is dissolved, He remains, and all creation rests within Him.
They are puzzled by the tradition that Mārkaṇḍeya survived the end-of-kalpa devastation, even though he is said to be born in the current age—so they request Sūta, an accepted Purāṇic authority, to resolve the apparent contradiction.
It directs the mind from changing circumstances to the unchanging Lord—cultivating faith that the Supreme is the stable refuge beyond worldly “floods” of uncertainty and time.