Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvadasha Skandha, Shloka 34
Mārkaṇḍeya’s Request to See Māyā and the Vision of the Cosmic Deluge
तमन्वथ वटो ब्रह्मन् सलिलं लोकसम्प्लव: । तिरोधायि क्षणादस्य स्वाश्रमे पूर्ववत्स्थित: ॥ ३४ ॥
tam anv atha vaṭo brahman salilaṁ loka-samplavaḥ tirodhāyi kṣaṇād asya svāśrame pūrva-vat sthitaḥ
主隐没之后，婆罗门啊，那榕树、那浩瀚之水与宇宙劫灭的洪流也在刹那间消失；转瞬之间，马尔坎德耶发现自己如先前一般，已回到自家道场。
Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Twelfth Canto, Ninth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi Sees the Illusory Potency of the Lord.”
FAQs
This verse states that the terrifying flood of universal dissolution can be withdrawn instantly by divine arrangement, showing that pralaya is under the Lord’s control and not independent.
To emphasize that Mārkaṇḍeya’s experience was a divinely arranged vision (a revealed and withdrawn reality), after which normal order was restored and he found himself back in his āśrama.
Even overwhelming situations can change suddenly; the verse encourages steadiness, humility, and dependence on the Lord rather than panic—maintaining one’s sādhana like returning to one’s “āśrama” of discipline.