Spirit, there is none equal to thee in years except the great-minded
_Brahma_ living in the most exalted place. Thou, O Brahmana, worshippest
_Brahma_ at the time of the great dissolution of the universe, when this
world is without sky and without the gods and _Danavas_. And when that
cataclysm ceaseth and the Grandsire awaketh, thou alone, O regenerate
_Rishi_, beholdest _Brahma_ duly re-create the four orders of beings
after having filled the cardinal points with air and consigned the
waters to their proper place. Thou, O great Brahmana, hast worshipped in
his presence the great Lord and Grandsire of all creatures with soul
rapt in meditation and entirely swallowed up in Him! And, O Brahmana,
thou hast many a time witnessed with thy eyes, the primeval acts of
creation, and, plunged in severe ascetic austerities, thou hast also
surpassed the _Prajapatis_ themselves! Thou art esteemed as one who is
nearest to Narayana, in the next world. Many a time in days of yore hast
thou beheld the Supreme Creator of the universe with eyes of spiritual
abstraction and renunciation, having first opened thy pure and
lotus-like heart--the only place where the multiform Vishnu of universal
knowledge may be seen! It is for this, O learned _Rishi_, by the grace
of God neither all-destroying Death, nor dotage that causeth the decay
of the body, hath any power over thee! When neither the sun, nor the
moon, nor fire, nor earth, nor air, nor sky remains, when all the world
being destroyed looketh like one vast ocean, when the _Gods_ and
_Asuras_ and the great _Uragas_ are annihilated, and when the
great-minded _Brahma_, the Lord of all creatures, taking his seat on a
lotus flower, sleepeth there, then thou alone remainest to worship him!
And, O best of Brahman as thou hast seen all this that occurred before,
with thy own eyes. And thou alone hast witnessed many things by the
senses, and never in all the worlds hath there been any thing unknown to
thee! Therefore do I long to hear any discourse explaining the causes of
things!'

"Markandeya replied, 'Indeed, I shall explain all, after having bowed
down to that Self-existent, Primordial Being, who is eternal and
undeteriorating and inconceivable, and who is at once vested with and
divested of attributes. O tiger among men, this Janardana attired in
yellow robes is the grand Mover and Creator of all, the Soul and Framer
of all things, and the lord of all! He is also called the Great, the
Incomp