Birth of Mārkaṇḍeya

Mṛkaṇḍu Maharshi was a gentle ṛshi with endless virtues. He did ten thousand years of fasting tapas at the tīrtha of Śālagrāma to please Śrī Mahāvishṇu. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa was pleased and promised to be born as his son. That son was Mārkaṇḍeya, born with the tejas of Vishṇu. He became a great ṛshi, he composed the Purāṇa-saṃhitā, and he alone survived the Prākṛta-pralaya.

Mṛkaṇḍu’s tapas at Śālagrāma

Sanaka was speaking on bhakti, and Nārada asked about the great devotees of Bhagavān Vishṇu (bhagavad-bhaktas). Mṛkaṇḍu Maharshi was named as the best example. He wished well for all beings (sarvabhūtahitakara), kept to the truth (satyasandha), had mastered his senses (jitendriya), and wanted none of the pleasures of saṃsāra. At the great tīrtha of Śālagrāma he did ten thousand years of fasting tapas (nirāhāra-tapas). He worshipped Śrī Mahāvishṇu, the saguṇa Brahman.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 4)

The devas’ fear

The strength of Mṛkaṇḍu’s tapas alarmed Indra and the other devas. They feared that it might shake their places in the cosmos, or be turned against them. They went to the far shore of the Kshīrasāgara and prayed to Bhagavān Padmanābha, who rests on the cosmic ocean. Their stotra said that Nārāyaṇa alone is the supreme ruler of all the devas. They called him the bearer of the conch, mace and discus (śaṅkha-gadā-cakra), the destroyer of Keśi and Madhu, the one whose form is the five bhūtas, and the one whose form is endless bliss (nityānanda-rūpa). They asked him to protect them from the ṛshi’s tapas.

Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa appeared before them, as bright as a million suns. He wore all the divine ornaments, and Śesha was beside him. He comforted the devas. Mṛkaṇḍu, he said, is a good man (satpurusha) who would never harm others. Good men never harm any being, even when the three kinds of suffering (tāpatraya) trouble them. Mṛkaṇḍu is also free from fear (nihshaṅka), the constant worry of those who harm others. The devas were reassured and went away.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 4)

Bhagavān Vishṇu’s vara to Mṛkaṇḍu

Śrī Mahāvishṇu was pleased with Mṛkaṇḍu’s tapas and appeared before him at Śālagrāma. Mṛkaṇḍu opened his eyes from dhyāna and saw Bhagavān Vishṇu. He saw one who shines by himself (svayamprakāśa), who is untouched by prakṛti, and who wears yellow silk (pītāmbara) and carries divine weapons (divyāyudhas). Mṛkaṇḍu was filled with joy and wept. He bowed to the ground and sang a stotra from the heart. He called Bhagavān Vishṇu the Parameśvara, the one beyond the root prakṛti (mūlaprakṛti-pāra), the nirguṇa who is also saguṇa, and the one who loves those who take refuge in him (śaraṇāgata-vatsala). He said that this darśana alone had fulfilled his life (kṛtārtha), and he asked for nothing more.

Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa was delighted with the stotra and moved by his love for his devotee (bhakta-vātsalya). He embraced Mṛkaṇḍu with his four arms and said: “I am pleased with your tapas and your stotra. I shall be born as your son, with all virtues, long-lived (chirajīvi) and of beautiful form. The whole family into which I am born will reach moksha. Nothing is impossible once I am pleased.” With these words Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa vanished while the ṛshi watched in wonder. Mṛkaṇḍu’s tapas had borne fruit. He rose and went back to the life of a householder (gṛhastha-dharma).

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 4)

Mārkaṇḍeya is born

Mṛkaṇḍu married and settled in the gṛhasthāśrama. His wife was a very pure (sāttvika) pativratā, and she served her husband with purity of body, speech and mind (kāya-vāk-mānasa-śuddhi). At the right time she conceived a child who carried the tejas of Śrī Hari. After ten months she gave birth to a shining son. Mṛkaṇḍu was full of joy when he saw the child’s lucky marks (lakshaṇas), and he performed the birth rite (jātakarma) in the proper way. The child grew like the crescent moon of the Śukla-paksha.

When the boy was five, Mṛkaṇḍu performed his upanayana with great joy. He taught him the basics of the brahmacarya-dharma:

  • Always offer namaskāra to brāhmaṇas.
  • Offer the ārya-pradāna (the añjali) to Sūrya three times.
  • Follow Vedic conduct.
  • Worship Śrī Hari through brahmacarya and tapas.
  • Avoid every forbidden act (nishiddha), including the company of wicked people.
  • Always stay with good people who are devoted to Vishṇu (vishṇu-bhakti-para sādhujanas).
  • Never hate any being.
  • Serve all for their good (hita).

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 5)

Mārkaṇḍeya’s tapas and the Purāṇa-saṃhitā

Mārkaṇḍeya grew into a great ṛshi. He knew the ātmā (ātmajñānī), kept to the truth (satyasandha), shone like the sun (sūrya-teja), had mastered his senses (jitendriya), was peaceful (śānta), and knew all the tattvas. He did supreme tapas to please Śrī Mahāvishṇu, and he received a great vara: the power to compose the Purāṇa-saṃhitā, the collection of the Purāṇas. For this reason Mārkaṇḍeya is also called Nārāyaṇa, one in whom Nārāyaṇa himself lives.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 5)

Surviving the pralaya

The Prākṛta-pralaya came, and all that moves and does not move (sthāvara-jaṅgama) was swallowed up. Śrī Mahāvishṇu, in his Paramātmā form, lay alone on a leaf on the cosmic ocean. All the Brahmās and the other devas lived in the pores of the skin of Bhagavān Vishṇu. The long-lived Mārkaṇḍeya, a devotee of Vishṇu and a jñānī, was the only one who survived. He drifted on the leaf over the waters of the pralaya. Vishṇu’s śakti kept him alive, and he meditated on Paramātmā for the whole length of the pralaya.

The Purāṇa gives the huge spans of time in this order: nimesha, kāshṭhā, kalā, kshaṇa, ghaṭikā, muhūrta, ahorātra, māsa, ṛtu, ayana, saṃvatsara. One human year is one divine day. Twelve thousand divine years make one deva-yuga. Two thousand deva-yugas make one Brahma-yuga. Seventy-one divine yugas make one manvantara. Fourteen manvantaras make one kalpa, which is a day of Brahmā. Two parārdhas make one day and night of Vishṇu. Mārkaṇḍeya stayed absorbed in meditation through all this time.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 5)

Mārkaṇḍeya sees Bāla-Vishṇu

When Yoganidrā ended, Śrī Mahāvishṇu woke. He took the form of Brahmā and made the new universe. Mārkaṇḍeya watched the waters go down and the world rise out of the pralaya. He was full of wonder and bowed. He sang a stotra to Bhagavān Vishṇu. He called him free of change (vikārahīna), thousand-headed (sahasraśīrsha), the first deva (ādideva), self-born (svayambhū), of endless forms (anantarūpa), and filled with the whole world (jaganmaya). In reply Bhagavān Vishṇu blessed Mārkaṇḍeya. He told him to stay until the next pralaya, keeping all the dharmas, protecting all beings, and always meditating on the true nature (svarūpa) of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Then he would reach the highest state (paramapada).

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 5)

Mārkaṇḍeya asks about the bhāgavata

Mārkaṇḍeya wanted to know what makes a true bhāgavata (a devotee of Bhagavān Vishṇu), and he asked Bhagavān Vishṇu directly. The answer is one of the fullest lists of the marks of a bhāgavata (bhāgavata-lakshaṇas) in the Nārada Purāṇa. The bhāgavata:

  • wishes well for all beings (sarvabhūtahita)
  • is free of envy and jealousy
  • has mastered his senses (jitendriya)
  • wants nothing for himself (nirāśa)
  • is peaceful (śānta)
  • never harms others in thought, word or deed
  • loves good talk (satkathā) and devotion to Vishṇu
  • honours his parents like Gaṅgā and Parameśvara
  • serves yatis and sannyāsis
  • praises the virtues of others
  • is devoted to Śiva and to rudrāksha
  • keeps Ekādaśī
  • gives cows (godāna) and gives daughters in marriage (kanyādāna)

All these are the best of bhāgavatas (bhāgavatottamas). The stotra shows that true Bhāgavata dharma includes both Śaiva and Vaishṇava bhakti, without any difference between them.

Bhagavān Vishṇu ended by saying: “I always stay in the form of my devotees, protecting the worlds.” After this, Mārkaṇḍeya lived at the holy Śālagrāma kshetra. He performed yajñas and tapas and meditated on Śrī Mahāvishṇu. He used up all his karmas and in the end reached the highest state.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 5)

Sources

  • Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 4
  • Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapter 5