As the great sage Markandeya sat in contemplation before the Lord, he asked, “By what name, O Lord, are you known in the world? Who else but you, O Great One, is fit to remain thus, transcending all?” The Blessed Lord replied, “O Brahmin, I am known as Narayana, the destroyer of all beings, the one whose heads and faces are a thousandfold, whose feet are countless. I am the Purusha resplendent like the sun, my mouth filled with the essence of Brahman. I am Agni, the bearer of offerings, accompanied by the sacred seven sevens. “I am the station of Indra, called Shakra; among the seasons, I am the year itself; among yogis, I am known as Sankhya. I am the cycle at the end of the ages. I am all beings and all the deities without exception; among serpents, I am Sesha, and among birds, I am Garuda. For all beings, I am Death, known as Time. I am Dharma, and among all those who dwell in the ashramas, I am austerity. “I am compassion, the highest virtue; I am the ocean of milk, the vast expanse of water. Whatever is the supreme truth, I alone am that, and I am the Lord of all creatures. I am Sankhya, I am Yoga, I am that supreme state; I am sacrifice and ritual, and I am known as the lord of knowledge. I am light, I am wind, I am earth, I am water; I am space, the oceans, the stars, and the ten directions. I am rain, I am Soma, I am the rain-cloud, I am the sun; I am the ancient, the supreme, and the ultimate refuge. “In the future as well, everywhere, I will be the sum of all that will exist. Whatever you see, O sage, and whatever you hear, and whatever you experience in the world—remember all that as me. The universe was created by me in the beginning, and even now, see me as the creator. In every age, O Markandeya, I protect the entire world. All this I have now told you; understand it well. “Even as you listen to the teachings of dharma, delight arises within, for Brahma abides in my body, along with the gods and sages. Know me, the enemy of Mura, as the union of the manifest and the unmanifest. I am the single imperishable syllable, the three-syllabled mantra, and the grandsire. The supreme Om, the threefold aim, the revelation of the supreme self—all this, O wise one, is spoken of in the ancient Purana.” As this wondrous revelation unfolded, Markandeya, the best of sages, entered into the mouth of the Blessed Lord and passed into his belly. There, set apart, he heard the imperishable Hamsa, and saw that all which was imperishable and manifold was sheltered in that great ocean, where sun and moon had vanished. Slowly moving, the Lord known as Hamsa created and wandered through the worlds in the course of time. Then, having become pure, he undertook great austerities. Covering his own body, he who was born from the lotus of the waters—mighty and exceedingly powerful—then set forth the world of mortals. This Lord, the universe itself, contemplated the existence of the great beings, pondering the destined dissolution in the cosmic ocean. In the subtle, water-filled, skyless void, as the world dissolved, the Lord entered the waters and began to stir the ocean. From within the waters, a subtle opening appeared, and in response to sound, the wind was born from that opening. As the wind grew, it stirred with force and speed, agitating the ocean. From those churning waters arose the great Lord Vaishvanara, blazing a dark path. The fire began to dry up the abundant waters, piercing all the oceans, and revealing the sky. Pure waters, born of his own radiance and resembling the nectar of immortality, appeared; space arose from the opening, and wind from space. Beholding the fire that arose from friction, the god Pitamaha, the grandsire and revealer of the great elements, saw its origin. Seeing these elements, the Blessed Lord contemplated the manifold birth of Brahma, in order to create the worlds. A thousand cycles of four ages, in succession, belong to the twice-born lords on earth whose souls are purified by austerity. Hari is called the Supreme Spirit, whose soul has been purified through many births. Recognizing knowledge, the Lord of all becomes fit for union with yogis. Seeing him endowed with yoga and supreme lordship, the knower of yoga established him in the supreme state of Brahman, the very foundation of the universe. Then, in those great waters, the mighty, infallible Hari, Lord of all, performed water play in proper order. From his navel he produced a single lotus, with a thousand petals, spotless, shining like the sun, golden in hue. That lotus arose radiant with the brilliance of blazing fire, pure as the autumn sun, splendid in its noble beauty, adorned with lovely leaves from the body of the great soul. Pulastya then spoke: Among the best of those endowed with yoga, he created the illustrious Brahma, the creator of all worlds, facing in every direction. In that golden lotus, vast for many yojanas, filled with all the qualities of brilliance and surrounded by earthly marks, that lotus—existing before all—was said to be the supreme form of the earth, and the great sages declare it arose from Narayana. That lotus is indeed called Rasā, the goddess Earth, and the principal filaments of the lotus are known as the divine mountains. These include Himavat, Nila, Meru, Nishadha, Kailasa, Shringavat, and also the mountain Gandhamadana. Thus, from the Lord’s own being, the earth and its sacred mountains came forth, marking the beginning of creation.