Lord Śiva and Umā Glorify Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Mārkaṇòeya, having experienced a powerful display of yoga-māyā arranged by the Lord, took shelter of him.

Mārkaṇòeya said: O Lord, I take shelter of your lotus feet, which bestow fearlessness upon all who surrender to them. Even the devatās are bewildered by your illusory energy, which appears to them to be real knowledge.

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Śiva, traveling in the sky on his bull and accompanied by his consort, as well as his personal associates, observed Mārkaṇòeya in trance.

Goddess Umā, seeing the sage, addressed Śiva: My lord! See this learned brāhmaṇa, whose body, mind and senses are undisturbed.

He is as calm as the waters of the ocean when the wind has ceased and the fish and water remain still. Therefore, my lord, since you bestow perfections, please award this sage the result of his austerities.

Lord Śiva replied: Surely this saintly brāhmaṇa does not desire any benediction, not even liberation, for he has attained pure devotional service unto the inexhaustible Lord.

Still, Bhavānī, let us talk with this saintly person. After all, association with saintly devotees is man's highest achievement.

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Having spoken thus, Lord Śiva—the shelter of the devotees, master of all types of knowledge and controller of all embodied living beings—approached the sage.

Because Mārkaṇòeya's material mind had stopped functioning, the sage failed to notice that Lord Śiva and his wife, the controllers of the universe, had personally come to see him. Mārkaṇòeya was unaware of either himself or the external world.

Understanding the situation, the powerful and capable Lord Śiva employed his mystic power to enter within the space within Mārkaṇòeya's heart, just as the wind passes through an opening.

vyāghra-carmāmbaraṁ śūla- dhanur-iṣv-asi-carmabhiḥ akṣa-mālā-òamaruka- kapālaṁ paraśuṁ saha

Opening his eyes, the sage saw Śiva, the guru of the three worlds, together with Umā and Śiva's followers. Mārkaṇòeya then offered his respectful obeisances by bowing his head.

Mārkaṇòeya worshiped Lord Śiva, along with Umā and Śiva's associates, by offering them words of welcome, sitting places, water for washing their feet, arghya, sandalwood pulp, flower garlands and lamps.

Mārkaṇòeya said: O mighty lord, what can I possibly do for you, who are fully satisfied by your own ecstasy and by whose influence this entire world becomes joyful.

Again and again I offer my obeisances unto you, most auspicious, peaceful, the lord of goodness, giver of pleasure, shelter of the mode of passion, most fearful, and the shelter of the mode of ignorance.

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Lord Śiva, the foremost devatās and the shelter of the devotees, was satisfied by Mārkaṇòeya's praise. Pleased, he smiled and addressed the sage.

Lord Śiva said: Please ask from us whatever benediction you desire. Among all givers of benedictions, we three—Brahmā, Viṣṇu and I—are the best. Seeing us never goes in vain, and from us a mortal achieves immortality.

sa-lokā loka-pālās tān vandanty arcanty upāsate ahaṁ ca bhagavān brahmā svayaṁ ca harir īśvaraḥ

These devotees do not differentiate between Lord Viṣṇu, Lord Brahmā and me, nor do they differentiate between themselves and other living beings. Therefore, because you are this kind of saintly devotee, we worship you.

Mere bodies of water do not constitute holy places, nor are lifeless statues actual deities. These things purify a person only after a considerable time. But devotees like you purify immediately, just by being seen.

Therefore I offer my obeisances unto the brāhmaṇas, who, by meditating upon Viṣṇu, performing austerities, engaging in Vedic study and following regulative principles, sustain within themselves the three Vedas, which are nondifferent from Lord Viṣṇu, Lord Brahmā and me.

Even the worst sinners and social outcastes are purified just by hearing about or seeing personalities like you. Imagine, then, how purified they become by directly speaking to you.

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Drinking with his ears Lord Śiva's words, full of bhakti and intimate teachings, Mārkaṇòeya could not be satiated.

Mārkaṇòeya, having been forced by Lord Viṣṇu's illusory energy to wander about for a long time in the water of dissolution, had become extremely exhausted. But Lord Śiva's words of nectar vanquished his accumulated suffering. Thus he addressed Lord Śiva.

Mārkaṇòeya said: It is indeed most difficult for embodied souls to understand the pastimes of the universal controllers, for such lords bow down to and offer praise to the very living beings they rule.

Generally it is to induce embodied souls to accept religious principles that the authorized teachers exhibit ideal behavior, encouraging and praising dharma which is being performed.

Such behavior of the Supreme Lord, which the Lord effects by his own bewildering potency, does not spoil his power any more than a magician's powers are diminished by his exhibition of tricks.

tasmai namo bhagavate tri-guṇāya guṇātmane kevalāyādvitīyāya gurave brahma-mūrtaye

O all-pervading lord! Since I have received the benediction of seeing you, what other benediction can I ask for? Simply by seeing you, a person fulfills all his desires and can achieve anything imaginable.

But I do request one benediction from you, who are full of all perfection and able to shower down the fulfillment of all desires. I ask to have unfailing devotion for the Supreme Lord and for his devotees, especially you.

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Thus worshiped and glorified by the eloquent statements of the sage Mārkaṇòeya, Lord Śiva, encouraged by his consort, replied to him as follows.

O great sage! Because you are devoted to Lord Viṣṇu, all your desires will be fulfilled. Until the very end of this creation cycle, you will enjoy pure fame and freedom from old age and death.

O brāhmaṇa! May you have perfect knowledge of past, present and future, along with realization of the Lord, enriched by renunciation. Having power of a brāhmaṇa, may you become the ācārya for the Purāṇas.

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Having thus granted Mārkaṇòeya benedictions, Śiva went on his way, while describing to Devī the sage’s actions and what the sage had previously experienced.

Mārkaṇòeya, the best of the descendants of Bhṛgu, glorious because of his achievement of perfect yoga, even today travels about this world, fully absorbed in unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Lord.

I have thus narrated to you how intelligent sage Mārkaṇòeya experienced the amazing power of the Supreme Lord's illusory energy.

Some unintelligent persons explain Mārkaṇòeya’s unique experience ass symbolic of human beings in beginningless ignorance undergoing repeated cycles.

O best of the Bhṛgus, this account concerning Mārkaṇòeya is infused with the potency of the Supreme Lord. Anyone who properly narrates or hears it will never again undergo material existence, composed of impressions of karma.