Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.8.2-5

āhuś cirāyuṣam ṛṣiḿ

mṛkaṇḍu-tanayaḿ janāḥ

yaḥ kalpānte hy urvarito

yena grastam idaḿ jagat

sa vā asmat-kulotpannaḥ

kalpe 'smin bhārgavarṣabhaḥ

naivādhunāpi bhūtānāḿ

samplavaḥ ko 'pi jāyate

eka evārṇave bhrāmyan

dadarśa puruṣaḿ kila

vaṭa-patra-puṭe tokaḿ

śayānaḿ tv ekam adbhutam

eṣa naḥ saḿśayo bhūyān

sūta kautūhalaḿ yataḥ

taḿ naś chindhi mahā-yogin

purāṇeṣv api sammataḥ

SYNONYMS

āhuḥ — they say; cira-āyuṣam — having an extraordinarily long life span; ṛṣim — the sage; mṛkaṇḍu-tanayam — the son of Mṛkaṇḍu; janāḥ — people; yaḥ — who; kalpa-ante — at the end of the day of Lord Brahmā; hi — indeed; urvaritaḥ — remaining alone; yena — by which (annihilation); grastam — seized; idam — this; jagat — entire universe; saḥ — he, Mārkaṇḍeya; vai — indeed; asmat-kula — in my own family; utpannaḥ — born; kalpe — in the day of Brahmā; asmin — this; bhārgava-ṛṣabhaḥ — the most eminent descendant of Bhṛgu Muni; na — not; eva — certainly; adhunā — in our age; api — even; bhūtānām — of all creation; samplavaḥ — annihilation by flood; kaḥ — any; api — at all; jāyate — has arisen; ekaḥ — alone; eta — indeed; arṇave — in the great ocean; bhrāmyan — wandering; dadarśa — he saw; puruṣam — a personality; kila — it is said; vaṭa-patra — of a banyan leaf; puṭe — within the fold; tokam — an infant hoy; śayānam — lying; tu — but; ekam — one; adbhutam — wonderful; eṣaḥ — this; naḥ — our; saḿśayaḥ — doubt; bhūyān — great; sūta — O Sūta Gosvāmī; kautūhalam — curiosity; yataḥ — due to which; tam — that; naḥ — for us; chindhi — please cut; mahā-yogin — O great yogī; purāneṣu — of the Purāṇas; api — indeed; sammataḥ — universally accepted (as the expert knower).

TRANSLATION

Authorities say that Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi, the son of Mṛkaṇḍu. was an exceptionally long-lived sage who was the only survivor at the end of Brahmā's day, when the entire universe was merged in the flood of annihilation. But this same Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi, the foremost descendant of Bhṛgu, took birth in my own family during the current day of Brahmā, and we have not yet seen any total annihilation in this day of Brahmā. Also, it is well known that Mārkaṇḍeya while wandering helplessly in the great ocean of annihilation, saw in those fearful waters a wonderful personality — an infant boy lying alone within the fold of a banyan leaf. O Sūta, I am most bewildered and curious about this great sage, Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi. O great yogī, you are universally accepted as the authority on all the Purāṇas. Therefore kindly dispel my confusion.

PURPORT

Lord Brahmā's day, consisting of his 12 hours, lasts 4 billion 320 million years, and his night is of the same duration. Apparently Mārkaṇḍeya lived throughout one such day and night and in the following day of Brahmā continued living as the same Mārkaṇḍeya. It seems that when annihilation occurred during Brahmā's night, the sage wandered throughout the fearful waters of destruction and saw within those waters an extraordinary personality lying on a banyan leaf. All of these mysteries concerning. Mārkaṇḍeya will be clarified by Sūta Gosvāmī at the request of the great sages.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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