Desiring to hear the highest teachings, Markandeya was invited to dwell happily within the divine womb, for Brahma himself abides in that sacred body, along with the gods and sages. The Lord revealed: “Understand me as the union of the manifest and the unmanifest, the destroyer of asuras. I am both the single-syllabled mantra and the three-syllabled one, the liberator. Beyond the three aims of life, I am Om, the signifier of their meaning.” Thus spoke the wise ancient Lord of the Purana. Swiftly, the Lord drew the great sage Markandeya into his mouth, and so the best of sages entered the Lord’s belly. In that secluded, wondrous place, Markandeya joyfully listened to the imperishable Swan. The Lord, assuming various forms, moved through the great ocean, with the moon and sun vanished, slowly wandering. Known as the Swan, the Lord created and roamed the world as time unfolded. He, the radiant one, became the waters themselves, practicing austerity and concealing his own form, taking birth among aquatic beings. Intent on creation, the great-souled, powerful Lord contemplated the five great elements and the universe. As he reflected, with wind stilled and ocean at rest, the world was subtle, deep, filled with water, and without space. He slightly agitated the ocean, he who rests in the waters. Through the endless waves, a subtle fissure appeared in ancient times. From this fissure, sound arose, and from sound, wind was born. The wind, finding an opening, grew strong and unshakable. As the powerful wind increased, it stirred the ocean, and in those churning waters, the Lord of fire, Vaiśvānara, emerged. The fire began to dry up the abundant waters. As the ocean diminished, a great opening appeared and the sky expanded. The pure waters, born from the radiance of the Self, were like the essence of immortality. Space arose from the presence of openings, and wind was born from space. From the friction of wind and space, fire arose. Seeing this, the great god, revealer of the elements, was pleased. Beholding the elements, the Blessed Lord, for the supreme purpose of creating worlds, contemplated the many-formed birth of Brahma. At the end of a thousand cycles of four yugas, the Soul of the Universe, having many births, is called the offering of Brahma. The knowledge that rains down upon earth for the sake of the universe, from the twice-born lords purified by austerity, becomes supreme among yogins. Recognizing him as endowed with yoga and perfect sovereignty, the knower of yoga appointed the Lord of the Universe to the supreme state of Brahma. Then, in those great waters, Hari, the infallible creator of all worlds, delighted in play, following the proper order. At that time, he produced a single lotus from his navel, with a thousand petals, spotless, shining like the sun, and golden in hue. Its blazing flames shone like sacrificial fire, radiant with the pure brilliance of the autumn sun. The splendid lotus, of noble luster, appeared near the great soul’s beautiful chest. Then he created the foremost among yogins, radiant with great splendor—Brahma, the creator of all worlds, facing in every direction. Within that golden lotus, vast for many leagues, filled with all the qualities of radiance and adorned with earthly marks, the knowers of ancient lore declare it is the supreme form of the earth, said by the great sages to have arisen from Narayana. That Padma is the goddess Rasā, called the earth; those who teach the essence of the lotus know those divine mountains. These mountains are Himavat, Meru, Nīla, Niṣadha, Kailāsa, Muñjavān, and Gandhamādana, as well as Triśikhara, Mandara, Udaya, Piñjara, and Vindhya. These are the abodes of the hosts of gods and great-souled siddhas, and of those of virtuous conduct, bestowing all desired fruits. Between these mountains lies the region known as Jambūdvīpa, the land where sacrificial rites are performed. From these flows water, like the divine nectar of immortality; hundreds of delightful rivers and sacred fords are known. The countless filaments remembered as the stamens of the lotus are, in truth, all the mineral mountains of the earth. The many leaves of the lotus are those difficult regions, heaped with mountains, designated as the lands of foreigners. The leaves beneath are the dwellings of demons, serpents, and insects. Among them is the great ocean, known as 'that essence,' where humans who commit grave sins are submerged. Within the lotus, the earth that entered the single ocean is spoken of, and in all directions, there are four reservoirs of water. Thus, for the sake of Narayana, the earth arising from the lotus appeared; therefore, it is called Puṣkara. For this reason, the learned, the ancient sages, and ritualists, by the evidence of the Vedas, have remembered the lotus method in sacrifice. By the Blessed One, the method of sustaining all things was established—the mountains, rivers, and lakes. Then the mighty, peerless, radiant Varuṇa, resembling the sun, shining with pale light, slowly, the self-born, created his bed—the lotus method—in the great ocean, encompassing the world. Yet, as this creation unfolded, an obstacle arose: the great demon named Madhu was born, and with him, his brother, the demon Kaitabha.