Listen, O wise one, to this wondrous tale of Māyā, the divine illusion, as revealed in the sacred verses. The Lord spoke: “Taking up the dissolving illusion, I fill the entire universe. By means of endless Māyā, I both sustain all beings and enter into deep sleep, enveloping everything. That very Māyā, in which even the gods seek refuge, is my own inscrutable power. O beautiful-hipped one, know that you have been upheld for seventeen cosmic floods by this very Māyā. This is the power by which I abide in the primordial waters, unseen and mysterious. Even the gods, deluded by my illusion, cannot comprehend its nature. Indeed, I assume this Māyā, woven from the very essence of the ancestors. Through the workings of illusion, a sage once entered the womb of a woman. With hands folded in reverence, he spoke humbly, and by the force of destiny, he was again born as a woman, placed within a mother’s womb. Whatever sinful acts he had performed in that womanhood, O Earth, he addressed you with sweet words. O wide-eyed Rohiṇī, my Māyā is truly wondrous and awe-inspiring. She assumes countless forms and paths—some excellent, some middling, some low. In this way, through the agency of a foremost Brāhmaṇa, the origin of women was established. That Brāhmaṇa was steadfast in my worship and diligent in performing deeds pleasing to me. Over a long span of time, O beautiful one, I was pleased by his devotion. Then, O goddess, I granted him a supreme vision and invited him to choose a boon, whatever his heart desired. If, perhaps, he wished for heaven, filled with happiness and celestial women of divine beauty, that too would be granted. Hearing my words, the eminent Brāhmaṇa replied, ‘O god, if you are not angered, I wish to ask for a boon. I do not desire gold, nor cows, nor women, nor even a kingdom. Not even a thousand heavens can please me.’ Hearing this, I gave my assent. Even the gods, deluded by Viṣṇu’s Māyā, cannot know its true nature. Moved by this Māyā, the Brāhmaṇa spoke sweet words: ‘By your grace, O Lord, may this boon be granted to me.’ I instructed: ‘Go to Kubjāmra, bathe in the sacred Gaṅgā, and you will attain the vision of Māyā. At Kubjāmra, the Brāhmaṇa desired to behold my Māyā.’ Having properly consecrated the holy place, he worshipped as was fitting. Then, after immersing himself in the Gaṅgā, his entire body was drenched. There, afflicted by the pain of being in the womb, he reflected deeply within his heart: ‘I, who now dwell in this Niṣāda womb and in these hellish states—I, who am trapped in this Niṣāda womb, suffer in this mass of filth, mixed with excrement and urine, surrounded by flesh and blood, beset by many diseases and overwhelmed by manifold sufferings—where is Viṣṇu? Where am I? Where are the pure waters of the Gaṅgā?’ Thinking thus, he quickly emerged from the womb. In that moment, a daughter was born in the house of the Niṣādas. Yet, bewildered by Viṣṇu’s supreme illusion, she was not aware of anything. Such is the mysterious and unfathomable play of the Lord’s Māyā, which confounds even the wise and sustains the worlds through endless cycles of birth and rebirth.