The ten Pracetas approached their father with earnest hearts, seeking guidance. “Father,” they asked, “by what action shall we be able to increase progeny? Please explain to us all the means for this.” Their father replied with certainty, “By worshiping Viṣṇu, the bestower of boons, one attains desired results without doubt. No mortal achieves such ends otherwise. What else should I tell you? Therefore, for the increase of progeny, worship Hari, the lord of all beings. If you desire success, worship Govinda. For those who pursue righteousness, wealth, pleasure, and liberation, the blessed, primeval, supreme person is to be worshiped. By worshiping Him—the unchanging one, whom the lord of creatures himself worshiped at the beginning to create the world—you will surely attain the increase of progeny.” Thus instructed by their father, the ten Pracetas entered the waters of the ocean. With concentrated minds, they performed austerities. For ten thousand years, their thoughts remained fixed upon the Lord of the universe, Nārāyaṇa, the supreme refuge of all worlds. There, with unwavering devotion, they praised Hari, the god who, when praised, grants the wishes of those who offer hymns to Him. Standing in the ocean’s waters, the Pracetas composed a hymn to Viṣṇu. Śrī Parāśara recounted to Maitreya how the Pracetas, absorbed in devotion, praised Govinda as they lay in the waters of the ocean. They bowed to Him who is the eternal foundation of all words, the supreme Lord, the beginning and end of all that exists. To Him who is the original, incomparable, infinite, and boundless light, the source of all that is moving and unmoving. To Him whose day and night are the first forms of the formless, the embodiment of time, they offered salutations. To Him who, in the form of Soma, is enjoyed daily by gods and ancestors, the seed of all, they bowed. To Him who devours darkness, whose intense nature illuminates the sky, the source of heat, cold, and water—to that Sun-form they bowed. They bowed to Him who, possessing solidity, upholds the entire world, pervading all as the support of sound and the senses—the Earth-form. To the Lord whose watery form is the source of the world, the seed of all embodied beings, Hari, the origin of the universe, they bowed. To Viṣṇu, the fire-essence, the mouth of all gods, who consumes offerings, they offered salutations. To the blessed one established fivefold in the body, the source of space—the Air-form—they bowed. To Him who grants space to all beings, who has infinite forms and is pure—the Ether-form—they bowed. To Him who is always the supreme abode of all the senses and their creation, who is of the form of sound and the rest, to Kṛṣṇa, the creator, they bowed. To Him who, as the imperishable and perishable, receives the objects through the senses, the root of knowledge, Hari, the origin of the universe, they bowed. To Him who bestows the self upon the objects grasped by the senses, who is of the form of the inner faculty, the soul of the universe, they bowed. To Him in whom the entire universe abides, from whom it arises, and in whom it dissolves—the abode of dissolution, whose nature is Prakṛti—they bowed. To Him who is pure, perceived through delusion as possessing qualities though He is without qualities—the divine Supreme Person, the very form of the Self—they bowed. Unchanging, unborn, pure, without qualities or blemish—to the highest Brahman, the supreme abode of Vishnu—they bowed. He is neither long nor short, neither gross nor subtle, neither dark nor red, without affection, shadow, or form, unattached and bodiless. Without space, contact, scent, or taste, without eyes or ears, unmoving, without speech, hands, or pride. Without name or measure, without pleasure or brilliance, without cause, fearless, free from delusion, without sleep, decay, or death. Without passion or sound, immortal, unshaken, uncovered—that which is before and after, that is the supreme abode of Vishnu. Endowed with the quality of supreme lordship, pervading all beings without doubt—they bowed to that abode of Vishnu, which is not accessible to tongue or eye. Thus, the Pracetas praised Vishnu with these meditations, performing austerities for ten thousand years in the great ocean. Pleased with their devotion, the blessed Hari appeared to them in the waters, His complexion like the petals of a freshly blossomed blue lotus. Seeing Him mounted upon the king of birds, the Pracetas bowed with their heads low, weighed down by the fullness of their devotion. The Blessed Lord addressed them, “Choose the boon you desire. I am present before you, gracious and ready to grant blessings.” The Pracetas, bowing to the bestower of boons, replied, “As instructed by our father, may we obtain that which causes the growth of beings.” The god, granting them the boon as they desired, vanished at once, and the Pracetas emerged from the water. While the Pracetas performed their austerities, the trees on earth, unprotected, spread everywhere, and there was a decline in living beings. The winds could not blow, the sky was blocked by trees; for ten thousand years, creatures could not move. Seeing this upon emerging from the water, the Pracetas became angry, and from their mouths they released wind and fire.