The Pracetas, filled with devotion and reverence, began their worship with heartfelt salutations to the Supreme Lord. They bowed to Him who is the eternal foundation of all words, the beginning and end of all that exists, the supreme Lord. Their praises flowed toward the One who is the original, incomparable, infinite, and boundless light—the very source from whom all that moves and all that is still arise. They honored Him whose day and night are the very first forms to emerge from the formless, recognizing Him as the embodiment of time. They offered their salutations to the Lord who, in the form of Soma, is daily enjoyed by the gods and ancestors, the very seed of all beings—this essence of Soma, they worshipped. Their devotion extended to the One who devours darkness, whose radiant nature fills the sky with light, the source of heat, cold, and water—the Sun-form. They bowed to Him who, possessing solidity, upholds the entire world, pervading all as the support of sound and the senses—the Earth-form. They praised the Lord whose watery aspect is the very source and seed of all embodied beings, Hari, the origin of the universe. They saluted Viṣṇu, the fire-essence, the mouth of all the gods, who consumes the offerings made to deities and ancestors. To the blessed One who, established fivefold within the body, is the constant source of activity and the origin of space—the Air-form—they bowed with devotion. Their prayers reached the One who grants space to all beings, who is infinite in form and perfectly pure—the Ether-form. They honored Him who is always the supreme abode of all the senses and their creation, who is the essence of sound and the rest, Kṛṣṇa, the creator. They bowed to the Lord who, as both the imperishable and perishable, receives all sense objects, the root of all knowledge—Hari, the origin of the universe. To Him who bestows the self upon the objects grasped by the senses, who is the inner faculty, the soul of the universe—they offered their salutations. They revered Him in whom the entire universe abides, from whom it arises, and into whom it dissolves—the very nature of Prakṛti, the abode of dissolution. They worshipped the pure One, who, though perceived through delusion as possessing qualities, is truly without qualities—the divine Supreme Person, the very form of the Self. Their praise continued for the unchanging, unborn, pure, and unblemished One, the highest Brahman, the supreme abode of Viṣṇu. They recognized that He is neither long nor short, neither gross nor subtle, neither dark nor red, without affection, shadow, or form, unattached and bodiless. He is without space, without contact, without scent or taste, without eyes or ears, unmoving, without speech, hands, or pride. He is without name or measure, without pleasure, without brilliance, without cause, fearless, free from delusion, without sleep, decay, or death. He is without passion or sound, immortal, unshaken, and uncovered—He who is before and after, the supreme abode of Viṣṇu. They bowed to Him endowed with the quality of supreme lordship, who pervades all beings beyond doubt—the abode of Viṣṇu, inaccessible to tongue or eye. Thus, as Śrī Parāśara narrates, the Pracetas performed their austerities with these meditations for ten thousand years, standing in the great ocean. Pleased by their devotion, the blessed Hari appeared before them in the waters, His complexion radiant like the petals of a freshly blossomed blue lotus. The Pracetas saw Him mounted on Garuḍa, the king of birds, and bowed low, their heads heavy with the weight of devotion. The Blessed Lord spoke kindly to 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 Lord, granting their wish, vanished at once, and the Pracetas emerged from the waters. Meanwhile, while the Pracetas were engaged in their long austerities, the trees on earth, left unprotected, spread unchecked everywhere, causing a decline in living beings. The winds could not blow, and the sky was blocked by the dense growth of trees; for ten thousand years, creatures were unable to move. When the Pracetas emerged from the water and saw this, they were overcome with anger. From their mouths, they released fierce wind and fire. The wind uprooted the trees, and the blazing fire burned them, resulting in the destruction of the forests. Witnessing this devastation, with only a few branches left, King Soma, the lord of beings, approached the Pracetas and spoke gently, "Restrain your anger, O kings, and listen to my words; I will make peace between you and the trees. This maiden, radiant and beautiful, is a jewel among the daughters of the trees; she was raised by me together with the cows, knowing what would come. She is called Māriṣā, created from the trees; let this illustrious woman be your wife—surely she will increase your lineage." King Soma continued, "By the union of your power and half of mine, a wise son named Dakṣa, lord of creatures, will be born from her. Endowed with a portion of me and composed of your energy, he will possess brilliance equal to fire and will nurture the creatures." Soma then recounted a story from the past: "There was once a sage named Kaṇḍu, foremost among those who know the Vedas. He performed supreme austerity on the pleasant bank of the Gomati. To disturb him, Indra sent the celestial nymph Pramlocā, whose smile was pure; she began to agitate the sage. Disturbed by her presence, he spent more than a hundred years with her in the valley of Mandara, his mind absorbed in sensual pleasures." Thus, the story unfolds, weaving the devotion of the Pracetas, the intervention of the Supreme Lord, the restoration of balance in creation, and the mysterious origins of Māriṣā, who would become the mother of Dakṣa, the nurturer of all beings.