As Soma narrated, he described how the sage, angered by the young woman Pramlocā, spoke harshly to her. His stern words caused her to tremble violently, and sweat began to pour from her body. Observing her constant trembling, her weary limbs, and her steadfast chastity, the great sage’s anger only grew, and he commanded her, “Go, go!” Thus rebuked, Pramlocā departed from the hermitage. Ascending into the sky, she wiped away her sweat with the leaves of the trees below. As she cleansed her limbs, drenched with perspiration, she reached for the tender red leaves of a tree to wipe herself. At that very moment, the embryo that the sage had placed within her emerged, taking the form of goosebumps and beads of sweat upon her skin. The trees received this embryo, and the wind gathered it together, shaping it into one being. Nourished by Soma himself with cow’s milk, the embryo gradually grew. From the tip of a tree, a beautiful-faced maiden was born, and she was given the name Māriṣā. Soma assured the Pracetas that the trees would give Māriṣā to them, and urged them to let go of their anger. Thus, Māriṣā became the child of Kaṇḍu, having also emerged from the trees. Soma declared that Māriṣā was his child as well, and that she was the daughter of the wind and Pramlocā. Meanwhile, the venerable sage Kaṇḍu, his austerity exhausted, journeyed to the sacred abode of Viṣṇu, known as Puruṣottama. There, with single-minded devotion, Kaṇḍu worshipped Hari. He stood with arms raised, reciting the supreme hymn to Brahman with unwavering focus, remaining in deep yogic concentration. The Pracetas, eager to learn, asked Soma to recite the supreme hymn by which Kaṇḍu had worshipped Keśava. Soma explained: “Viṣṇu is the Supreme, limitless and highest of the high, transcending all. He is the destroyer of evil, the ultimate goal, beyond even the supreme. He is the cause, the cause of causes, and the reason behind all. In every effect, he descends, manifesting with all forms of agents and actions. He is Brahman, the Lord, the imperishable master of all creatures—Viṣṇu, eternal, unborn, unchanging, untouched by any defect. As he is Brahman, imperishable, unborn, and eternal—the Supreme Person—may all faults, such as passion, depart and be calmed within me.” Reciting this supreme hymn, Kaṇḍu attained the highest perfection, having worshipped Keśava. Soma then told the Pracetas the story of Māriṣā, emphasizing the merit gained by hearing her tale. In a previous life, Māriṣā was childless. After her husband Bhīpa died, she, the fortunate wife, devoted herself to pleasing Viṣṇu. Moved by her devotion, Viṣṇu appeared before her and offered a boon. She bowed and spoke from her heart: “O Lord, because of my early widowhood, I have been born in vain, fruitless and without purpose. May I have worthy husbands in every birth, and by your grace, a son equal to Prajāpati. May he possess noble lineage, character, age, truthfulness, generosity, promptness, reliability, virtue, service to elders, and gratitude. May I be endowed with beauty and wealth, pleasing to all, and, by your grace, may I be born not from a womb, O lotus-eyed one.” Pleased, Viṣṇu, the supreme giver of boons, raised her up and said, “In a single birth, you will have ten husbands of great valor and renown. You will obtain a son of immense strength and power, endowed with the qualities of Prajāpati. He will be the progenitor of lineages, and his offspring will fill the three worlds. By my grace, you will be born not from a womb, endowed with beauty and noble qualities, pleasing to all.” Having spoken, the god vanished from her sight, and thus Māriṣā was born—now the wife of the Pracetas. At Soma’s words, the Pracetas accepted Māriṣā as their wife and let go of their anger toward the trees. From Māriṣā and the ten Pracetas was born the illustrious Prajāpati Dakṣa, who in a previous age had been the son of Brahmā. Dakṣa, greatly blessed and wise, produced sons for the purpose of creation, generating offspring from himself. He created both inferior and superior beings—bipeds and quadrupeds—following Brahmā’s command. Dakṣa first created by mind, and then produced women. He gave ten daughters to Dharma, thirteen to Kaśyapa, and twenty-seven to Soma, who are associated with the regulation of time. From these unions were born the gods, demons, serpents, cows, birds, gandharvas, apsaras, danavas, and many others. From that time onward, offspring have arisen from sexual union. Previously, however, progeny were born from intention, sight, and touch, due to the extraordinary austerities of the accomplished ascetics. Maitreya then inquired, “I have heard that Dakṣa was first born from the right thumb. How then, O great sage, was the son of Pracetas born again? This doubt troubles my heart: how did Dakṣa, the son of Soma, become the father-in-law again?” Parāśara replied, “Creation and dissolution are eternal among all beings. Neither sages nor those with divine vision are confused by this. In every age, O best of sages, these Dakṣa and others arise and are again dissolved; the wise are not bewildered by this.