Once, the great sage Durvāsas approached Indra, the king of the gods, bearing a divine garland. But Indra, in his pride, treated Durvāsas no differently than any other Brahmin, even considering him inferior. Feeling slighted, Durvāsas spoke to Indra with stern words: “You, O Indra, have shown me disrespect out of arrogance. Because you have cast aside the garland I offered, prosperity will abandon you and the three worlds.” Durvāsas continued, his anger unwavering, “O king of the gods, you have insulted me in your excessive pride, forgetting that all beings—moving and unmoving—fear the wrath of an offended sage.” Realizing the gravity of his mistake, Indra quickly dismounted from his elephant and humbly sought to appease the sinless Durvāsas. With deep reverence, Indra pleaded for forgiveness, but the sage, resolute and unswayed, replied, “I am not compassionate or gentle, nor does forgiveness dwell in me. Know me, O Indra, to be Durvāsas, unlike other sages.” He went on, “Your pride has grown vain through the favor of Gautama and other gentle sages, but I am the very embodiment of impatience. Because you have been praised by Vasiṣṭha and others, you now also disrespect me. In all the three worlds, who has not been seized by fear upon seeing my face, my blazing matted locks, and furrowed brows? I will not forgive you, Indra. Why speak further? You will not pacify me with words.” Having spoken thus, Durvāsas departed, leaving Indra to mount Airāvata and return to Amarāvatī, his heavenly city. From that time on, as Maitreya was told, prosperity vanished from the three worlds and from Indra himself. The herbs and plants withered away, sacrifices ceased, ascetics abandoned their austerities, and people no longer turned their minds to charity or righteous deeds. Life itself seemed to drain from all beings; their senses were overwhelmed by greed and other faults. Even for the smallest things, they acted out of desire. For where there is vitality, there is prosperity, and prosperity follows vitality. Without prosperity, vitality cannot exist, and without vitality, how can virtues endure? Lacking virtues such as strength and heroism, people became objects of scorn—those without strength and heroism were despised by all. Minds were ruined, disgrace and infamy spread, and the three worlds were utterly bereft of both prosperity and vitality. In this weakened state, the Daityas and Dānavas, themselves overcome by greed and lacking in prosperity and vitality, prepared for battle against the gods. The gods, equally deprived, fought back, but they were defeated. Indra and the other deities, vanquished, sought refuge. Led by Agni, the gods approached the blessed Grandfather, Brahmā, and recounted all that had transpired. Brahmā listened and then spoke: “Go to the Lord of all, the destroyer of the Asuras, the cause and ruler of creation, preservation, and destruction—the refuge of the higher and lower worlds. Go to Viṣṇu, the infinite, unconquered Lord of lords, the cause of both the unmanifest and manifest, the source of all causes and effects. Viṣṇu, who removes the distress of those who seek his refuge, will bestow welfare upon you.” With Brahmā leading, all the gods journeyed to the northern shore of the Milk Ocean. There, the Grandfather praised Hari, Lord of all, with words chosen from the depths of reverence: “We bow to the all-pervading, all-peaceful, infinite, unborn, and imperishable one—the support of the worlds, the foundation of the earth, the unmanifest, the undivided. To Nārāyaṇa, the subtlest of the subtle, the greatest of the great, greater than earth and all else—we bow. In whom all exists, from whom all has arisen, who is the foremost among beings, the god of all creatures, beyond even the highest—we bow. He who is beyond the supreme person, who embodies the supreme self, whom yogis contemplate, who grants liberation to seekers—may he be gracious to us. In whom natural qualities such as existence do not dwell, who is pure, the purest of the pure, the primeval person—may he be gracious to us. May Hari, whose power is not measured by time, who is ever pure, be gracious to us. He who is called the Supreme Lord, though pure, is described by convention; may that Viṣṇu, the self of all embodied beings, be gracious to us. He who is both cause and effect, the cause even of the cause, and the effect even of the effect—may that Hari be gracious to us. He who is the effect of the effect and the cause, who himself becomes both cause and effect—we bow to him. He who is the cause of causes, and even the cause of that cause, and the reason for all those causes—we bow to you, Lord of the gods. He who is the enjoyer, the object to be enjoyed, the creator, and what is created, whose nature is both action and result—we bow to that supreme state. That which is pure consciousness, eternal, unborn, imperishable, unchanging, unmanifest, and without transformation—that is Viṣṇu’s supreme state. That which is neither gross nor subtle, nor within the scope of any attribute—that supreme state of Viṣṇu, ever pure, we always bow to. In a mere fraction of whose countless parts this universal power abides—that imperishable form of the supreme Brahman—we bow to him. That supreme state of Viṣṇu, which neither gods nor sages, nor I, nor Śaṅkara know—That supreme state of Viṣṇu, which yogis, ever disciplined, see as imperishable in the sacred syllable Om, when virtue and sin are destroyed—may that state be gracious to us.” Thus, with devotion and humility, the gods and their Grandfather sought the grace of the Supreme, longing for the restoration of prosperity and harmony to the worlds.