"Then that lotus-eyed Boy will thus speak to me in the sweetest voice: 'O Mārkandeya! I know thee. Thou art become very weary and wishing for rest. Therefore do thou enter my body and live there as long as thou mayest desire. I have been very pleased with thee.' O King! on hearing these words of the Boy I will be filled with the spirit of indifference to my manhood and long life, at which suddenly that Boy will open his mouth, and I will then enter into that mouth through some divine means. "O Great King! Through his mouth I shall enter his belly and to my astonishment, shall see within him this whole earth of many kingdoms and cities, rivers, mountains, seas, the blue heavens bedecked with the sun and the moon, and the many forests. There I shall find Brāhmans engaged in various religious ceremonies, the Kshatriyas in ruling to the satisfaction of all other castes, the Vaishyas in their usual vocation of agriculture, and the Sudras in rendering loving sacrifices to the Brāhmans; lions and tigers, and all the gods, angels and serial beings are living peacefully in their respective spheres. In fact, all that existed before I shall find existing within the belly of that Great Soul. "O King! Thus, having seen the whole world within that Boy, I will travel for many thousand years, like one in a dream, within that world and in trying to find out its limit will rush in all directions but will not succeed in doing so. Then disappointment will turn my thoughts to that beautiful Boy again, and, with all the concentrated force in my body, mind and speech, I will then ask for his protection and grace. At this I will be carried, by a violent wind as it were, through his mouth out of his body and I will find him still sitting under that tree. "The Boy will then ask me with delighted heart and smiling face, 'O my good Rishi Mārkandeya! Thou didst become very tired floating on these waters for such a long time. Have you now been well refreshed by living within my body?' "Then I will behold my soul freed from all bondage by the illumination which will enter me with the Boy's words. And placing his crimson Feet on my head I will address him thus with folded hands and humility, 'How lucky I am! To-day I have beheld the Lotus-eyed God of Gods, the Soul of All Things! O God! I have become very curious to know Thee and this Thy wonderful Māyā (Illusion). Entering Thy belly through Thy mouth, I have seen the whole world existing there. O Lord! it was through Thy grace that I did not lose my memory, and it is through Thy will that I have now come out of Thy body. O Lotus-eyed! I have become very desirous to know Thee. Why art Thou resting here in the form of a Boy after having devoured the whole world? How is it that this whole world is now dwelling in Thy body? How much longer will Thou rest here? O Lord of Gods! These subjects are great and unthinkable, and so I beg to hear from Thee their detailed explanations.'