heaving high, agitated and disturbed, it seems to dance everywhere with
uplifted hands represented by its surges. Full of swelling billows caused
by the waxing and waning of the moon the parent of Vasudeva's great conch
called Panchajanya, the great mine of gems, its waters were formerly
disturbed in consequence of the agitation caused within them by the Lord
Govinda of immeasurable prowess when he had assumed the form of a wild
boar for raising the (submerged) Earth. Its bottom, lower than the nether
regions, the vow observing regenerate Rishi Atri could not fathom after
(toiling for) a hundred years. It becomes the bed of the lotus-naveled
Vishnu when at the termination of every Yuga that deity of immeasurable
power enjoys yoga-nidra, the deep sleep under the spell of spiritual
meditation. It is the refuge of Mainaka fearful of falling thunder, and
the retreat of the Asuras overcome in fierce encounters. It offers water
as sacrificial butter to the blazing fire issuing from the mouth of Varava
(the Ocean-mare). It is fathomless and without limits, vast and
immeasurable, and the lord of rivers.

"And they saw that unto it rushed mighty rivers by thousands with proud
gait, like amorous competitors, each eager for meeting it, forestalling
the others. And they saw that it was always full, and always dancing in
its waves. And they saw that it was deep and abounding with fierce whales
and makaras. And it resounded constantly with the terrible sounds of
aquatic creatures. And they saw that it was vast, and wide as the expanse
of space, unfathomable, and limitless, and the grand reservoir of water.'"

And so ends the twenty-first section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva.


SECTION XXII