Bhakta Markandeya (He who witnessed the Maha Pralaya…)

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Being blessed with a long span of life is a great boon and to make the best of it is a true achievement. Markandeya is one who was blessed with a long life of seven kalpas and also used it efficiently to serve the Lord. This book describes the life and greatness of Shrimarkandeya rishi.

Maarkandeya or Mrutyunjaya's story is of the triumph of devotion over death. His father, Mrukandu rishi when given the choice by Lord Shiva, between a dull but long- lived son, and an intelligent but short-lived one, chooses the latter. When Markandeya is sixteen, Yama the god of death comes to claim him. But Markandeya's devotion to Lord Vishnu and his severe penance to attain the Lord's grace bears fruit. The Lord appears before him and grants him a life span for seven kalpas. All the devatas including Brahma, Shiva, and Yama bless him. He is blessed with a boon from the Lord to witness the MahaPralaya. This book, an abridged English translation from the original in Kannada by Pdt.Shri. Vadirajacharya Karnam, bears the story of the great rishi as described in The Bhagavata, The Mahabharata, Narasimha purana and Padmapurana. The descriptions in the puranas bear an uncanny resemblance to the cosmological theories described today by modern physics, pertaining to the birth and destruction of the universe as explained earlier by the great rishi Maarkandeya.