In the company of sage Markandeya

(One of the most famous sages is Markandeya, though not one among the seven most important. There are only a couple of cases where man attained immortality with god’s blessing. Markandeya was one of those. In fact, Lord Siva killed the god of death in order to protect Markandeya! One of the important epics is written by this sage)

The Pandavas soon moved out of the Dwaita forest and entered Kamyaka, where they had been earlier. Krishna joined them there with his wife, Satyabhama. It was at that time that sage Markandeya also paid them a visit.

As requested by the Pandavas, the sage talked at length about codes of ethics to be followed. He told them stories elucidating those principles. Some of the stories are very famous. It was in this context that sage Markandeya narrated the first incarnation of Vishnu as fish. The main purpose was to recover the Vedas stolen by a demonat the time of deluge. It is said that the fish also helped a canoe, with the seeds of all plants, to keep afloat .

The sage also explained the concept of time and its cycles (repetition of the four epochs, Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali). He also described the characteristics of people living in each of the epics. There is a gradual decay in moral ethics over the four epochs. At the end the sage predicted (quite startlingly and accurately) what the future would be in the Kali Yuga
(Some of the stories are fully in prose and others in a mixture of prose and poetry. The prose is a surprise in the middle of 100,000 stanzas of poetry!)

The long chapter titled “the discussion with Markandeya (Markandeya Samasya Parvam)” ends with a prayer on Lord Skanda (Kartikeya).

This is followed by a short chapter “the discussion between Draupadi and Sathyabhama (Draupadee Satyabhaamaa Samvaada Parvam)”. Krishna’s wife asked Draupadi how she managed to keep her five husbands happy. Draupdai’s reply, in short, was that she served her husbands selflessly, keeping their likes and dislikes in mind all the time.

Krishna left the Pandavas after this. So did sage, Markandeya.