for his longevity (which will continue till the end of this Kalpa), which has earned for him the title of ‘Ciraj¶v¶. Won over by his austerities and devotion BhagavŒn NŒrŒya˜a appeared in person before him and offered to grant him a boon. The sage, however requested that he might be allowed to witness the glory of His MŒyŒ. The Lord disappeared, assuring the sage that his prayer would be granted: One evening, while the sage was engaged in his devotion on the bank of the PuƒpabhadrŒ river, it began to rain in torrents. The oceans outstepped their limits and deluged the earth as well as the heavens Even though he was an enlightened soul, the sage was much confused and alarmed; and tossed about by the furious waves and blasing winds he drifted along like a blind man for a long time. At last he espied a small island on which stood a young banyan tree. On the tree itself he saw, lying in a cup of leaves, a most charming babe of dark hue, holding in both of its tiny hauds one of its great toes and sucking it. The sage was enraptured to behold this extraordinary babe and at its very sight all his fatigue and pain disappeared. As the sage tried to approach the babe he was drawn by the breath of its nostrils into its stomach and saw the whole universe contained therein˚. After wandering there for a long time he was expelled from the stomach with the breath and found himself once more in the endless ocean with the banyan tree and the beautiful babe still before his eyes. The sage made one more attempt to approach the babe, when lo! the babe disappeared and the great deluge also vanished out of sight. 608 * ÝR” RMACARITAMNASA* Overcome by the affection of Her parents S¶tŒ was too deeply moved to control Herself. But realizing the awkward moment and Her noble duty, Earth’s Daughter recovered Herself. (286)