(Astika Parva continued)

"Sauti said. 'Then when the night had passed away and the sun had risen
in the morning, O thou whose wealth is asceticism, the two sisters Kadru
and Vinata, having laid a wager about slavery, went with haste and
impatience to view the steed Uchchaishravas from a near point. On their
way they saw the Ocean, that receptacle of waters, vast and deep, rolling
and tremendously roaring, full of fishes large enough to swallow the
whale, and abounding with huge makaras and creatures of various forms by
thousands, and rendered inaccessible by the presence of other terrible,
monster-shaped, dark, and fierce aquatic animals, abounding with
tortoises and crocodiles, the mine of all kinds of gems, the home of
Varuna (the water-God), the excellent and beautiful residence of the
Nagas, the lord of all rivers, the abode of the subterranean fire, the
friend (or asylum) of the Asuras, the terror of all creatures, the grand
reservoir of water, and ever immutable. It is holy, beneficial to the
gods, and is the great source of nectar; without limits, inconceivable,
sacred, and highly wonderful. It is dark, terrible with the sound of
aquatic creatures, tremendously roaring, and full of deep whirl-pools. It
is an object of terror to all creatures. Moved by the winds blowing from
its shores and 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.