King Pareekshit tells sage Suka that although the sage has been narrating incidents that highlight the glory of Mahavishnu, when it comes to hearing about Vishnu’s glory, there can be no satiation. He therefore asks the sage why the milky ocean was churned, and what was the Lord’s role in it.
Suka then describes in detail Mahavishnu’s kurma avatara. Once sage Durvasa gifted the garland that he was wearing to Indra, chief of the celestials. But Indra, instead of treating it with respect, threw it around the neck of his elephant Airavatha. The elephant took off the garland, threw it down and trampled upon it. Angered by Indra’s arrogance, Durvasa cursed him and said he would lose all his wealth. It was not just Indra who suffered because of this curse, but other celestials like Varuna too paid for Indra’s folly, elaborated Akkarakkani Srinidhi, in a discourse. Not knowing how to regain what they had lost, they all approached Brahma for help. Brahma said to them, “I, Rudra, all of you, human beings, trees etc were all created by a small fraction of Aniruddha’s jnana. Let us all surrender to Him. He who is responsible for our existence will also protect us.”
The celestials together with Brahma then went to see Vishnu, known as Ajitha — the unconquerable One. Brahma praised the Lord thus: “You are superior to everyone. You are the Only One to whom everyone should surrender. You are not easily understood, and in this sense, You are far away. Even Vedantic statements cannot fully estimate Your nature. Since You are different from ordinary mortals of the world, Your Nature cannot be assessed easily. Your sareera is not due to the effects of karma. You are the material cause for the Universe. You are beyond the three states of wakefulness, sleep and dreaming.”
