O brāhmaṇa! After the Lord disappeared, the banyan tree, the water and the dissolution of the universe all vanished as well, and in an instant Mārkaṇḍeya found himself back in his own hermitage, just as before. Within one instant of time, seven kalpas of time (seven dissolutions) had been contracted, by the inconceivable energy of the Lord. Tirodhāyi is a reflexive verb, in aorist tense. Thus ends the commentary on Ninth Chapter of the Twelfth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas. Chapter Ten Mārkaṇḍeya Meets Śiva 12.10: Lord Śiva and Umā Glorify Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi 10. Lord Śiva and Umā Glorify Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi 12.10 Summary In this chapter Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī describes how Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi received benedictions from Lord Śiva. Once, as Lord Śiva was traveling in the sky with his wife, Pārvatī, he came across Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya merged in meditative trance. At the request of Parvatī, Lord Śiva presented himself before the sage to grant him the result of his austerities. Coming out of his trance, Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya saw Lord Śiva, the spiritual master of the three worlds, together with Parvatī, and he worshiped them by offering them obeisances, words of greeting and a sitting place. Then Lord Śiva praised the saintly devotees of the Personality of Godhead and requested Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya to choose whatever benediction he desired. Mārkaṇḍeya begged for unflinching devotion to the Supreme Lord Śrī Hari, to the devotees of the Supreme Lord and to Lord Śiva himself. Satisfied with Mārkaṇḍeya's devotion, Lord Śiva awarded him the boons of renown, freedom from old age and death until the time of universal dissolution, knowledge of all three phases of time, renunciation, realized knowledge and the position of a teacher of the Purāṇas. Those who chant and hear the story of Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi will attain liberation from material life, which is based on the accumulated desires generated from fruitive work.