Markandeyapurana 3.9

3.9

kathaṃ vardheyurabalāḥ khasthān drakṣyāmyahaṃ kadā /
kadā bhūmerdrumaṃ prāptān drakṣye vṛkṣāntaraṃ gatān //

They all performed the reverential circumambulation around the Ṛṣi, who was expounding the truths of the law in compassion for his disciples, and respectfully saluted his feet and said, “We have been delivered by thee, O Muni! from dreadful death; thou hast given us shelter, food, and water; thou art our father and spiritual guide. Our mother died, when we were still in the womb; nor have we been nourished hy a father: thou, by whom we were preserved when young, hast given us life. Thou, of perfect splendour on the earth, lifting high up the elephant’s bell, didst purge away evil from us who were withering like worms. ‘How may these strength-less ones grow? When shall I see them flying in the sky? When shall I see them alighting on a tree of the earth, settling within the trees? When shall my natural colour be obliterated by the dust which the wind from their wings raises, as they flit about near me?’ Thou, dear Sir, thus thinking, didst nourish us; now we, those very birds, are grown up and have become wise, what ought we to do?”