Vishnupurana 1.4.5

1.4.5

imaṃ codāharantyatra ślokaṃ nārāyaṇaṃ prati /
brahmasvarūpiṇaṃ devaṃ jagataḥ prabhavāpyayam //

At the close of the past (or Pádma) Kalpa, the divine Brahmá, endowed with the quality of goodness, awoke from his night of sleep, and beheld the universe void. He, the supreme Náráyańa, the incomprehensible, the sovereign of all creatures, invested with the form of Brahmá, the god without beginning, the creator of all things; of whom, with respect to his name Náráyańa, the god who has the form of Brahmá, the imperishable origin of the world, this verse is repeated, "The waters are called Nárá, because they were the offspring of Nara (the supreme spirit); and as in them his first (Ayana) progress (in the character of Brahmá) took place, he is thence named Náráyańa (he whose place of moving was the waters)." He, the lord, concluding that within the waters lay the earth, and being desirous to raise it up, created another form for that purpose; and as in preceding Kalpas he had assumed the shape of a fish or a tortoise, so in this he took the figure of a boar. Having adopted a form composed of the sacrifices of the Vedas, for the preservation of the whole earth, the eternal, supreme, and universal soul, the great progenitor of created beings, eulogized by Sanaka and the other saints who dwell in the sphere of holy men (Janaloka); he, the supporter of spiritual and material being, plunged into the ocean. The goddess Earth, beholding him thus descending to the subterrene regions, bowed in devout adoration, and thus glorified the god:--