Texts 8-9
tam eva cintayann artham
ṛṣiḥ svāśrama eva saḥ
vasann agny-arka-somāmbu-
bhū-vāyu-viyad-ātmasu
dhyāyan sarvatra ca hariṁ
bhāva-dravyair apūjayat
kvacit pūjāṁ visasmāra
prema-prasara-samplutaḥ
tam — that; eva — indeed; cintayan — thinking of; artham — the goal; ṛṣiḥ — the sage Mārkaṇḍeya; sva-āśrame — at his own hermitage; eva — indeed; saḥ — he; vasan — remaining; agni — in the fire; arka — the sun; soma — the moon; ambu — the water; bhū — the earth; vāyu — the wind; viyat — the lightning; ātmasu — and in his own heart; dhyāyan — meditating; sarvatra — in all circumstances; ca — and; harim — upon Lord Hari; bhāva-dravyaiḥ — with paraphernalia conceived in his mind; apūjayat — he offered worship; kvacit — sometimes; pūjām — the worship; visasmāra — he forgot; prema — of pure love of God; prasara — in the flood; samplutaḥ — being drowned.
Thinking always of his desire to see the Lord’s illusory energy, the sage remained in his āśrama, meditating constantly upon the Lord within fire, the sun, the moon, water, the earth, air, lightning and his own heart and worshiping Him with paraphernalia conceived in his mind. But sometimes, overwhelmed by waves of love for the Lord, Mārkaṇḍeya would forget to perform his regular worship.
It is apparent from these verses that Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi was a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa; therefore he wanted to see the illusory energy of the Lord not to fulfill some material ambition but to learn how His potency is working.