During Treta Yuga, there lived a king named Prajapal. Once while he was on his hunting spree, he entered into a dense forest. He was delighted to see a dear who started running for its life after hearing the noise. Prajapal let his horse loose in the direction of the running dear. Sage Mahatapa had his hermitage in that forest. While chasing that dear, Prajapal arrived at the hermitage of Mahatapa. Being curious, he entered the hermitage and saw sage Mahatapa. The sage treated his guest with all the respect and offered him fruits to eat. After the formalities were over, Prajapal requested Mahatapa to describe the appropriate way of contemplating on the various forms of lord Narayan which gave salvation to a man. Sage Mahatapa replied- “The Vedas proclaim that all the deities owe their existence to lord Vishnu- Agni, Ashwini Kumars, Gauri, Gajanan, Sheshnag, Kartikeya, Aditya Ganas, Durga, all the 64 matrikas, Kubera, Vayu, Yama, Rudra, Chandrama, Pitra Ganas, etc. have originated from lord Sri Hari. All the deities, although appearing to to have distinct identity, are in fact inseparable from lord Vishnu.”
