Shesha

Markandeya, pulled from the mouth of the cosmic being, hears Narayana declare his true nature: he is Vishnu, Brahma, Shakra, Yama, Shiva — all gods in one. He is the creator and destroyer, the one who sleeps through the ages and wakes to recreate the universe.

After the cosmic dissolution, the universe is a single dark ocean. Vishnu sleeps on the serpent Shesha, and from a lotus sprouting from his navel, Brahma is born. When the danavas Madhu and Kaitabha see them and try to terrify Brahma, the creator shakes the lotus stalk — waking Vishnu to face the two most powerful beings in existence.