When Sage Kashyap enters Kurukshetra

 And so, the sage Kasyapa entered Kurukshetra, that field of sacred action, O sinless one, where a multitude of holy places converges into what is called Sanniti upon the earth. It is verily the spot to which all the tīrthas, including the very seas and lakes, always journey at the end of the dark half of every month. He who performs a Śrāddha there at the precise moment when the sun is eclipsed by Rāhu obtains the highest reward, equal to a thousand horse-sacrifices. Having seen that powerful Sanniti, he then beheld Cakratīrtha, about which a verse sung by Nārada is ever current on the earth: “Oh! The persistence of the people for a sun-eclipse! Yet the religious merit obtained at Cakratīrtha is ten times greater than that of any eclipse.”

Having visited these sacred places called Cakra and Pṛthūdaka, he saw the holy Viṣṇupāda and Amaraparṇata. Afterwards, crossing the rivers Śatadru and Gaṅgā, the great sage reached Arjuna's hermitage and the holy site of Devasunda. Then, having crossed the illustrious and sin-destroying Vipāśā, Kāśyapa’s journey brought him to a land starkly different from the lush sanctity he had left behind—he saw the whole country lying desolate. Seeing the land of the Madras so empty and silent, a profound sorrow touched him, and he spoke to the Nāga who guided him: “O Nīla, tell me, your inquiring father, why has this country of the Madras been deserted? For I remember it always as charming, utterly devoid of the calamity of famine, and overflowing with the wealth of grains!”

Nīla said: “O venerable one, all this is known to you, for you are the source of all wisdom. Yet, I shall recount the tragedy: formerly, a demon-child named Jalodbhava, the son of Saṅgraha, was reared up by me. Now that impudent fellow, having obtained boons from Brahmā—chief among them, imperceptible birth and invincibility in water—ignores me completely. I am incapable of keeping him under control due to the boon granted by the lord of the three worlds. By that villain of evil intellect, that eater of human flesh, this whole country of the Madras has been cruelly depopulated. O lord, the countries rendered desolate by him are many: mainly Dārvābhiṣāra, Gāndhāra, Juhuṇḍara, Antargiri, Bahirgiri, and the lands of the Śakas, the Khāsas, the Taṅgaṇas, and the Māṇḍavas. O venerable one, you must make up your mind to check him, for the welfare of the entire world depends upon it.”