Text 1
śrī-śaunaka uvāca
sūta jīva ciraṁ sādho
vada no vadatāṁ vara
tamasy apāre bhramatāṁ
nṝṇāṁ tvaṁ pāra-darśanaḥ
śrī-śaunakaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śaunaka said; sūta — O Sūta Gosvāmī; jīva — may you live; ciram — for a long time; sādho — O saint; vada — please speak; naḥ — to us; vadatām — of speakers; vara — O you who are the best; tamasi — in darkness; apāre — unbounded; bhramatām — who are wandering; nṝṇām — for men; tvam — you; pāra-darśanaḥ — the seer of the opposite shore.
Śrī Śaunaka said: O Sūta, may you live a long life! O saintly one, best of speakers, please continue speaking to us. Indeed, only you can show men the path out of the ignorance in which they are wandering.
According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, the sages saw that Sūta Gosvāmī was about to end his narration of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and thus they urged him to first tell the story of Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi.