kasmai yena vibhāsito’yam atulo jñāna-pradīpaḥ purā
kasmai yena vibhāsito’yam atulo jñāna-pradīpaḥ purā
tad-rūpeṇa ca nāradāya munaye kṛṣṇāya tad-rūpiṇā |
yogīndrāya tad-ātmanātha bhagavad-rātāya kāruṇyatas
tac chuddhaṁ vimalaṁ viśokam amṛtaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.13.19)
“Let us meditate on the pure, bright, sorrowless, immortal, eternal, Supreme Being, by whom this incomparable lamp of knowledge [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] was previously [i.e., at the beginning of the kalpa] out of compassion manifested to Brahmā, and [by whom] in that form [i.e., in the form of Brahmā, it was manifested] to Nārada, in that form [i.e., in the form of Nārada] to the sage Kṛṣṇa [i.e., Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa], in that form to the king of the yogīs [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī], and then in that form [i.e., the form of Śukadeva] to he who was protected by Bhagavān [i.e., Parīkṣit Mahārāja].”