śrī-śukaḥ uvāca - Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; evam - in this manner; saḥ - he (Nārada); ṛṣiṇā - by the sage (Śrī Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi); ādiṣṭam - ordered; gṛhītvā - accepting; śraddhayā - faithfully; ātma-vān - selfpossessed; pūrṇaḥ - successful in all his purposes; śruta - upon what he had heard; dharaḥ - meditating; rājan - O King (Parīkṣit); āha - said; vīra - like that of a heroic kṣatriya; vrataḥ - whose vow; muniḥ - the sage.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When Śrī Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi ordered him in this way, the self-possessed sage Nārada, whose vow is as heroic as a warrior’s, accepted the command with firm faith. Now successful in all his purposes, he thought about what he had heard, O King, and replied to the Lord as follows.