Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 1 - Chapter 1 - Verse 5

Sanskrit:

नारद उवाचभिक्षुभिर्विप्रवसिते विज्ञानादेष्टृभिर्मम ।वर्तमानो वयस्याद्ये तत एतदकारषम् ॥ ५ ॥

ITRANS:

nārada uvācabhikṣubhir vipravasitevijñānādeṣṭṛbhir mamavartamāno vayasy ādyetata etad akāraṣam

Translation:

Śrī Nārada said: The great sages, who had imparted scientific knowledge of transcendence to me, departed for other places, and I had to pass my life in this way.

Purport:

In his previous life, when Nāradajī was impregnated with spiritual knowledge by the grace of the great sages, there was a tangible change in his life, although he was only a boy of five years. That is an important symptom visible after initiation by the bona fide spiritual master. Actual association of devotees brings about a quick change in life for spiritual realization. How it so acted upon the previous life of Śrī Nārada Muni is described by and by in this chapter.