Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 12 - Chapter 1 - Verse 41

Sanskrit:

एतत् केचिदविद्वांसो मायासंसृतिरात्मन: ।अनाद्यावर्तितं नृणां कादाचित्कं प्रचक्षते ॥ ४१ ॥

ITRANS:

etat kecid avidvāṁsomāyā-saṁsṛtir ātmanaḥanādy-āvartitaṁ nṝṇāṁkādācitkaṁ pracakṣate

Translation:

Although this event was unique and unprecedented, some unintelligent persons compare it to the cycle of illusory material existence the Supreme Lord has created for the conditioned souls — an endless cycle that has been continuing since time immemorial.

Purport:

Mārkaṇḍeya’s being drawn into the Lord’s body by His inhalation and expelled again by His exhalation should not be considered a symbolic description of the perennial cycles of material creation and annihilation. This portion of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes a real, historical event experienced by a great devotee of the Lord, and those trying to relegate this story to mere symbolic allegory are here declared to be unintelligent fools.