Markandeyapurana 45.16

45.16

mārkaṇḍeyena kathitaṃ purā krauṣṭukaye yathā /
dvijaputrāya śāntāya vratastrātāya dhīmate //

The Birds spoke:
Unparalleled is this load of questions which thou hast asked, O brāhman: we will declare it to thee; listen to it here, O Jaimini, as Mārkaṇḍeya expounded it formerly to the calm and wise Krauṣṭuki, a young brāhman, who had completed his term of studentship. Krauṣṭuki asked the high-souled Mārkaṇḍeya, whom the brāhmans were waiting upon, what you have asked, my lord; and we will tell thee what the Muni, Bhṛgu’s son, told him with affection; listen, O brāhman, after having paid adoration to the Forefather Brahmā, the lord of the universe, the origin of the universe, who presided over creation, who in the form of Viṣṇu presides over its maintenance, and who in the form of the terrible Śiva destroys it at the dissolution.