SB 1.4.2
सूत सूत महाभाग वद नो वदतां वर ।
कथां भागवतीं पुण्यां यदाह भगवाञ्छुकः ॥ २ ॥
sūta sūta mahā-bhāga vada no vadatāṁ vara
kathāṁ bhāgavatīṁ puṇyāṁ yad āha bhagavāñ chukaḥ
Synonyms
[After the expression of honor for Sūta, Śaunaka’s questions are now reported in the following twelve verses (sūta-saṁsthuti-pūrvakān śaunaka-praśnān eva darśayati sūta-sūteti dvādaśabhiḥ).5]; śaunakaḥ — Śrī Śaunaka; uvāca — said; sūta sūta — O Sūta, Sūta [here, out of great delight, Śaunaka utters Sūta’s name twice (sūta sūteti harṣeṇa dvir uktiḥ)6]; mahā-bhāga — O highly fortunate one [implying Sūta’s extraordinary fortune at having been able to hear the Bhāgavata, which is not possible without tremendous merit accumulated over many lives (aneka-janmopārjita-bhāgyaṁ vinā na sambhavati, tvayā tu śrutam ity anumīyate tava tādṛśaṁ bhāgyam astīti sūcayan)]; vadatām vara — O foremost of speakers [(vaktṛṇāṁ madhye śreṣṭha), specifically due to having first heard the Bhāgavata (śruta-bhāgavatatvād eva)]; vada — kindly relate; naḥ — to us [asmān prati]; puṇyām — the sacred [having been ordained as the very embodiment of dharma (dharma-rūpāṁ vihitatvāt),7 (in SB 1.3.43)]; kathām — discourse; bhāgavatīm — that pertains to Bhagavān [the Mahāpurāṇa, Śrīmad Bhāgavata8]; yat — which; bhagavān — the illustrious [the crown jewel of all enlightened beings (sarva-jñāni-śiromaṇiḥ)]; śukaḥ — Śrī Śuka; āha — disclosed [to Parīkṣit (parīkṣitam prati)].
Translation
Śrī Śaunaka said: O highly fortunate Sūta, Sūta! O foremost of speakers! Kindly relate to us the sacred discourse that pertains to Bhagavān [Śrīmad Bhāgavata], which was disclosed to Parīkṣit by the illustrious sage Śrī Śuka.