Shloka 106
अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायः (Anukramaṇikā Adhyāya) — Invocation, Narrator Frame, and Textual Scope
त्रिंशच्छतसहस्रं च देवलोके प्रतिछ्ठितम् । पित्रये पज्चदश प्रोक्तं गन्धर्वेषु चतुर्देश,उसके तीस लाख श्लोक देवलोकमें समादृत हो रहे हैं, पितृलोकमें पंद्रह लाख तथा गन्धर्वलोकमें चौदह लाख श्लोकोंका पाठ होता है
triṁśacchatasahasraṁ ca devaloke pratiṣṭhitam | pitrye pañcadaśa proktaṁ gandharveṣu caturdaśa ||
In the world of the gods, thirty hundred-thousands—three million—verses are established and revered. For the world of the Pitṛs, the ancestors, fifteen hundred-thousands are declared; and among the Gandharvas, fourteen hundred-thousands are recited.
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the Mahābhārata’s immense scope and its revered status across multiple cosmic realms, presenting the epic as a form of sacred, widely transmitted knowledge rather than a merely human narrative.
In the opening of the Ādi Parva, the text is being praised and characterized; here it is described in terms of how many verses are established/recited in different worlds—among gods, ancestors, and Gandharvas—highlighting its fame and sanctity.