Shloka 107
एकं शतसहसंर तु मानुषेषु प्रतिक्तितम् । नारदो5श्रावयद् देवानसितो देवल: पितृन्,इस मनुष्यलोकमें एक लाख शलोकोंका आद्यभारत (महाभारत) प्रतिष्ठित है। देवर्षि नारदने देवताओंको और असित-देवलने पितरोंको इसका श्रवण कराया है
ekaṁ śata-sahasraṁ tu mānuṣeṣu pratiṣṭhitam | nārado 'śrāvayad devān asito devalaḥ pitṝn ||
Among human beings, this Ādi-Bhārata—the Mahābhārata—is established as a work of one hundred thousand verses. The divine sage Nārada recited it for the gods, and Asita Devala caused the Pitṛs, the ancestors, to hear it.
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the Mahābhārata’s established authority and sacred transmission: it is not merely a human composition but a revered itihāsa heard and affirmed in multiple realms—human, divine, and ancestral—thereby strengthening its role as a guide to dharma.
In the opening framing of the epic’s tradition, the text notes its canonical extent (one hundred thousand verses) and names eminent sages who transmitted it: Nārada to the gods and Asita-Devala to the Pitṛs, presenting a lineage of recitation and reception.