इदं शतसहस्राद्धि भारताख्यानविस्तरात्
idaṁ śatasahasrāddhi bhāratākhyānavistarāt
Janamejaya berkata: “Kisah ini sungguh diambil dari uraian luas Bhārata—mahakarya yang membentang hingga seratus ribu bait.”
जनमेजय उवाच
The verse underscores the authority and vastness of the Mahābhārata tradition, presenting the teaching as grounded in a comprehensive, widely transmitted corpus (the ‘hundred-thousand’ Bhārata) rather than a narrow or isolated account.
Janamejaya, as the inquiring listener, frames the discussion by referring to the Mahābhārata’s expanded form, indicating that what is being recounted belongs to (or is extracted from) the extensive Bhārata narration.