Shloka 54
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
नित्यसिद्ध मोक्षस्वरूप भगवान् कृष्णद्वैपायनने धर्मकी कामनासे इस महाभारतसंदर्भकी रचना की है ।। षष्टिं शतसहस््राणि चकारान्यां स संहिताम् । त्रिंशच्छतसहस््राणि देवलोके प्रतिष्ठितम्,उन्होंने पहले साठ लाख श्लोकोंकी महाभारत-संहिता बनायी थी। उसमें तीस लाख श्लोकोंकी संहिताका देवलोकमें प्रचार हुआ। पंद्रह लाखकी दूसरी संहिता पितृलोकमें प्रचलित हुई। चौदह लाख श्लोकोंकी तीसरी संहिताका यक्षलोकमें आदर हुआ तथा एक लाख श्लोकोंकी चौथी संहिता मनुष्योंमें प्रचारित हुई
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
ṣaṣṭiṁ śata-sahasrāṇi cakārānyāṁ sa saṁhitām |
triṁśac-chata-sahasrāṇi deva-loke pratiṣṭhitam |
Vaiśampāyana said: The blessed Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana (Vyāsa), whose nature is ever-accomplished liberation, composed this Mahābhārata in connection with Dharma and human aims. First he produced a recension consisting of six million verses; of these, three million verses became established and circulated in the world of the gods. (Other recensions were current among the Pitṛs and Yakṣas, while a one-hundred-thousand-verse version spread among human beings.)
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage emphasizes the Mahābhārata’s sacred authority and vastness, portraying it as a Dharma-centered work transmitted across multiple cosmic realms, with a human-accessible recension distilled for this world.
Vaiśampāyana describes how Vyāsa composed the Mahābhārata in different large recensions and how these versions became established in various realms, including a version circulating among the gods.