Shloka 56
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
नारदो5श्रावयद् देवानसितो देवल: पितृन् | रक्षोयक्षात् शुको मर्त्यान् वैशम्पायन एव तु,देवताओंको देवर्षि नारदने, पितरोंको असित देवलने, यक्ष और राक्षसोंको शुकदेवजीने और मनुष्योंको वैशम्पायनजीने ही पहले-पहल महाभारत-संहिता सुनायी है
nārado 'śrāvayad devān asito devalaḥ pitṝn | rakṣo-yakṣān śuko martyān vaiśampāyana eva tu ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Nārada recited it to the gods; Asita Devala recited it to the Pitṛs (ancestral fathers); Śuka recited it to the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas; and Vaiśampāyana himself first recited the Mahābhārata-saṃhitā to human beings. Thus the tradition is presented as a graded transmission of sacred history to every order of beings, affirming the epic’s universal moral authority and its role as a guide to dharma across worlds.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the Mahābhārata’s universal scope and authority: it is not merely a human chronicle but a dharma-text transmitted through revered sages to all classes of beings, implying that its ethical guidance applies across realms and communities.
Vaiśampāyana describes the earliest dissemination of the Mahābhārata-saṃhitā: Nārada taught it among the gods, Asita Devala among the ancestors (Pitṛs), Śuka among Yakṣas and Rākṣasas, and Vaiśampāyana among humans—mapping a lineage of recitation and reception.