idaṃ dvaipāyanaḥ pūrvaṃ putram adhyāpayac chukam tato 'nyebhyo 'nurūpebhyaḥ śiṣyebhyaḥ pradadau prabhuḥ saṃhitās taiḥ pṛthaktvena bhāratasya prakīrtitāḥ ṣaṣṭiṃ śatasahasrāṇi cakārānyāṃ sa saṃhitām triṃśacchatasahasraṃ ca devaloke pratiṣṭhitam pitrye pañcadaśa proktaṃ rakṣoyakṣe caturdaśa ekaṃ śatasahasraṃ tu mānuṣeṣu pratiṣṭhitam

“Vyasa compiled the Bharata, exclusive of episodes, in twenty-four thousand verses, then composed an epitome of one hundred and fifty verses with the chapter of contents, which he first taught to his son Suka and afterwards to other disciples; later he made a compilation of six hundred thousand verses, distributed among the worlds of the Devas, Pitris, Gandharvas and men, recited by Narada, Devala and Suka, while Vaisampayana recited one hundred thousand in this world. (trans. K.M. Ganguli)”