nārado 'śrāvayad devān asito devalaḥ pitṝn gandharvayakṣarakṣāṃsi śrāvayām āsa vai śukaḥ asmiṃs tu mānuṣe loke vaiśaṃpāyana uktavān śiṣyo vyāsasya dharmātmā sarvavedavidāṃ varaḥ ekaṃ śatasahasraṃ tu mayoktaṃ vai nibodhata vaiśaṃpāyanaviprarṣiḥ śrāvayām āsa pārthivam pārikṣitaṃ mahābāhuṃ nāmnā tu janamejayam

“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)”