Probably, there is no other author in the entire Indian history who is as revered, as versatile, as multifaceted, and as proficient as Vyasa who also happens to be the author of Mahabharata we are talking about.
His actual name was Krishna Dvaipayana – literally meaning ‘a dark boy born on an island!’ What a strange name!
Let me give a bit of his background.
Apparently, there was this young girl by name Gandhakali or Mathsyagandha who used to ferry people across river Yamuna in northern India. Most names in ancient India were more of epithets and normally each name had a story behind.
This girl was a foster daughter of a fisherman. This fisherman had found her as a kid, inside the stomach of a big fish that he had caught. Since she came from the stomach of a fish, probably she smelled like fish. That is why she was called Matsyagandha – one who smells like a fish! She was also dark complexioned. So, she was called Gandhakali – ‘a dark girl who smells!’
One day, while she was ferrying a great sage by name Parashara, the otherwise adept and ascetic sage, was bewitched by her beauty. As a result, this young girl had to conceive Parashara’s child, who, Parashara predicted, would be a great sage and an incarnation of God himself.
Since Mathsyagandha was still unmarried at that time, she gave birth to the child on a remote island, fearing hearsay. Parashara took the child with him and brought him up as a great scholar and sage. And that child was our Vyasa or Krishna Dvaipayana – a dark boy born on an island!
Now, why was he called Vyasa?
When Krishna Dvaipayana grew up under the tutelage of many teachers and became well versed in all the scriptures, and the Vedas especially, he found that the Vedas were in total disarray. There was no definite structure in the vast mass of scriptures collectively called Vedas at his times.
So, Krishna dvaipayana catalogued these loosely scattered Vedic hymns into two groups - hymns that conformed to strict metrical rules and those that were just in prose form. He called the former as Rig Veda – Veda with Riks or metrical hymns, and the later as Yajur Veda – the prose descriptions of various rituals, or Yajush as they were called.
The Rigveda contained 10,000 hymns with very rigid rules on reciting them. Their use was as incantations during the performance of Vedic rituals that were described in the Yajur Veda. The very same verses of the Rigveda, set to music, were called Sams (Psalms); and their collection was called Sama Veda. These Sams were sung during certain times of Vedic rituals.
Since Krishna Dvaipayana divided the vast Vedic literature into three distinct collections, he came to be known as Veda Vyasa – a divider of the Vedas. In due course just the name Vyasa remained and he is often referred to by that epithet.
After having catalogued the Vedic literature, Vyasa realized that the hidden messages in the Vedas are not very apparent and he felt the best way of elucidating them is through stories. That is the reason he chose to compose the Mahabharata – a story based on real incidents but meant to convey the idea of righteousness in wide ranging situations.
Incidentally, Vyasa is believed to be immortal and still alive in the Himalayas, meeting every now and then, great souls who happen to visit Himalayan regions. There are legends about his meeting with later Indian philosophers like Sankara and Madhwa who visited the Himalayas during their life time.
Legends apart, Vyasa is definitely alive even today through his phenomenal works and more specifically the Mahabharata.
As I said earlier, I will not go into the complete details of this great Epic in its entirety. I will only pick some interesting and illuminating scenarios from the war that ensued towards the end of the Epic. When needed, I will go back in time and give you a flashback – so to speak.
So, let us start with the war in the next episode.
This girl was a foster daughter of a fisherman. This fisherman had found her as a kid, inside the stomach of a big fish that he had caught. Since she came from the stomach of a fish, probably she smelled like fish. That is why she was called Matsyagandha – one who smells like a fish! She was also dark complexioned. So, she was called Gandhakali – ‘a dark girl who smells!’
One day, while she was ferrying a great sage by name Parashara, the otherwise adept and ascetic sage, was bewitched by her beauty. As a result, this young girl had to conceive Parashara’s child, who, Parashara predicted, would be a great sage and an incarnation of God himself.
Since Mathsyagandha was still unmarried at that time, she gave birth to the child on a remote island, fearing hearsay. Parashara took the child with him and brought him up as a great scholar and sage. And that child was our Vyasa or Krishna Dvaipayana – a dark boy born on an island!
Now, why was he called Vyasa?
When Krishna Dvaipayana grew up under the tutelage of many teachers and became well versed in all the scriptures, and the Vedas especially, he found that the Vedas were in total disarray. There was no definite structure in the vast mass of scriptures collectively called Vedas at his times.
The Rigveda contained 10,000 hymns with very rigid rules on reciting them. Their use was as incantations during the performance of Vedic rituals that were described in the Yajur Veda. The very same verses of the Rigveda, set to music, were called Sams (Psalms); and their collection was called Sama Veda. These Sams were sung during certain times of Vedic rituals.
Since Krishna Dvaipayana divided the vast Vedic literature into three distinct collections, he came to be known as Veda Vyasa – a divider of the Vedas. In due course just the name Vyasa remained and he is often referred to by that epithet.
After having catalogued the Vedic literature, Vyasa realized that the hidden messages in the Vedas are not very apparent and he felt the best way of elucidating them is through stories. That is the reason he chose to compose the Mahabharata – a story based on real incidents but meant to convey the idea of righteousness in wide ranging situations.
Incidentally, Vyasa is believed to be immortal and still alive in the Himalayas, meeting every now and then, great souls who happen to visit Himalayan regions. There are legends about his meeting with later Indian philosophers like Sankara and Madhwa who visited the Himalayas during their life time.
Legends apart, Vyasa is definitely alive even today through his phenomenal works and more specifically the Mahabharata.
As I said earlier, I will not go into the complete details of this great Epic in its entirety. I will only pick some interesting and illuminating scenarios from the war that ensued towards the end of the Epic. When needed, I will go back in time and give you a flashback – so to speak.
So, let us start with the war in the next episode.
That was Mahabharata episode 02
Based on the 5000 year old Indian Epic namely Mahabharata. © Dr.King 2019.
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