Vyasa

Vyasa (; , ) is a rishi (sage) with a prominent role in most Hindu traditions. He is also known as Veda Vyasa (, ) or Krishna Dvaipayana (, ). Traditionally regarded as the author of the epic Mahābhārata, Vyasa also plays a prominent role as a character. He is also regarded by the Hindu traditions to be the compiler of the mantras of the Vedas into four texts, as well as the author of the eighteen Purāṇas and the Brahma Sutras.

Vyasa is regarded by many Hindus as a partial incarnation (, ) of Vishnu. He is one of the immortals called the Chiranjivis, held by adherents to still be alive in the current age known as the Kali Yuga.

Name

"Vyasa" (Vyāsa) means "compiler" or "arranger and also "separation" or "division." Other meanings include "split," "differentiate," or "describe." It is also a title given to "a holy sage or a pious learned man" and is applied to "persons distinguished for their writings."

Vyasa is commonly known as "Veda Vyasa" (, Vedavyāsa) as he divided the single, eternal Veda into four separate booksRigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.

Divider of the Veda

Hindus traditionally hold that Vyasa subcategorized the primordial single Veda to produce four parts as a canonical collection. Hence he was called Veda-Vyasa, or "Splitter of the Vedas", the splitting being a feat that allowed people to understand the divine knowledge of the Veda.

The Vishnu Puraṇa elaborates on the role of Vyasa in the Hindu chronology. The Hindu view of the universe is that of a cyclic phenomenon that comes into existence and dissolves repeatedly. Each kalpa cycle is presided over by a number of Manus, one for each manvantara, and each manvantara has a number of yuga cycles, each with four yuga ages of declining virtues. The Dvapara Yuga is the third yuga. The Vishṇu Puraṇa (Book 3, Ch 3) says:

According to the Vishṇu Purāṇa, Aśwatthāmā, the son of Droṇa, will become the next sage (Vyāsa) and will divide the Veda in 29th Mahā Yuga of 7th Manvantara.

Attributed texts

The Mahabharata

thumb|Vyasa narrating the Mahabharata to [[Ganesha, his scribe – Angkor Wat]]

thumb|Painting depicting Vyasa and the king Janamejaya.

Vyāsa is regarded as the author of the Mahabharata, a major epic of Hindu literature. The first section of the Mahābhārata states that Gaṇesha wrote the text to Vyasa's dictation, but this is regarded by scholars as a later interpolation to the epic and this part of the story is also excluded in the "Critical Edition" of the Mahābhārata.

The five Paṇḍava brothers of the junior line of the Kuru royal house being the ultimate victors, thus India's cultural heroes, Vyāsa's relationship with the winners in this kinship war of cousin against cousin is as chronicler who sired the father of the victors. These five protagonists are the surrogate sons of Pānḍu, sired by various gods on behalf of this Kuru king whom Vyāsa himself fathered 'under Niyoga practice' in place of an younger brother who died heirless, at the behest of his mother Satyavati. Vyāsa also sired the father of the vanquished, he was certainly the surgeon who put the hundred brothers of antagonist cousins into incubation, and as they are only said to be sired by a boon he conferred on their mother, there's some possibility that he is also their biological sire himself. Hence Vyāsa's authorship of the Mahābhārata is by way of biography of his own family including its adoptees. This was the struggle between his own ex officio grandsons. And it is in the wake of producing this purportedly historical, smriti Mahābhārata as well as 'compiling' the essential sruti scripture of the Vedas that 'Vyāsa' was added as epithet then eclipsed his two birth names, Krishṇa and Dvaipāyana, while his smiriti creation became a canon whose territorial name, drawing on either one or two legendary ruler's personal names, included in the saga's text, still underlies modern Sanskrit-to-Hindi official form, Bhārata Gaṇarājya, in the names for India through its current constitution.

Vyāsa's Jaya (literally, "victory"), the core of the Mahābhārata, is a dialogue between Dhritarāshtra (the Kuru king and the father of the Kauravas, who opposed the Pāṇḍavas in the Kurukshetra War) and Sanjaya, his adviser and charioteer. Sanjaya narrates the particulars of the Kurukshetra War, fought in eighteen days, chronologically. Dhritarashtra at times asks questions and expresses doubts, sometimes lamenting, fearing the destruction the war would bring on his family, friends and kin.

The Bhagavad Gita is contained in the Bhishma Parva, which comprises chapters 23–40 of book 6 of the Mahābhārata. The Gita, dated to the second half of the first millennium BCE, in its own right is one of the most influential philosophico-religious dialogues, producing numerous commentaries and a global audience. Like the "Jaya", it is also a dialogue, in which Paṇḍava Prince Arjuna's hesitation to attack his cousins is counseled from 'the perspective of the gods' by his charioteer, revealed to be an avatar of Vishnu. In 1981, Larson stated that "a complete listing of Gita translations and a related secondary bibliography would be nearly endless". The Bhagavad Gita has been highly praised, not only by prominent Indians including Mahatma Gandhi and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, but also by Aldous Huxley, Henry David Thoreau, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Carl Jung, Hermann Hesse, and Bülent Ecevit.

Puranas

thumb|[[Narada meets Vyasa]]

Vyasa is also credited with the writing of the eighteen major Purāṇas, which are works of Indian literature that cover an encyclopedic range of topics covering various scriptures.

Brahma Sutras

The Brahma Sutras, one of the foundational texts of Vedanta, is written by Bādarāyaṇa also called Veda Vyasa, "one who arranges".

Role in the Mahabharata

Birth

thumb|Vyasa depicted in the [[Razmnama (c.1598)]]

According to the Mahabharata, Vyasa's mother, Satyavati, was raised as the daughter of a fisherman, belonging to a clan that used to ferry people across the river Yamuna. She used to help her father in this task. It was during one such ferrying that she encountered the sage Parasara. As he boarded her boat, he was captivated by her beauty. Overcome with desire, he approached her, but she, recognizing his intent, humbly pleaded to preserve her chastity. However, Parasara used his divine powers to create an artificial fog around the boat and transformed her natural scent into the fragrance of musk. He also conjured an island in the middle of the river, where he consummated his union with her. After this, he assured her that she would remain a virgin despite giving birth. He prophesied that the son born to her would be an extraordinary being—a partial incarnation of Vishnu, a man of immense wisdom, and a revered teacher who would divide the Vedas and be honored across the three worlds.

Satyavati kept this incident a secret, not telling even King Shantanu whom she was married to later.

Continuing the Kuru Dynasty

Shantanu and Satyavati had two sons, named Chitrāngada and Vichitravirya. Both of them died early without leaving an heir, but Vichitravirya had two wives – Ambika and Ambalika. A widowed Satyavati initially asked her stepson, Bhishma, to marry both the queens, but he refused, citing his vow of celibacy. Satyavati revealed her secret past and requested him to bring her firstborn to impregnate the widows under a tradition called Niyoga.

Sage Vyasa was unkempt because of months of meditation in the forest. Hence upon seeing him, Ambika who was rather scared shut her eyes, resulting in their child, Dhritarāshtra, being born blind. The other queen, Ambalika, turned pale upon meeting Vyasa, which resulted in their child, Pandu, being born pale. Alarmed, Satyavati requested that Vyasa meet Ambika again and grant her another son. Ambika instead sent her maid to meet Vyasa. The duty-bound maid was calm and composed; she had a healthy child who was later named Vidura. Other texts, including the Devi Bhagavata Purana, also narrate the birth of Shuka but with drastic differences. In one account, Vyasa, who desired an heir, was aroused when an apsara (celestial nymph) named Ghritachi flew in front of him in the form of a beautiful parrot. His semen fell on some sticks and a son developed. In this version as well, he was named Shuka due to the role of a parrot.

Vyasa is believed to have lived on the banks of Gangā in modern-day Uttarākhaṇd. The site was also considered the ritual home of the sage Vashishta, and later of the Pāṇḍavas, the five brothers of the Mahābhārata.

Vyāsa is also mentioned in the Śankara Digvijaya. He confronts Ādi Shankara, who has written a commentary on the Brahma-Sutras, in the form of an old Brahmana, and asks for an explanation of the first Sutra. This develops into a debate between Shankara and Vyāsa which lasts for eight days. Recognizing the old Brahmana to be Vyāsa, Shankara makes obeisance and sings a hymn in his praise. Thereupon, Vyasa inspects and approves Shankara's commentary on the Brahma-Sutras. Adi Shankara, who was supposed to die at the end of his sixteenth year, expresses his desire to leave his body in the presence of Vyāsa. Vyāsa dissuades him and blesses him so that he may live for another sixteen years to complete his work.

Festival

The festival of Guru Purnima is dedicated to Vyasa. It is also known as Vyasa Purnima, the day believed to be both of his birth and when he divided the Vedas.

In Sikhism

In Brahm Avtar (1698 CE), one of the compositions in Dasam Granth, Guru Gobind Singh mentions Rishi Vyas as an avatar of Brahma. He is considered the fifth incarnation of Brahma. Guru Gobind Singh wrote a brief account of Rishi Vyas's compositions about great kings—Manu, Prithu, Bharath, Jujat, Ben, Mandata, Dilip, Raghu Raj and Aj—and attributed to him the store of Vedic learning.

Notes

References

Sources

External links

The Mahābhārata – Ganguli translation, full text at sacred-texts.com