Sage who compiled the scripture

CHENNAI, OCT. 15. Sanatana Dharma, which is popularly known as Hinduism, owes its resilience to Sage Veda Vyasa who codified its primary scripture, the Veda, with the intention of preserving its entire corpus. In the previous eras many were able to master the Veda due to their spiritual power. Intuiting that with the passage of time there will be declension in Dharma, Vyasa divided the Veda into four - Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana - and subdivided them further into recensions so that it will be easy to commit it to memory ensuring that it will be preserved intact. Vyasa literally refers to the task of composition and also classification and hence he has come to be popularly known after the marathon task he completed.

Krishna Dvaipanya, as he was named at birth, was the progeny of Sage Parasara and Satyavati. Also known by the name Badarayana, Vyasa is revered as a partial manifestation of the Lord and this is substantiated by the prolific works he has written - the Mahabharata, 18 Puranas and the Brahmasutra. The Mahabharata is hailed as the fifth Veda because of its encylcopaedic content. The topics are intertwined with the lives of the Pandavas and the Kauravas, the main story line. There is an interesting anecdote relating to the composition of this epic.

When Vyasa had conceived its creation and was looking for a scribe, Brahma, the creator, appeared before him and bade him to ask Ganesa. Vinayaka agreed but on the condition that he should not make Him wait while composing the verses. To outwit Ganesa, Vyasa told Him that He should understand the meaning of the verses before writing them down. Vyasa is believed to have composed very terse verses whenever he was outpaced so that Vinayaka had to pause and he himself mentions numerous such difficult verses.

In his discourse, Sri Mani Dravida Sastri said the range of literary genres composed by Vyasa was standing testimony to his genius and versatility. The Mahabharata, like the other epic Ramayana, has been very popular down the ages appealing to both the scholar and the laity. He has elaborated the Vedic teachings in the Puranas so that they can be perused by all. The Brahmasutra which is in the form of terse aphorisms is a philosophical text expounding the abstract truth based on the Upanishads. In this work Vyasa has dilated on the Vedic passages which are ambiguous and through logical reasoning shown their import. The Brahmasutra has been commented upon by the preceptors of the different Vedanta schools according to their points of view.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Miscellaneous
Previous : Solution to puzzle 7184
Next     : dated October 15, 1951: Pope Appeals for Peace