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mythology of india
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MAHABHARATA HISTORICAL CONTEXT MAHABHARATA CHARACTER ANALYSIS MAHABHARATA CHARACTER DESCRIPTION MAHABHARATA EPIC synopsis MAHABHARATA EPIC major themes |
Most scholars agree that the Mahabharata was not written by a single individual. Instead multiple authors compiled it over the course of several centuries. According to mythic tradition, however, the rishi (sage) Vyasa—who is also a character in the Mahabharata—wrote the work. In Sanskrit, the name Vyasa means "collector," "compiler," or "arranger." Thus, Vyasa represents the countless individuals who put together the various tales, stories, histories, legends, and treatises that are known collectively as the Mahabharata. A legendary figure occupying a prominent position in ancient Sanskrit literature, Vyasa is said to have composed the eighteen puranas, or "ancient tales," and to have written the four Vedas, the sacred texts of the Hindu religion. Also according to myth, he is supposed to have written more than 3 million stanzas of the epic poem, the majority of which were for the entertainment and enlightenment of the gods, while only one hundred thousand of the stanzas were to be repeated among human beings as the Mahabharata. The legend of Vyasa's creation of the poem is this: The great seer Vyasa wanted to write down the story of his people, the Bharata (an ancient Aryan tribe whose name has became synonymous with India). While meditating on how he would give the work to his disciples, the elephant-headed god of writers, Ganesha, appeared. The deity offered to write down Vyasa's story on the one condition that the wise man never stop telling his tale. If he did, the god would disappear, never to return. Vyasa weighed Ganesha's proposal and agreed to it, providing that he could stop if ever Ganesha failed to understand something he had said. The agreement was made, and thus, so the legend goes, the Mahabharata is filled with many digressions and complexities because of Vyasa's need to confuse and bewilder his scribe. |