CHAPTER II

Rsisampradijya - Nanalive tradition

Far from the dogmatic averments and consewative confinements. there

existed a clear vision of the mysteries of universe. It may be called

Dharma , Dar6ana , Gstra, V i a , Sahk6ra, Jiiana or by any other

suitable name. In ancient India people called it '6gasahskiira'. Even

now the word is in current use; but its depm and significance have almost

disappeared. In this age of pedantry, charlatanism and commercial

exhibitionism every piece of cultural value is tor sale. A profane mind with

absurd and perverse ideas can never conceive the grandeur ol

'Ziqasarhsktira'. Hence the real meaning of the words Dharma, Dadana

etc. can hardly be determined. A clear understanding af the concept of

the ancient sage-cult of lndia is next to impossible in the polluted

atmosphere of deterioration. Volumes have been written on the subject.

Arguments are going on with no concrete result. The words of great

personalities like Swbmi Vivekbnanda provide some relief. For. their

expositions are directives of me fact that the only way to understand

'ar$asarinkiSra' is to elevate ourselves to the stature of the 'u$s' through

perseverance. This perseverance is neither the philosophical pursuits

based on dialectics, nor the meticulous 0bse~ance~ of rituals. It is the

prudent conservatlon of me external and internal energy by all means.

Any sHly effM to dissipate Me physical, mental and oral energy will

shatter the whole attempt. A purely religion-based endeavour may also

prove futile. for, 'argasariwkara' transcends the present concept of a

well-orgonlsed lnrtltutlonalised religion. In ancient lndla, there was no

rellglon In the Semitic sense, which was founded on the life d a prophet.

Even lhe divinities like Lord KfFa show their submission to the heritage ot

the 'R@ . Vide the words of K!)na :

mw=.-I

orjif63aIs3ara;r -wRwfmT: - - 1 1 '

0 B r h i n l m e there Brchmqlia

wHh as much care as you senre me.

Ifro,IkelwonhippeQotherwhsnot.

Here the qualifier 'm' attached to 'm' is an Indication that the '~s i s '

are worlh wonhipping, because they possess the supreme knowledge.

The perception d the ancient 'Rpis' broke me banierr of race, religion

and philosophy. The floodgates cf their wisdom have been thrown open

for the entire humanity. Their outlook was so universal and liberal that

Ihey do not claim infailibHity. The relevant quotation from the

hiah6bhdmta is :

*t&:rrramim. 112

mere k no such whose words are unlvendty acceed I

The 'R&' did not bother to give a final detinitlon to Satya, Dharma,

JiiGna etc. Theirs was the story of ordinary individuals transcending the

limits d mind and intellect and coming down again to the complexities d

worldly existence. Their philosophy admitted the extremes of Advaitic

knowledge and the atheism of CSi~Sika simultaneously. The subjectlvity

of their revelations might have caused problems in interpreting their

literature. But they have objectified those revelations directly or indirectly.

Their indomitable quest enabled them to explore newer and wider

horizons ot knowledge. They tried to reconcile the varied streams of

knowledge. Even in the case of * (negative injunctions), the real

aim was on (positive affirmations). ' ;tPd' d the

~rhud~m~~akopuni~ud -This is not the truth - is an example. Here 'w'

actually points to the Absolute, which transcends materialistic nature.

The 'RS~S' responded to the immense variations d inner and outer

structure of creation and tried to regulate them in a harmonising spirit. The

poignancy d their asceticism was smoothened by the all-embracing

love for everything in the universe. Their poetic sweetness was amazingly

blended with philosophic arduousness. This resulted in the formation of

one of the most basic literary concepts of India ' m: ~63:'. No one other than a 'sW' can be a poet. Innumerable systems and

diiiplines came into being. The word 'Rsi' itsel became the synonym d

the Veda (knowledge). See the Mahabh-pya

d ~ : e : k F i & 2 & t i 4

T h e root 'x is more relevant than me root 'x

d' and the root ' r -d l d' ' . ' x' means 'to go' , which can be

eaended to the attainment of all possible provinces of knowledge.

'm' means the ability to transport others also to those provinces This is

only one d the possibilities of grammatical derivations of the word 'Rsi'.

Other elymological and linguistic possibilities can also be found

However the method of the 'R$s' was not to preach dogmas or to

impose dreary doctrines or to make speculations. The sages allowed their

diiiples to develop themselves into a wisdom of their own but with the

final result of complete emancipation from all kinds of thralldom. Not only

the disciples, but the whole land was flooded by the thought-waves

emanating from the recesses d the forests and caves. TM) flood

ulttmately e x e r c i a cultural unity in the vast land of lndii In spite d her

political, social and linguistic diversities. lhe'bis' thrashed out evewing

acquired through knocking at the doors of nature and beyond, to a

maximum possible extent. It is the choice of the reader to re-organise

their renderings and to decide what is to be accepted and what not to

be accepted.

Rqtflatxh-aprr~ I

is the most appropriate advice. Only In the light of these observations, a

thorough examination of the profound relevance of the sage-cult horn

the narrative point view can be carried out.

The above assessments should not mislead to the conclusion that all

ancient is' were of the same caliber. So a recapitulation is necessary.

A variety of personages in the galaxy of Vedic and Puriinic ' R V ~ ' can be

found. There is Viswiimitra, formerly a klng, who fought his way to

sageness ( axa+ka ) competing with Sage Vasistha. Sage Du~iiSa, the

embodiment of anger, is another interesting figure. Sage Miirkanqeya,

who conquered death by the power of penance, has been conferred the

titie 'Puriiniiciirya'. Sage N6roda ascended the loftiness ot

'brahmaputra' from the despicable life of a 'dbiputra'. Sage Suka.

' -- - Sanaka etc. are born ~nanis' devoid of any sexual instincts. Soge

Dottareyo. who occepted twenty-tour '~uriis' , is a typical example d

an 'avadhiita'. Even J6b6li. who advised rank materialism to Lord Riima,

is respected as a'~$'. Soge Bh!gu, who tested the patience of the trinity,

is another prominent 'R$. His footprint has been respeclhrlly borne by

Lord ViZnu on his chest. Sage Par68ara. the grandson of Sage Vas@!ha

and the fother of Sage Vyesa, succumbed to the enchanting

appearance d ~otyavati and begot her a son. Sage Vyba , in the midst

ot the rhrer. He Is the chW narrator of the Wpu Puepa Sage Agastya, the

pitcher-born ( 9- ),who ate and digested the demon VWpi to

save his fellow sages, is a tiny but awesome figure. Sage Cyavana, who

got rejuvenated by the diine physicians A6wins , made them eligible for

' s o r n ~ h ~ ' (the right to share 'soma' with other gods) in return. He

paralysed me hands of lndra when he objected to Mi. Sage Pardurijma

was the terror of Kvtriya race and he slew his own mother at the behest

of his father. Finally there are Sage VGlmiki and Sage Vyiisa, but for

whose deliberate efforts lndian narrative tradition would have been

reduced to naught.

All these sages appear in the proceedings of Pur6nic narration in

one way or another. It will be baming if the apparent eccentricities d the

sages are appraised with the prescribed moral standards. Still it is a

challenge for a student of lndology and ancient lore to sort out the secret

why these apostles d Vedic wisdom were remembered and eulogised

through ages. Every wrlter or speaker on Indian culture menlons the

'R?~s' as the bonafide '~ctirytis' . Some d them were Brohrna$s ; some

others were Devalsis and yet some were ~6ja!pis. Vide the Wgpu Pur@wJ:

* d : * r d m d l : g ; r : I

m: *: *m: i 1 9

The '~s is ' appear and appeal according to one's mental inclinations. To

a person of considerable literary taste, many of them are great poets. To

a philosophical mind, they are the founders d Me Dadan* T h e seeken

of occult powers consider them as great '~iddhbs' . A ' adi3 ' (a person

very much indulged in rituals) would like to see them as the promden d

ritualistic priesthood. An ordinary man tends to see them as ordinary

human beings with human weaknesses like lust, angef etc. Many people

see Sage ViswBmitra Infatuated by the beauty of MenakB and not as the

creator of a second heaven by the power of his penance. T h i is certainly

the prejudiced pelversion of the individual mind.

The ' R F ~ ' with the spiritual awakening attain a supernal power,

which get them attuned with the divine. In that state whatever they do is

not the function of their subjugated ego. They knew that it was the divine

energy operating through their body, mind and words and it woukl

ultimately confer good upon human race. For instance, it can be seen

that in the cases of curses, the receiver of the curse is benefited finally. So

a comprehensive delineation ot the 'R9i' character is hardly possible. It is

beyond the considerations of society, religion, caste, race, time and

space. The intumons of the ' ~ ~ i s ' are transcult;ral and transrellgious. It

should be borne in mind Mat the only method to understand the sages is

to be one of them. Their philosophical acumen was channeled through

the philosophers like Sankark~rya. Their sincere compassion towards

the distressed was expressed through &i Buddha. Their aesthetic

sweetness was atticulated through poets like Kelidiisa. Their devotional

fervour was handed down through great devotees like 6 i Caitanya.

Unfortunately every cultural heritage may have some traces of blur

and the sage trodiion is also not free from if. The priestliness d the ' R ~ T s '

based on the sacrifice-oriented culture ('yajiiosarhkiira') appears to

have its succession in the later supremacy of the so-called priestly class.

The 'yajiiasarhsktira' was gradually replaced by the temple-oriented

culture ('k@~asarhskGra') and the sacrificial priesthood had its

resurrection in the '~rtihmin-pCijaka' cult. In terms of both Jiitina and

Karma the human body is the 'ksetra' as specified in the G&:

s i e r f t i . a 3 4 u & # & W t d 1 ' '

So the later development of the temple-oriented religion was a

continuation of the ancient priest-cult. It is to be remembered thot only at

the final stage of the evolution of Purtinic literature, a well-established

temple culture comes into being. This is not to relegate the devotional

movement focused on temple culture; but it was organised by some

particular classes of the society to retain supremacy. This paved the way

tor the so-called 'Br6hmanism'. a spurious expression introduced by the

later scholars. The passage from the Bhagwafu may be noted:

*.-.--

Adag-odw(ccnpaq)whoiaodwotm

ofthrLadi8nolyqwkutoaBamh.

wenthwghih.lWm4n-d

~ d ~ M b c k i n g k d . v o l * n .

This is wkkmtfy a remark from lhe devohml point ol view; rt#l il beam a

strong i n d i c ~ that me caste supremacy was n d at a~ ~~ by

t h o ~ ~ h e w o r d ' ~ ' i n i t s r W f . n r e d s n d . r a ~ w h o h a s

kwwkdge af ' 5RFf. lhe word '4iFf with the suffh 'q*,

which is enjoined by mini as ' adM -ir;k' lZ points to tht, deuivan&r.

Ttm word ' fb' -twice born - means a penon who has had iwo lives

betore Md after enlightenment m. Then ' fau' is derived as

'* *:' - 'one who fills (knawledge, devotion etc.) in the

hearts d others'. Vide the SkWMn&kau-: ' IJT s3dt - ' l3 - ' to fill'. The

epitode ol sage-like DhanmvyGdha, the meat-chopper ot hMM6 is a

rckdl#a#ng exampte. -ha insftuca the K&O about

the secrets d Dhanna in the 20jh chapter af Varopawa d the

~ - b I @ & t c r . in ihe previous chapter the verses: -

a: e** ixiafa 7i tar: m lac: ... I. - establish that om attains 'BrSrhrninness' not by birth, but by he

character. Barnins hove been deified as '~hitdwiis' (the gods d earth)

because of tttelr character. Therefore, the caste supremacy wcls not on

induction ot Me sages.

h o m e r pornt d dispute is whether the T F 3 m (wnyk0 was an

integral part of &isamprad6ya. The '&is' were cartdnfy roin5ly. It b not

becaure lhey put ochre garments or took bamboo sticks. Ke@ng the

external signs of #my- was none of W r interest. Their sanyibo wos

internal wHh afl saintly traits d am (control d mind), (contrd of

senses), (totbearonce) and the like. Sage Vorlptha, Sage AM etc.

an, g@wsMs (house-hokkm). At the same Wme they were pertect

sany6sins too. The tact is ttKlt after fhe dahment of holy wisdom, the

rigid okpukdions of sanyh may or m y not be observed; it is irrelevant.

Through lheir instances the great sager hove shown that the spkltual life

can be IeU akng with the warldly engagements.

Sage ~cSlmiki and Sage Vyko are perfect examples d ihis dignified

equip-. They condescended from the acme of thdr Sa-hi into the

midst of suffering w b . They mingled freely with ordinary human beings

to fed lheir pleasures and pafns without gelHng atfached to them.

Keeping aloof by the power of Yoga, fhese two sages not only shared

their experiences with -6, but also rendered lhem in writing for the

benefit of humanity. This rendering was the opening of the Indian

narrative tradition. These two are respected not because of their

sageness; not for their wealth d penance ( ?~&F%FJ ), not for installng

the id- of R E m w ond K ! w ; not because they preached Dhanna, but for

having won the hearls of people by duly responding to the sufferings of

dl lMng creatures. They set aside their ' h' (silence - the state d a

Muni) for thb purpose. The Ved6ntrc principle that (Sukha) and 5:a

(Dukha) are illusions crgated by M6ya never r e h a d them horn

answering a call tor help. The impact of their response forced them to let

loose the poefic imagination welling up in their hearls. Here a clear

dktlnctlon between a ' seer ' and a ' seer-poet ' is to be noted. The seer,

though growing in wisdom, k reluctant to impart the essence d his

revelation to the common man. He always withdraws to quiescence and

hence called a 'w (Muni). But a seer-poet is always eager to

disseminate what he has reabed in the depth d hi swl. This is the

distinction between a '~uni ' (one who observes silence) and a '9i'

(who prefers to instruct others). Vide the BhG@wcrlhhe

sn&W*g;~~:-:

r h ; i e M ; r m e f i % ~ ~ : 1 1 1 5

TheMunk or,hputsulloioW-pnkctkn.

l h e y d w a y r o b m e d k m o i n ~

~ a n y ~ a r e m f o r t h e ~ p l M 0 f o l h e n .

These are the words d Pmhl6da. He rapaated(y speaks of his master

N6rada as a '113i9, who instructed him even when he was in his mother's

womb:

m: aTlp3aXaTDT : lTKvpdt8m: l l l6

Z&%~YRFEJ 1 ' '

5dhqq-m- I"

4a-f$maq II IP

So a connok~We dlIlsrenc. between the words 'Muni' and 'bi' is

evident, a m them two words are often considered synonyms The

awe-inspiring presence. Thdr method d purification comes dten in

fwnttive style on certain occasions. sometimes they lnttnrct by

inskmlonnxlr imphiion. But Sage ~6imiki and Sage Vy6sa do not

to d these categotier. They are lhe onF/ two 'k6ryiis' who

v lswlbu the value of the teaching d the sages and got those

teachings recorded for future generatiom K~lMba, the greatest follower

of meto two sages, writes - me: z@mmum m: I ZD

ThatKavl .ngqpdhcolffthgmdocidr

krrlko,nmheldtomin~~panre(ohcrcrle*

K 6 t W m a would have used lhe word Muni QnahKKl d K w i ) foHowtng the

line form the RtTtMyapa

a i d h t o l t m 4 ~ I

j iTrnTRJii&*z!smhZr - di5i-m 112'

But K 6 W k c 1 , who knows the essence d both Kavitva and &(tva carefumy

avoided it with supreme absmenc insight. T h e concept 01 K w i is

congenial to that ot a ~ i , but not to that of a Muni . Nevetlhebs Sage

v?itmikl and sogo V y h possess the rarest facuny of adjurlkrg MUTIWVO

wilh bitva. Their sympaihefk response to b k a (human sW&ngs) found

its s p o n b m o u expression as the Sldta (verre). The &aka war a n a l l y a

thirty-two-syllable verse. It is the most popular metre in Indian narrative.

Later it came to be known as '33t9y9 (anqpp) in the science of

prosody. Most of the Purthy~~ and I lhGsk have been composed in it.

Beyond the phonsmic resemblance, there is a significant rektion

between Soka and gloka . It would have been a keen direction for the

later pa& that lhe skill in metrical comporition done will not make them

real ~avis. The 5bka shauld be p~nnpted by the b k a i.e. the

sympathetic response to hurnon feelings. But only a very few like

KZilidh have been able to realbe its significance.

When a contrast is attempted between these two author-narraton,

~ 6 h d k i and VyZko, Me fist pdnt to be borne in mind is that Sage

velmiki's penonaHiy is mainly built upon the subatraturn d his mte

'&3ikavi9. ~h Sage ~y6so's poesy is only an ins)rument skillMly

employ& for Me communicative purposes. The reason may be that by

the time of V y h the communicative systems might have become mare

complex This might have prevented him from taking too much recourse

to the fancies and sentiments of poetic mind. Sage VyZisa hcld to

communicate more varied knowledge systems Man Sage ~6lmiki. The

rockty to wtrich Vytisa addressed has shvctural differences with lhat d

Sage ~6hnjki. These differences could be in receptive sensitivity, in the

changing values of morality and ethics and in the newly emerging

theological principles. Reacting to the need ot the hour, S a g e Vy& was

purpo+ehrlly applying himself to an abstruse and grave vein d narration.

He had to examine the positive and negathre aspects of Dhhnic

princi-. He had to consider the pros and cons of various philosophical

schools in the making. He had to update the previous ones and

assimilate them into the current ones. That is why he is more respected as

an i n g e m compiler-cum-editor of the Vees and Purwic literature.

Consequently Sage Vyba emerged as a phibopher-editor-poet, while

Sage vamiki remained mainly a poet. From the instructive point d view,

~Zjlmjki and Vytisa do not diier much; battr aim at the inculcation of

Dharma. But the method d instruction is quite different. vtilmiki

personifies his concept of Dharma in the exalted personality d R6ma. His

promulgation is:

His narration proceeds along a single channel without much deviation.

But Vyiisa, Me author of Me Mbh6mb, has never tried to concentrate

on a single character. Dharmo according to him, is the moat abstract

truth, an ever-elusive unsolvable mystery:

* l . - d T i j ~ . I

~Gknikl's nw#n%l is direct narration. He does not allow any ihird penon

as a tmdh-101 or individual nanatoc under the head ' rram ' . Ham me

line8 Ilk*

9 Rwkamr: --.I

it Is known ihat theie was the tradllkm of Sij% at the #me of vM-ki . ~e

himself assumes the r d e d narrator through out. By the H m e of Soge

trodifion of %Xis a, the nanoton c4 the Pur5nar and ItihWis

was weti esfabhhed. And VyW takes recourse to Sib narrator.

Vakniki, the son of Pracetas and thus addreroed as 'Pr6cetoso' . is

an individual sage. The name of valmiki n e b represents a lneage of

sages, nor a 'gotra'. His lite mission was to be the pioneer in lhe r i d d

poetry through the idealited repres8ntah-i of Wmo's story. He fulfilled

the mission in such a brilliant way that archaic Vedk poetry was

trorwsfomnd to into sweet and simple clatsk: poetry. But Sage Vy&a can

never be vkwed as an individual in the Pumnlc setup. The authonhip of

the is only one facet d hi mumfarioutnerr VyZisa's name

can be connected to various branches of knowledge- the Ved6s.

Dadan&, Itih6s6s , Pur6qot, ethics and so on. The root '31'q' with the

prefix ' &' will make the word ' Ewer '. it means a perton who

arranges somelhing in a splendid monner. The auMonhip of eighteen or

A o . c - w l h - - m

-=of-y,canpMdw

r r h d o e n l a r g . d ~ d t h e ~ .

The verb ' d', derived from the root wq T63dt ,26 can be brought to

denote any ' action ' . Thk action may be cdlectlon, editing, arranging,

composing and the like. The word 'editing' or 'arranging' may seem

simple. But the Herculean effort behind it may not be noticed at once.

These words can mean the expansion of ideas, abbreviation, alteration of

descriptive portions according to logical sequence, deletion of

unnecessary descriptions, innovative illustrations of philosophiid topics.

over-nrtmg or rnodlfying the injunctions of the predecessors, symbolic

and allbgoric expositions and even fabrications of stories. The enormity of

Sage Wiiw's labour i s astonishing, for, he had to deal with an ocean of

more than five lakh Sloka of the PurCinCs and ltiMis& in their extant

form. He pwtarmeci the job with a contempWe unfailing vision, linking

the past with the future through the present. Much misgivings and

misinterpretations have been inflicted upon Sage Vyasa's work by the

indiriminate and begotten sectarians of the later period.

$2- ... 27

cornpaha lha -itkmhW- and

~ i t p ~ ( r r l y , h e ~ i t ~ o h * r # r h a .

Here tho word ' 3 t y 5 - u ~ ' shows that Sage V y k ma very much fond

d edlling and arranging the Puranic material. To determine how much d

the Pu6@c literature has besn arranged by him, how much has been

collected by him and how much has been authored by him is an

impodsibb task. It is safer to assume that he hor peitormed all there

actions.

Another puzzle is also there. 'Vyka' is the name d the m e

occupied by the divinely ordained editors of Me Holy Scriptures. In the

fimeth chapter d me K C m Pm-pa the flakiis starting:

~ ~ ~ w = J : ~ ~ . I

and concluding:

e v : u 2 t m , a d m : I

vir9- m: qaordmrr?hsm, 1

ir Pa 3dacFli pw i i mb: llZb

provide a list of twenty-eight Vy&s. Sage K ! ) v Dvaipiiyana, the son of

Parhra, is the twenty-eighth Vyiisa. He is the 'pradarkaka' of all the

Veda and Puriinas. The third chapter of the ' fifiyiirkka' d the V . u

Pu#w ako contains the same 6lokS wlth slight changes." The tw~-fold

derivative pomtbillty d the word - ' r n e b ' - n m h $f% ( one

who perceives) and h irefaFir gfh (one who reveais to others) -

holds the key to many problems d the mysfcny d Sags Vyw's

pefsondlty. He reveals the Vedic and Purijflc wisdom to othw not

personally, but by expanding the horizons of narration thorough a chain

of narrators. This process is stlll continuing through centuries and

generations. At tho end d the twenty-eighlh Dv6parayuga Lard VfZqu

Incarnates as Vyba. This story can be consklorod only as a highly

mythical one. The fact is that when the time is ripe there had to be an

outstanding personality, who could collect, arrange systematically and

interpret the accumulated knowledge for the benefit ol humanity. None

other than K!sna Dvaimyana Vyijsa can be even remotely thought of

taking up this superhuman mission. So Vyijsa became the

consummation, the bsamanvaya' (the converging point), ol all

epirtemologkal, philosophical, ethical and relights systerns scattered so

far. He is g k r l l i in the GI% as the sole representative d tho pi'

community:

Since VyZisZis are many, there is room for contusion. But the statement:

m s R s ?lnRFy I =' I am the Dvaip6ycma among the Vy*.

removes the confusion. As referred to in the aokiit horn the K O m and

Viiu PunZ@~liimjki is one among the twenyty-eight Vyiitiis :

p@Fqem&t a: v: I ~ * W ~ . ~ S ~ -. I "

This shows that Sage ~l i lmiki was only a phase of the evolution and it

reached its zenith in K!$na Dvaip6yana. This is the striking difference

between the two. It is natural that the second edltor hies to rectify the

shortcomings of the first one, 1 any. The third one rectifies those of the first

two. This leads to the conclusion that Xlge K!$pa Dvaimyana might have

rectified all possible errors of his twenty-seven predecessors and thereby

became the master of the art ot editing. Consequenly he became

popular more by name 'Vy6sa' than K!$na Dvaimyana.

By his sagacity, Sage Vylisa revealed and interpreted the PurZinGs

and Itih&&s and bequeathed an invaluable treasure to humanity. Sage

K!qa Dvaiptiyana is the petfect culmination d the sageness, poesy and

editonhip of his predecessors and the source d inspiration for future

poet-philosophers. The following iioka is relevant in this context:

3lEr-q: mau: ash. wxIsm& 9t I

z , ,mmdkm-* I , "

This Sldta is a hint to me possibility of the great epic, stretching from the

past, through the present to the future.

' 3mq: m: *b. '

somepoehharedlpadyn0nd.d~.

Thk is an i n d l c ~ that the legend of K& and P M 6 S was abeady

thore and V y h only rendered it in b present tomr This n e c t ~ ~ k b S an

invacttgrrlkw, into the much-debated auMonhip d the epic. The general

trend among the modem rchob b to negok the *ngls-handed effd al

Sage +. T h e y l i t a variety d reasons and widmcer internal and

exhrml. T h e fist and foremost d the internal evidences is the incredible

stupsndouww#s d about ane lakh verses. The scholars concentrate on

the &&a d the tint chapter:

*-*m-. I

3 w - m M h m . * * * : 11%

&&+a -- d 24.000 - was Qne

byiheSqp.excludngmmy ofIh6.pboder.

lhii , exckdrg the epbodw. is cdkd &&zb.

The pmtimnt contradiction to ttais argument is seen in the next chapter

'Pawasokgfaha' . There the exact number d iktkiis and adhyCiy6S of

each poma is given. TM total number d the fkktis including thore d the

wpphmmt ~ a h h is more than 96,000. The B h a m a r Oriental

Research InDmute edition, which was prepared under the careful rcrutlny

of eminent scholars, has reduced the number to obout 94,000 excluding

the portiMe interpolations. And a later ed i t i i has further curta i i the

number to about 78,000. Howevef, the repeated references like:

e a h m ~ * ~ l "

JmTR & f & p -. *eic+il I '' -m-ijmihm~~~

prwe that the SlokCis of me said number (96,000) helve been composed

by Sage Vyika. So how the 'original 24,000' can be coalesced with the

extant 96.000 or 94,000 or at least 78,0007 If it is the addition of Sage

~diampZiyana, who narrated the epic to King Janamejaya, or d

Sautl,the tradfflonal narrator, it could be only with the approval of Sage

VyW. By the statement:

~IJ~~:-TR:-*

at the outset of his narration, Vaihmptiyana discloses that the vibrant

inspiration behind hi word6 emanates from his Guru . If this is the real

startlng point, '-' i.e. from the story of King Uporicaravasu, only

the previous fiHy or sixty chapters can be atMbuted to Saufi. It is

inter- to examine the said b k a of the Mo/syu Pureno:

3FsmrqliTonR i p a T -: I

w ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - + -. I

Here the prose order of the second half must be:

-da_9.mmmwi~*scm,+ I

T h e Sage dd that the dory of BtGufo

in its complete enlarm f m .

If it is taken ' -. wzmizwi &ai?i S k i ' , the meaning wHI be that

the Mah5W6mtu is an enlargement of the eighteen Puriiniis. 'aa'

always refers to that mentioned imrnediily before. This lctcks reason

because one lakh verses cannot be the enlargement of four lakh verses

(the approximate number ot the Slok6s is the eighteen Purtintis). The

flexibility cl Sanskrit allows to re-arrange the prose order and thereby

alter the meaning.

Another line of thinking is that there are only 8,800 verses originally

composed by Sage Vytisa. The promoters of this theory accept the

f Ida:

~ ~ ~ * 8 ~ ~ 1

3 e ~ ~ J m t * ~ * ~ ~ ~ 1 1 "

as the pram6na and they themsetves confess that this 6loka is found as

9 42 an 'interpolation within an interpolation . Moreover, the literal meaning

of this bdta can by no means come to hint that there were only 8,800

verses in the original 'Jaya Samhltti '. 'Jaya' is a narrative code, which is

to be discussed later. If the numbers like 8,800 or 24.000 or something like

that are given prominence, the risk of misreading the inner essence of the

great epic will be there. And 1 it is persisted, the number can be reduced

further. However, to spot and extract out the 'Original 24,000 or 8,800' will

be the work of a 'twenty-ninth Vyiisa', i f at all there be one!

The extmshre possibilmes of the verb ' sib ' have been discussed

earlier. It poi& to the multi-functional ednorial potential of Sage VyGsa.

He not only onanged the scriptural texts, but also scrutinW ihe works of

his disciples. King Janamejoya requests Sage VyiEso to narrate the

original ctory at the serpent sacrifice. But the Sage withdraws himsdl from

the stage, instatling his discipie VaihmpCiyana as the narrator:

d * g a - : m l a

Tel l e v m you have heard from me.

And he encourages his disciple with his benign presence.

Another point which might have induced lhe 'original 24.000'

theory, is the basically wrong notion to see the MahGbMrloto only as a

bottle tore. Any norrative with universal dimensions should be primarily

read within that cultural and social framework in which it was written and

popularised. The concept d on 'ltih6sa' can never be restricted to the

definttlon ol an epic in the western sense.

* i ; w v l m k & l ~ s ~ . IU

is the dsrivation given in the Viicaspafya. 'Itihesa' is an exposition of the

eternal truth. The &kmnilis&u suggests that

IwqaaTpr ; i ; r ~ ~ : I

~ ; A ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ R lf5

An ltihba contains many old stories with the elaboration of the heroic

triumph of a King. Here the stress is on ' m:', which means the story

of the hero-king itself is false. A more canprehenshre definition is found

In the AHdTsIraof Kautllya:

w m d m e f c d ?3TimBm: I '*

An ltlh6m b a combination of Purtina, Itivfta. Kkhywika, Ud6harana

(~imiirk6). Dharma6tistra and ArthaGstra. The passages of the

Mahiibh&7fa W E

-&&faf?&~uq I A7 - -s* I

m d ~ ~ I '*

provide sufftcient clues to ~ytisa's intention. The MaMbh6mta is a Veda,

an Upani)ad, a Dharma6stra, a Smrti, a Purtina and much more than

these. The Mbhiirata is not a text; it is a pretext.

w R m m 2 V t . r ixilwlmdm &m: I

The purport of the Vediis is brought to light under the pretext of the

Mah-. These facts wUl suffice to substantiate that the

Mah&hkffa was not a story of some heroes struggling on their way to

the goal. The derhration ol the word ' m' Is ' mfh rrrq ' - something

which delights in ' m.' i.e. the 'light of knowledge'.

W 3 a q wxa-rra m i i t 1 5'

is the supporting statement. The ' m' must be the weight of inner

revelations. If an exploration into these inner revelations is intended, the

SlokZk of the epic should be read along with many other contexts of the

Vet%. Upanws, ~ r q t i s , PumGs and other accessories. Because all

these colkcthrely form an inhgral orgonim of a p-, self-sufficient

and seU-explanatory knowledge system. Vlde the

s/ha@mYakqocmIs~

; R ~ p c r a e r r r r : ~ e € R R r ~ a r & w s i * i t r _ r c r r s =.

P r r u f h h a q b Z aJJd-z: m48Cs- ;sffmrtT: gani Fam

3~fhxze3ibr! - ReaRmrR I 52

NeveMndsss Sage Vyaa, be he a rnytho-grapher or a myiho-poet or a

rrrytho-eeWor, has cost a veil d mystery over his personality, leaving room

for various conjectures. The range of this mystery encompasses his

charucters, his outhowhip, hls style, his apparent conclusions of Dham

and so on. Carefully developing the cratl d complicated narration. Sage

Vyasa has taken the stand that every reader can exercise the option d

rnoking his own meaning. The Sage takes his reader to the maximum

posslbb extent of sensory knowledge. Finaly the discerning reader is

enjoined to turn to hitmatt wlth an ambition to r e a l i the absolute.

Of course, there could be a lot of interpolations and deletions in the

present text ot the Mab&M6W. Every ancient text is full of such

alterations. The Vedb may be exempted, since they come down by oral

tradltion. Alterations and manipulations were not only possible but

rampant in India where there was diligent persecutive and bigotry

sectarianism among the Va)srpa, hwa, Gkteya and other cults and

the onty method of preserving any written literature was through palm

leaf manuscripts. Deletion appears to be the easier method of tampering

wilh the original text. It requires only the removal of the concerned palm

leaf horn the bundle d manuscripto; whereas the interpolator is expected

to have a minimum poetic talent. For example, the 'granthib' (a

'grantha' is generally a lhirty-two syllable verse in Puriinic terminology)

in the V&u Pu&@, the oldest authentic text of Pancar6tra Vabnavism ,

are hventy-three thousand as testified in many ~uriintis." But the extant

W 9 u P u M p , by any way of calculation, does not come even upto the

one-third of twenty-three thousand. On many occasions the logical

continuity of narration has been disrupted. Thus it is w i l y assumed that o

considerable partion of the original Wgnu Pur f ip i s lost. Moreover, as a

general case of the Puriink and ItihCsZis, the word '~amhitii' makes

room for grave doubts. '~arirhit6' means a collection and this rules out

the possibility of an original author. The picture of Sage Vy6sa. which is

drawn from the Puranas ond IfihiisZis, is not that of a war-reporter.

Degrading him as a war-sfory writer and the Mahcfbn6mto as any other

historical war will be quite insubstantial and unjustifiable from the Indian

narrative point of view. It was a routine in many temples of South India to

recite the Mahr5bh~7rata. The Pu~dits at the spur of the moment, might

have noted down their appreciation in a &&a or two. Later scribes may

have probably incorporated these Molt& too. This might have cawed the

appearonce d ' d$mmmm ' the southern reconsion."

1 BG Skd.10- Ad.86- S1.57 GPG Sainvd 2001 p655 2

MBVclnqxnva Ad313-51.117GPO2013VdkramabdclVd.1p-782 3 BRHUP - T e n Rincipd U p a n i i with kitikambh6fya MLB 1992 p929 4 MHBS - CSSTN Voikran5bda 2047 hspa&hnika p-54 5 SK MLB Vd. 111 1977 p-219 b Ibid. p318 7 Ibid. P-354

'BGT Ad.18-51.63GfGM16Sarir~at p5d3 9 VSP Tfiiy&nia - Ad.6- 51.30 GPG 2051 Sahvat p-178 ID B 6 l Ad.13- 51.1 GPG2016Sari1vat p399 I1 BG Skd.7- Ad.9- 51.10 GPG &vat 2001 p-369

" SK MLB Vd. 11 1977 m a 1269 p-366 13 Ibid. Vol. 111 1977 Ad6di DhStu 1061 p-287 11 MB Vanpawa Ad.206- 51. 30 to 51.38 GPG 2013 VoHtmm6bda Vol. I pp-663-664 16 BG Skd.7- Ad.9- 51.44 GPG 2001 Sahvat p-371 16 Ibid. Skd.7- Ad.7- 51.15 GfG 0001 h v a t p-363 I7 Ibid. Skd.7- Ad.7- 51.14 GPG 2001 Sorilvat p-363 18 Ibld. Skd.7- Ad.7- 51.16 GPG 2001 h v a t p-363

bid. Skd.7- Ad.9- 929 GPG 2001 Sahvat p-370

P RV Sr.14- 51.70 BHU -nosi 1976 p-217. Mallin5tha's reading is &: I In m e

other edmonr the roadng is 'flR: instead of mf%: I It can dm be judllied that

Vd- miki. though a Muni, relinquished his MunnM when he heard the cry of Sit& 21 RM Uthaedtw 9.49- 51.10 GPO2050 VdkrcnriiWa p-692

RM K i i & W a Sr.37- 51.13 GPG 2050 VoikramZibdcl p-273 n MB Vanaparva Ad.313- 51.1 17 GfG 2013 Vaikrarn- Vol. 1 p-782

RM A y o d h y 6 k w 9.65- 51.2 GPG 2050 Vaikrarniibda p-187 2) MSP Ad.53-SI.70 ~ n m & a n a Mudre6laya Pune h iv6hana Sok6bda 1903 p-113

' SK MLB Vd. HI 1- 1472 p374

BG Skd.1- M.7- 51.8 GPG S&vd 2001 p 5 9

" KRP Ad.5-51.9 & 51. 10 AlUlS 1972 pp 287-288

VSP 3- M.3- 51.1 1 to 51. 19 GPG 2051 W k v d p-171

" BGT Ad.10- 51.3 GPG 2016 S & V ~ ~ 3 3 2

a ' ~ S k d . 1 1 - ~ d 1 6 - 5 1 . 2 8 G P G ~ ~ ~ d 2 0 0 1 p398

" KRP Ad.50- Sl.8 AlKTS 1972 ~ 2 6 8

aa VSP 3- Ad.3- 51.18 GPG 2051 6 v d p171

" MB XdipcNa Ad1 - 51.26 GPG 2013 VdkrcnnGtxh p 2 as Ibld. M . l - 5 1 . 1 M B 1 0 3 O P G 2 0 1 3 V d k ~ m ~ p 3

36 Ibid. Ad.2- 51.131 GPG 2013 Vaikrambbda p 1 3 37 Ibid. Ad.2- 51. 217 GPG 2013 Vaikmmiibda P-15 0 Ibid. Ad.2- 51. 324 GPG 2013 Vaikran6bdn p-17 w bid. Ad.61- 9 .3 GPG 2013 Vaikramiibda P-74 0 MSP Ad.53- 51.70 i;nand5hma Mudr@lclya Pune Qlv&ma h5bda1903 p113

" MB xdi,dipava Ad.1- S1.81 GP6 2013 Vaikramijbda Vol. I p 3

The Jaya ShhIfG - The U r - W b h a r a i G u m w h Society 1977 p 2 1

" MB xdparva Ad.60- 51.22 GPG 2013 V a i k r a m a p 7 4

VAC CSS Vol. 11 1970 p-924 45 SUK 4-3-50 -1 Riipl2il Kopiir Dhannah TRwt Haryana ~a invd MU) p-266 46 ARlHS Pcrt I R d t a q a - 2 Ad. 4 pouage-14 MLB 1992 p 7

" MB m a Ad.1- 51.46 GPG 2013 Vdkmn6bda p-2 I lbd. Ad.1- 51.253 GPG 2013 Vaikmi jWcl p-9 49 Ibid. Ad. 1 - 51.246 GPG 2013 Vaikram5Wa p 9

" BG Skd.1- Ad.4- 51.29 GPG &vat 2001 p-54

'' MB aparva Ad. 1 - 51.274 GPG 2013 Voikrardbda p 1 0 52 BRHUP Ad. 2- €11.4- Mn. 10 T e n Rincipal Upan@ads MLB 1992 p-762

4%'3& -BrnBm - BG Skd.12- Ad.13- Sld GPG 2001 S & V ~ p755

37hf8- h m: MSP Ad.53- 51.17 ~nan&hma Mudra@aya

Pune &livGhana f o k m 1903( 1981 A.D.) pl 1 1

54 However, the andysis will be kued on the t m d i i a l text. The standard text

followed here is the Git6 Ress Gorakhpur editiin published in 2013-14-15 hrn .

Variations in readings, if necessary, will be mentioned occadonally.