veda vyasa

7/27/2019 Veda Vyasa

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Tapovan Prasad 8 July 2013

Veda Vyasa: The

Versatile GeniusSWAMI CHINMAYANANDA

The goal of life, as declaredby the discoveries of Truth,was handed down from theGuru to disciple in the distantdays of known human history,and along the avenue of time,the teaching descended fromgeneration to generation. Thetorch-bearers of knowledgemaintained the relay efficientlyup to the time of Veda Vyasa,

the poet-seer. Then, Vyasasacute intelligence detected agrowing danger, a possiblethreat to the continuation of thatsacred relay race.

Hinduism was then facingthe danger of total annihilation.The scriptures were fast fading

away even among those whowere supposed to be the custo-dians of the sacred lore. Themantras of the Vedas werebeing slowly forgotten by thepeople, and in that generalforgetfulness of the generation,the entire subjective science ofthe Vedas would have been lost had it not been for the greatrevolutionary reformer, the

poet-philosopher, known asVyasa.

Vyasa found that themembers of his generation hadcome to live in an age ofincreased competition. In theirpreoccupation with life, learn-

ing languished, because theysuffered as we do today theconsequences of their intemper-

Published originally in Tapovan Prasad,July 1987.


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ate living and the naturalsorrows and growing pressureof the population on the land.These conclusions are all

conjectures, since we have nodata to substantiate any positiveview. Vedic India is to us a landof no historical reports; itrefuses to talk to us.

The Vedas

Whatever the reason andcertainly there must have beensufficient reason Vyasa,who was at once a far-sightedvisionary and close observer ofthe cultural trends of his time,found the heroism to blast thethen existing tradition and for

the first time gather the VedicMantras and record them inwritten language. Until thistime, every new edition of theVedas had been delivered fromthe mouth of the Guru andprinted directly on the memory

slabs of his pupils hearts. AsVyasa moved around thecountry, he soon realised that

various versions of the sameVedas, such as the Benaresversion and the Deccan version,had slowly infiltrated the origi-

nal texts. He therefore collectedall the Vedic passages, and forthe first time, edited them intowritten volumes which consti-tute the four great Vedas, as theyare known today.

In compiling the Vedic

Mantras, Vyasa edited them intofour books the Rig Veda, theYajur Veda, the Sama Veda andthe Atharva Veda. However, thesystematic thinker in Vyasa wasnot satisfied with mere classifi-cation of the entire wealth ofVedic knowledge into four

volumes; in each volume he alsobrought about a harmoniousrhythm, both in the arrange-ment and in the classification ofthe contents. He divided eachbook roughly into four sections:Mantras (chants or hymns),

Brahmanas (rituals and rules ofconduct), Aranyakas (methodsof subjective worship) and


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Upanishads (philosophic revela-tions). The Upanishads are thusfound in the last section of eachVeda, and therefore the philoso-

phy of the Upanishads has cometo be called Vedanta the endof the Veda.

The Brahmasutras

When Vyasa had finished, hemust have sat back and thought,What have I done? Who is

going to benefit from thesebooks? May be only a handfulof people in the whole country!How many teachers of the Vedaswere there who read this litera-ture? The public would not bebenefited in large numbers. And

again, even among the pandits,the essence of the Vedas theVedanta of the Upanishadicliterature had been slowlygetting atrophied and com-pletely forgotten, although theritualistic portion was beingfollowed faithfully. The Karma-

kandins (practitioners of rituals)had started believing that theUpanishads were only for mere

repetition and that by repeatingthem the students wouldbecome purified and fit for theKarmakanda, the rituals.

Veda Vyasa therefore crys-tallised the philosophic thoughtenshrined in the Upanishads andwrote the famous text-bookcalled the Bramhasutra. AfterVyasas time, all philosophy inIndia came to be written in thesutra style (aphorisms), the styleemployed by Vyasa in theBrahmasutra. The Brahmasutrabecame the definitive text ofAdvaitaVedanta. Since his time,all others have been writingcommentaries on it! Vyasaswork became the substratum,

the very foundation for theentire Hindu culture that grewout of the Vedantic tradition.

The Puranas

When Vyasa had finishedthis entire exposition ofAdvaitaVedanta in the Brahmasutras ,

again he must have sat back andthought, Now what have Idone? First I wrote a book, an


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unnecessarily elaborate book,which might be useful perhapsto only half a dozen peoplein the country. Now the

Brahmasutras are written maybe for three dozen scholars inthis country. How can I touchthe average man, the layman,the man behind the plough,the mason, the ordinaryworker? He therefore evolveda new literature called thePurana.

The Puranas appeal to all. Inthe case of the average indi-vidual, reading of the Puranasgenerates devotion and theperson feels elevated, with hisor her weaknesses sublimated

and the heart purified andexhilarated. To a student whois well read in the Upanishadsand the Brahmasutras, the samePauranic literature becomes ademonstration of the subtlemystical truths of the Upanishadsplayed out on a dynamic and

massive stage.Much controversy has

surrounded the question of

whether the Puranas are histori-cally true. Vyasa was not ahistorian, and therefore did notwrite history. He was a great

student of the Vedas and a manof realization. All the storiesmust ultimately be indicative ofthe one Truth. It is a uniqueliterature. It is not a literaturethat can fall under the categoryof philosophy or history, norcan it be approximated tomythology as done in the West.The nearest kind of literature inthe West that approaches ourPauranic stories is the mytho-logy of the Greeks and Romans.And so the West calls Pauranicliterature as Hindu Mythology.

Hindus have no mythology; nordid the Hindu Rishis ever carefor history. History is only achronological account of therepeated stupidities of the past.Human beings have learnedfrom history. Besides, history islimited in time, and what the

seeker is interested in is theTimeless, the source from whichall this springs.


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So what is this Pauranicliterature? To those who haveears to listen (not just hear) andthose who have eyes to see,

Vyasa has already announcedwhat it is Purana. PuranaPurusha is the word used in theVedas for the highest Reality;therefore, the highest Reality isobviously the theme of thePuranas.

Bhagavad GitaNot only was Vyasas intel-

lect mighty, but he was com-pletely tolerant, holding in hisembrace of love the entire uni-verse of living beings. In theSong of the Lord, the Bhagavad

Gita, the poet-seer Vyasabrought the Vedic truths fromthe sequestered Himalayancaves into the active field ofpolitics amidst the confusionand tension of an imminentfratricidal war.

In Vyasas depiction of the

story of the divine incarnationKrishna, Lord Krishna is madeto declare the message of the

Gita, which is nothing but a re-interpretation of the ancientwisdom of the Upanishads withproper emphasis upon certain

vital factors that seem to havebeen distorted and dried out ofrecognition in the parchedmouths of the pandits. With thedeification of Krishna, Hindu-ism entered its theistic era; itrecognized the Lord as havingdescended in the form of amortal in order to reorientIndias forgotten dharma and topull the decadent culture backagain on to its high pedestal.This is the most daring andoriginal contribution of Vyasa inthe whole Gita: the Supreme, in

His unlimited freedom, byHis own perfectly free will,takes upon Himself the condi-tioning of matter and manifestsHimself in a particular embodi-ment in the world in order toserve the deluded generation ofthe times. To the Lord, His

ignorance is but a poseassumed, not a fact lived. Theordinary mortal becomes


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victimised by his avidya(ignorance), whereas the Lord isthe master of his maya.

Embodiment of WisdomVyasa is a great poet-philoso-

pher and has become aninstitution representing theHindu heritage. No scripturalstudy of Vedic chanting is everbegun without prostration untothis greatest of seers. If we must

attribute Hinduism to any singleindividual, there is none else towhom we can most appropri-ately attribute its presentexistence and past glories thanVeda Vyasa.

It is believed that Vyasa was

born as the son of a brahminRishi and a fisherwoman. Thestory need not be taken as aliteral historical incident, but itmay be considered symbolicallysignificant. The father, a brah-min, represents sattva, the cre-ative wisdom born out of a lifeof study and contemplation,while the fisherwoman repre-sents the daring adventurous-

ness with which she has to sailforth day after day in her frailcraft into the deep sea, whereshe captures the unseen foodand hauls it to the shore, wheredwellers can easily get theirnourishment at their own door-steps. Similarly, on the ocean of

Vedic knowledge, Vyasa sailedout to gather the best that itcontained and bring us the

Vyasa is a great poet-

philosopher and has become

an institution representingthe Hindu heritage. No

scriptural study of Vedic

chanting is ever begun with-

out prostration unto this

greatest of seers. If we must

attribute Hinduism to any

single individual, there isnone else to whom we can

most appropriately attribute

its present existence and past

glories than Veda Vyasa.


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nutritive essence of Hinduism.In short, Vyasa was not merelya man of realization, but wasalso one who had the spirit of

adventure to serve his genera-tion throughout his life. He wasa revivalist who contributed themaximum to the Hindu renais-sance of that crucial era. In fact,he was the most daring religiousrevolutionary that ever appear-ed on the horizon of Hinducultural history.

Vyasa was one of the sageswho had a vast vision of thepast and the incisive imagina-tion to see the future, both ofwhich he brought forth in orderto tackle the problems of

decadence in his immediatepresent. Had he declared theserestatements of the Truth as hisown original ideas, it wouldhave been difficult for him topersuade his generation tofollow them. It is the characterof the Hindus that they will notreadily accept a new idea orideal unless it has the sanction

of antiquity and the authorityof the ancient Rishis.

The versatile genius of Vyasanever left anything that he

touched without raising it to themost sublime heights ofperfection through his rarecapacity of combining incompa-rable poetry and unique diction.Creating innovations both inthought and form, he was abrilliant philosopher, a man ofconsummate wisdom, and agenius in worldly knowledge.At one time in the palace, atanother time on the battle-field,at still another time in Badri-nath, and again among thesilent snow peaks of the

Himalayas, Sri Vyasa is theembodiment of what is best inthe Hindu tradition. Yet,Vyasas philosophical thought isnot sectarian or creedal. It is nota philosophy only for theHindus. It is universal in itsapplication and is addressed to

all mankind.

veda vyasa

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