VedaVyasa - 10

On one auspicious day the writing of the great epic began. Sage Vyasa would compose some very difficult stanzas which he and his son Shuks would understand easily and not others. Though Ganesha was all knowing he would take a few seconds to get at the meaning. In the meantime Vyasa would compose one hundered thousand stanzas of the great epic. In thisepic we come across thousands of little stories. If we leave all these little stories this great epic has twenty four thousand stanzas to begin with the sage taught it to his son Shuka. Then he taught it to his other disciples. Thenhe composed another mega epic of the same story which had sixty lakhs stanzas. A version of the same with thirty lakhsstanzas was popularized by sage Narada in the world. Fifteen lakh stanzas of the epic were popularized by sageAsitha Devala in the Pithruloka and fourteen lakh stanzas by sage Shuka in the Gandharvaloka. The Mahabharatha withone lakh shlokas was popularized in this world of men by Vaishampayana, one of the disciples of Vyasa.

Srimad Bhagavatha Composed

Bhagwan Vedavyasa divided the Vedas into four. He brought to light eighteen Puranas and the same number of Upapuranas.He also composed the Mahabharatha , which is considered the fifth Veda. He laid a very strong foundation to Sanathana dharma by composing Brahma Sutras. He was a great sage engaged in severe tapas most of the time. He had a number ofdisciples. Sage Vyasa was not satisfied even after composing a sea of great literature which ordinary mortals cannoteven dream of doing. He was not happy and his mind was not at peace. He was all the time thinking that there was something wrong somewhere.

Once he was sitting on the banks of Yamuna meditating, Sage Narada made his appearence there. Vyasa got up and receivedthe divine sage in a fitting manner. With a smile Narada said,"O great Maharishi you do not need to have any kind ofworry, but you seem to be worried. If you can share the cause of your worry with me, you can do so."

Vyasa said,"O great Devarishi, I do not have peace of mind these days. I do not not know the reason for it. My onlyobject in life is to spread dharma. With this in view I composed great epics, but I feel there is something lacking.I do not know what it is!"

Narada said,"O great sage you have done great deeds. They are going to be of immense use to the world and there is little doubt about it. These epics have a lot of stuff relating to Dharma, Karma and Moksha, the Purusharthas. Butthere is one thing, that is the praise of the Lord and it occupies only one tenth of the epic. That is why you donothave peace of mind. You please compose an epic in which you include a lot of praise of the Lord and you will get peace."Narada left the palace seeking Vedavyasa's permission. Immediately Vedavyasa began to meditate on his new composition.He got enlightened as to what to do. He decided to compose a work which had devotion to God as the main theme. Thisbook came to be called Srimad Bhagvatha or Paramahmsa Samhithi. He taught it to his son Shuka first. He got the desiredpeace of mind.

Bhagwan Vedavyasa was an in carnation of Lord Narayana born to establish dharma in the world on a second footing. Itis believed that the world is still living unseen for the propagation of dharma. To the pure of heart, it is said, hereveals himself even today.

But unfortunately his son Shuka did not continue the family tradition. He was born as the son of Vyasa with the blessings of Lord Shankara. There was no one equal to him in wisdom, the knowledge of shastras and the power of detachment. Hewas always engaged in meditation of one God who had no gender. He would never stop meditating even for a minute. Henarrated Srimad Bhagavatha to Parikshith the grandson of Dharmaraja. He was as famous as his father as a devotee of God and he went a step ahead of his father in the matter of living in a life of detachment according to the Puranas. Heleft home for good, to attain salvation. Vedavyasa could not persuade him to return.The son reached the highest but the father remained an immortal for doing good to the world.

Ashwathama Balirvyaso Hanumamshcha Vibhishanah
Kripasch, Parashuramascha saptaite chirajeevinah

As it is said in the shloka cited above he is considered one among the seven Immortals.
In order to bring about the maximum welfare of the world he composed the Mahabharatha and Brahmasutras. He classified the Vedas in to four so that people can study these great books in the Kaliyuga. We come across a work by name Vyasabhashya onPatanjali's Yogasutras. There is a Smruthi in the name of Vyasa. Scholars say that the man who wrote this was a differentVyasa. But the division of the Vedas, composing of Vedantha Sutras and the great epic, the Mahabharatha were the worksof Krishnadwaipayana Vyasa and none else.

He was the greatest among sages and he is considered a Vibhutipurusha and this has been acknoledged by Sri Krishnain the Bhagwat Gita when he said,"muneenamapyaham Vyasah" - the best among the sages - Even today when orthodoxpeople do tharpana they chant "Kridhnadwaipana dayo Rishyah" at first.

Besides being a Vibhutipurusha, Vedavyasa was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and we have references to this effect inour Puranas. As a result of Gowthama's curse, all the sages lost their wisdom and the world came to be steeped indarkness. It was at such a time that Lord Narayana was born as Vedavyasa to light the world again with wisdom. Allthe puranas accept this.

Upanishads, Brahmasutras and Bhagavat Gita which are the sources of our vedantha Shastra form the crown of our spiritualliterature. The last two among them are vedavyasa's gifts. Even today holy men, when they observe Chaturmasya performpooja to Vedavyasa.

We can never conceive of the culture of this great land Bharatha without remembering Vedavyasa. The other greatsages were engaged in the task building about the welfare of the people of the world and our shastras take greatpride in achnowledging this with gratitude.

Vyasaya Vishnu rupaya, Vyasa rupaya Vishnava
Namovai Brahmanidhaya Vasishtaya namo namah

-------------------------------Mangalam------------------------------------

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VedaVyasa - 9

While the Pandavas were in Dwaithavana, Bhimasena urged Dharmaraya to wage a war against the Kauravas. Then dharmarayabriefed Bhemasena, about the strength of the enemy army and asked him to use restraint. He also told him that theyhad to live up to their word and wait for an opportune time. Still Dharmaraya had doubts in his mind. Just at thattime Sage Vyasa visited the place. He sat down and said,"dharmaraya I have come here as I have realised in my mind'seye your fear about the great strength of Bhishma, Droana,Karna and Aswathama. I am here to clear your fear." He thentook Dharmaraya to a lonely place and said,"Dharmaraya your good times are near at hand. Arjuna is capable destroy ingall your enemies. I am going to initiate you to a special mantra called "Prathismruthi". This knowledge is the godof success. You are fit to receive this great knowledge. You later initiate Arjuna to this. With the help of thispower let him go to devas and get divine weapons. This would give him special powers to travel to heaven. Dharmarayado not stay here for long. Your party is huge. The sources of food in this area will become dry. Then the originaldwellers if this place will be put to difficulties. Further, it is not advisable to stay in a place longer."

Sage Vyasa initiated Dharmaraja to Prathismruthi vidya and left the place. Dharmaraja in turn initiated Arjuna to thesame as advised by sage Vyasa and he pleased Parashiva by doing severe tapas and got the all powerful Pashupatha.Later as a result of the adament behaviour of the Kauravas, the eighteen day war became unavoidable. When Duryodhanaand all his friends and relatives were killed, Dharamaraja became sad. He refused to sit on a throne, and decided toretire to the forest renoncing everything. Once again Vedavyasa had to come and console him and advice him to followdharma and do his duty as a king. As a Kshatriya he had certain duties to perform. He adviced him to go to Bhishmawho was lying on a bed of arrows. He also went to the place with Dharamaraja. when Dharmaraja heard Bhishma's wordshe felt satisfied. when Vyasa reliased Dharmaraja's state of mind he said to Bhishma,"Bhishma, ask dharmaraja to go to Hastinapur." Then he adviced Dharmaraja to perform ashwamedhayaga. Arjuna was given the responsibility of looking afterthe sacrificial horse. Under sage Vyasa's guidance the Ashwamedha yaga was completed successfully. Dharmaraja offeredall that he had to sage Vyasa as dakshina. Vyasa returned everything to Dharmaraja and asked him to give gold as dakshinato brahmins.

Dhritarashtra continued to live with the Pandavas. when he said that he would retire to the forest with Gandhari,Yudhishtira did not agree. Dharmaraja was constantly haunted by the feeling of sin that, it was on account him that Dhritarashtra and Gandhari became orphans in their old age. Vyasa advised Dharmaraja to allow the blind king andhis queen to retire to the forest as it was the custom among kings. As desired by Kunti and Gandhari Vyasa made all thosewho died in Mahabharata war come to life out of the Ganga. A number of Kshatriya women, along with their husbands got themselves drowned in the Ganga and went to pithruloka.

Writing the Mahabharata

Once Bhagwan Vyasa got the divine idea of writing the great Mahabharata reading of which would acrue a person the fourpurusharthas. He had a holy bath and sat on a set made of darbha grass in a cave and began to meditate. He thoughtabout the format of this great epic, the story of which was based on righteousness and later it was to become part of history. He began to see it in his mind's eye from the beginning. Then with the help of the power of his tapas, heconceived this great history of mankind, which is also the essence of the four vedas and the reading of which wouldmake the world a holy place. Then he began to think about the ways and means of teaching this this great epic to hisdisciples. When he was thus thinking, the great teacher of mankind Brahmadeva came to his ashram. Sage Vyasa was supremely happy to see Lord Brahmadeva in his ashram. He got up and received the supreme creator with all humility, offering him arghya, padya and performing other rituals. He made the Lord sit on a seat, stood before him fold hands.

As ordered by the Lord he sat on the floor and said,"Bhagwan, I have in mind a great epic which is going to be the essence of all the vedas and shastras, but my problem is that I do not have a person to write it down as I dictate it."Then Lord Bhahma said,"My dear son, pray to Lord Ganesha, he is the only capable person to do the job for you." Sosaying Lord Brahma left the place. Sage Vyasa, as instructed by Brahma deva prayed to Ganesha. Ganesha appeared before him in a trice. Sage Vyasa requested Ganesha to act as his scribe. Ganesha said,"O great Maharishi, I am ready to bethe scribe but on one condition. When I start writing mu pen will not rest even for a moment." Vyasa agreed to abideby the condition. But he also imposed one condition on Ganesha. He said, "Bhagwan, I have a condition. When you writeyou have to understand every line before you write it." Ganesha agreed to do so.

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VedaVyasa - 8

Sage Vyasa said,"I understand, you are going to fight with the Pandavas and kill them. It is rank bad. Get back toyour capital forthwith." Duryodhana and others turned back without a word. Sage Vyasa decided to speak to Dhritarashtraand give him a piece of advice and therefore he came to Hastinapura. He met the king and said,"Dhitarashtra, I have come here to do some good to you and your sons. Listen to me carefully. Your sons played the game of dice with thePandavas and won the game by unfair means and sent the righteous Pandavas to the forest. I did not like this. Afterspending thirteen years in the forest, they would back and wreak vengeance on your sons. Your sons and their friendsmay have no answer to their terrible arrows. Duryodhana's greed for power has no limits. He went to the forest wherethe Pandavas live with a huge army with the intention of killing them. Don't you think your foolish son who went to killinnocent Pandavas, is rank bad? Please advice him to give up such designs. If he does it again, I have no doubt, he would not return alive. The Pandavas are your own people. Fighting with them is sinful. It is not going to bring aboutyour welfare. Order Duryodhana strictly not to trouble the Pandavas. Advice him properly. You can do something else.Ask Duryodhana to do to the forest and let him live with the Pandavas for sometime. He will learn goodness from themand their confidence in your son would increase. If that happens, you are the luckiest person in this world. You will be blessed.


"Call Vidura, Bhishma and Droana, discuss the issue threadbare and come to a positive conclusion. Now is the time youhave to do it.

If you do not do it now , your entire race is going to face disaster.
"Repentant Dhritarashtra said, "O revered sage, Vidura, Bhishma, Droana and Gandhari did not give their consent to inviting the Pandavas for the game of dice. Atfirst I opposed it myself. But I had to concede when Duryodhana pressed me hard. I know playing dice is bad and it is associated with a number of evils, but I consented on being forced. Idid not want to hurt Duryodhana. I confess to having agreed to this evil deed on account of my misplaced love for my son. I am not in a position to renounce him either."

Then sage Vyasa said,"dritrashtra, I agree with you that a father should love his son. The bond of love between parentsand children is very strong. Long ago Devendra saw the divine cow. Kamadhenu shedding tears. when he asked her whyshe was crying lookinf at her son being tortured by a farmer on the earth. she saw him beating hard her son who couldnot pull the plaough as he was very weak. One of two oxen was strong enough but the other, was very weak. He cannotget up and the farmer is twisting his tail and beating him. I am feeling sorry foe my son." Then Devendra said"Thousands of your sons are made to pull the plough every day. Why are you so much concerned with just one of them?"To which Kamadhenu said,"You are right , the king of gods. All are my children, but my love goes out to this weak son of mine."

"Dritrashtra, your love for your son is natural. But you brother's sons the Pandavas are orphans. You occupy theirfather's place. You have on hundered and one children. Pandu has only five. They are suffering hell for no faultof theirs. What should happen to them? How should they come up in life? I am really worried about them. when I thinkof the troubles they are experiencing, my heart goes out to them. Dhritarashtra, if you desire that your sons should live, make peace with them forth with. Order Duryodhana to follow suit.

Dhritrashtra said,"Bhagwan, my son does not listen to me. You kindly order him to follow the path of dharma.""O king, after meeting the Pandavas, sage Maitherya will come here. He would order Duryodhana to follow the path ofdharma to save your clan. If he refused to take his advice, he would get angry and curse him. Please have this in mind." So saying sage Vyasa left the place.




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VedaVyasa - 7

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VedaVyasa - 6

The Pandavas began to live in that place with their mother happily. There lived a demon by name Bakasura on the outskirtsof the town and had become the scourge of the people of the area. Bhima killed him and helped the people to live happilyand without fear.

In the mean time the Pandavas got the news of the swayamvara of Draupadi, the princess of Panchala. They were also toldby a brahmin rhat Draupadi and her brother Drishtadyumna were not born of a mother, but both came out of the fire ofa yajna performed by the king of Panchala.

One day Kunti devi said to Dharmmaraja " My dear son, we have been living here in this brahmin's house happily for along time. It is not advisable to live here any longer. Let us go to Panchala."

Dharmaraja and his brothers agreed with their mother and made preparations for the journey. As they were getting ready.Sage Vyasa made his appearance there. The Pandavas welcomed the sage with great respect. They played host in thetraditional way and made him sit on a seat made of darbha grass. Then they stood before him with folded hands. He askedthem to sit on the floor and said," O great warriors, you have been living righteously even in the face of the worstpossible danger. Living righteously, and playing host to revered brahmins bring us success and prosperity." He spokewords of encouragement and gave them a feew tips as to how to conduct themselves in the future. Then he narrated tothem a story. "Long long ago there was a great sage . He had a verybeautiful daughter. No one came forward to marryher for a long time. She was very much worried. With a view to getting a suitable husband, she began to do severe tapas to please Shankara, the god among gods. Lord Shankara was pleased with her devotion and appeared before her and said ,"Dear daughter of a sage, ask for any boon and it is granted."

"In reply she said,"O great Lord, I desire for a husband who is paragon of virtues." She repeated the word five times.Lord Shankara said,"so be it.You said Patim dehi 5 times so you will get 5 husbands." The young lady was shocked whenshe heared that she was going to be wife to five men. Lord shankara consoled her saying,"Do not worry. In your nextbirth you are going to get 5 great men as your husbands." So saying he vanished. That very same daughter of a sageis born as Draupadi. Now you go to Panchala. May God bless you."

As instucted by Vedavyasa, the Pandavas along with their mother went to Panchala and stayed in the house of a potter.Then they went to the king's court and sat among the brahmins.

In the centre of the great hall, there was a big bow and five arrows. Directly above it there was a disc which was rotatingvery fast. Above that there was a target and the hero who wanted to marry Draupadi had to shoot the target down througha hole in the revolving wheel. All the heroes gathered there including Duryodhana and Karna failed to do so. At lasta young man from the brahmins got up, came to the bow, lifted it with ease, fixed an arrow to it and shot the targetand in the next second it was on that young man's neck and it was none other than Arjuna.

The Pandavas brought Draupadi to the house they were staying. From outside one of them said,"Mother we have brought thisalm today."Kunti was waiting for her sons. It was late and she was worried. In her great joy at their arrival without looking at them, she said,"share it among you five." So saying she came out. She saw Draupadi standing among the PandavasKunti always spoke the truth and whatever she spoke could not possibly become false. They were in a tricky situation.Draupadi should not be put in a situation. Draupadi should not be put in a situation which is against dharmic rules.They were at first confused. Then they consulted Dharmarya.

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VedaVyasa - 5

Gandhari said in great shame,"Revered sage, when I heard the news that Kunti had become a mother before I did, I wasangry and in a desperate mood I hit my stomach." so saying she began to cry. She implored "What shall I do? What is going to be my fate?" she wailed.

Vyasa consoled her saying,"Do not cry dear, my words will not prove false" So saying, he took out a handful of water fromhis holy water pot and sprinkled it on the lump of flesh. It broke into one hundered and one peices. Vedavyasa thengot one hundered and one earthern pots and filled them with ghee and put each peice of flesh in a pot. He closed each with a lid and asked Gandhari to protect them with great care. He told her that she would get one hundered sons anda daughter. Then he disappeared.

In a course of time a child came out of each pot. The child which came first was called Duryodhana. When the childwas born a number of bad omens were seen and they clearly indicated that he was going to bring great disaster to theworld. Nonety nine more boys came out of those pots and from the last pot came out a pretty little girl. She was namedDushale.

On the very day Duryodhana was born, Kunti was blessed with a son. she had prayed to Vayudeva. The child was namedBhimasena. Then with the blessings of Devendra she got Arjuna. Then Pandu's second queen got Nakula and Sahadevawith the blessings of Aswini Devas. When Pandu died as a result of a curse, Madri commited Sattee. The sages livingin the surrounding area took Kunti and the five children to Hastinapur and put them under the care of Bhishma. Pandu'seldest son Yudhishtra won the hearts of the people of Hastinapur with his great good qualities. Everyone desired him to become to Yuvaraja. This made duryodhana who hoped to become king after his father, very angry and he became intolerantof the very presence of the Pandavas in Hastinapur. He never expected a rival to his authority. Now Yudhishtira camein the form of a rival and to add fuel to fire, he became very popular among the subjects. Duryodhana began to burywith jelously, and anger. This anger turned into hatred as days rolled by. He hatched plots to kill the Pandavas,especially Bhima whom he consired his cheif rival. Finally in a desperate mood he made up his mind to kill all the Pandavas including their mother Kunti. He got a beautiful palace built of lac and other inflammable materials at Varanavathaand requested the Pandavas to go to that place and live there for a few days for a change.

By God's grace of God anf timely advice from Vidura, the Pandavas excaped from danger when they set fire to the palaceand escaped through a secret tunnel got dug by Vidura and saved themselves. They had to spend months in the forestlike ascetics. Their mother, Kunti also looked like a tapasvini in their midst. The Pandava princes did not waste their time in the forest. They continued practising the royal arts they had studied under Achraya Droana. On someoccasions they had to carry their mother who could not walk because of exhaustion.

Once on one of their sojourns, Maharshi Vedavyasa appeared before them. As soon as they saw the Bhagwan they touched his feet and stood before him with folded hands. Vedavyasa blessed them and said, "My dear Pandukumaras, may God bless you.Duryodhana has caused these trobles for you and you have to be wandering in the forest. When I came to know aboutyour trobles, I came here to help you. Do not worry about your trials and tribulations you have been experiencingnow. All these troubles will end soon and good days are ahead for you. Do as I advice you. There is a small town calledEkachakranagar. Disguise yourselves as brahmins and go there and live there until I come and meet you again." Hewalked with them for a distance. As he walked with them he told Kunti,"Do not worry much about your sons, O greatqueen. Your eldest son will never tread the path of adarma, rest assured of that. In the end he will conquer all thekings on the earth and will become an emperor. There is no doubt about your sons becoming world conquerors. Yours sonsand Madri's sons will live happily. Besides they will perform a number of Yajnas for the good of the world." So sayingVedavyasa went with the Pandavas to Ekachakranagri and introduced them to a brahmin family.

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VedaVyasa - 4

Satyavthi asked Vyasa, " what kind of son is she going to get"Mother, she will get a strong and courageous child but as a reslult of a mistake made by the mother he will be born blind," said Vyasa.

How can a blind king rule the country? Please bless Ambalike so that she gets a great son" pleaded Satyavathi.Ambalike was also a princess who spent all her days in the gynaeceum, wasn't she? She found tapasvi Vyasa's appearanceterribly frightening. She turned pale as ash when she stood before him.

Again the mother asked him about the kind of child she was going to have. Vyasa said,"She will get a brilliant andcourgeous son, but his skin would be pale"

The mother who was very much distraught, pleaded, "Son why don't you bless Ambalike again?"
Vyasa was sorry at his mother's foolishness. He felt deeply concerned when he thought of her plight. He agreed.Satyavathi asked Ambalike to go to Vyasa again. She did not refuse but she asked one of her trustworthy maids to dothe job for her. She made her up with a beautiful saree, jewells and the like and sent her to the sage. The maid wasmentally more mature and culyured than the two queens. She stood before the sage with folded hands and great devotionand she got blessed by the sage.

Before he left the palace he told his mother what had really happened and the queen resigned herself to her fate.Ambikegave birth to a strong but blind baby boy and the child was named Drithrashtra. Ambalike gave birth to a cute childwith white skin and he was named Pandu. The highly cultured and more matured maid had a son, who later became one ofthe wisest men of his age and he was named Vidura.

Years rolled by and two princes were given good education befitting their position. They grew up to be young men. Bhishmaarranged their marriages. For Dhritarashtra he chose Gandhari, the daughter of the king of Gandhara and Pandu marriedKunti, the daughter of king Kuntibhoja and Madri, daughter of the king of Madradesha. He arranged Vidura's marriage with a girl by name Parasavi who was educated and highly cultered.

As Dhritarashtra was blind, Pandu became king and began to rule the country. He undertook a military campaign andextended his empire in all directions. He would brig rich booty and offer it at the feet of his brother. Once heundertook a pleasure trip on the slopes of the Himalayas. while he was on a hunting expedition he killed a sage by mistaken identity and was subjected to a curse. As a result of the curse, he was reduced to a state in which he couldnot get children. He lost all interest in worldly life and began to live in the forest. When Pandu was in great distressfor he could not get chidren, Kunti revealed to him the boon she had received from sage Durvasa. with the help of themantra, she could call any of the gods she liked and get blessed with a son. She obtained king Pandu's permission andchanted the mantra having Yamadharma, the Lord of Death in mind. She was blessed with a son who was named Yudhishtira.It was during this time that Gandhari was also pregnant. When she heard that Kunti became a mother before she did,she began to burn with jelously and hit her stomach hard with a stone. A lump of flesh come out of her womb. Earliershe had prayed to Vedavyasa and expressed her desire to have a hundered children. she was shocked at the tragedy shehad invited on herself as a result of her jelously. Vedavyasa, came to know about the tragedy by his yogadrishiti and came to Hastinavathi immediately. He stood before her and said,"Dear Gandhari what have you done!"

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VedaVyasa - 3

Vyasa's role in the Mahabharatha

There are a famous emperor by name Shanthanu. He ruled from Hastinapur. He had a wise and brave son by name Devavratha.Ganga, who was born in the world as a result of a curse, was his mother. She married emperor Shantanu on certainconditions. Time had come for her to go to her resting place, heaven and she left the king. Shanthanu remained single for a long time after this incident. On one occasion he met Satyavathi the daughter of Dashraja and he fell in lovewith her. He wanted to marry her. Dashraja insisted that he would permit his daughter to marry the king only if hersons were made the legal heirs to the throne.

The king was broken hearted as he had a great son who was already declared to be the heir apparent to the throne.Devavratha, who loved and respected his father, came to know about his father's plight. He went to Dasharaja andpromised him that he would not stake his claim for the throne and also that he would not marry. Thus he paved the way for his father's marriage with Satyavathi. His oath that he would never marry won the acclaim of gods and he cameto be called Bhishma. Emperor Shanthanu married Satyavathi. From her the king got two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya.

Chitrangada was a great hero. He was very proud of his valour. He would invite all those whom the world consideredgreat heroes, fight a duel with each and defeat everyone. As a result, he became very proud and began to look downupon everyone. His arrogance brought about his downfall. A gandharva king by name Chitrangada(the price's namestake)heard about the princes arrogance and he attacked Hastinapur and invited him to a duel. In the bloody battle that followed the prince was killed. Bhishma crowned Vichitravirya the king. He also brought Ambike and Ambalike, daughtersof the king of Kashi and married them to him. As Bhishma was looking after the administration of the land, Vichitravirya the king began to spend his time with his pretty queens. As bad luck would have it, the king became a victimof the dreaded disease tuberculosis and he succumbed to it. Bhishma refused to become the king as he had vowed not todo so. It was a terrible time for the Kuru dynasty as there was no heir to the throne of Hastinapura. Queen motherSatyavathi was greatly worried. Suddently she remembered her son Vedavyasa. She consulted Bhishma and called her son.In a trice he appeared before his mother, touched her feet and said, "Dear mother, what made you call me? what can Ido for you?"

Then Satyavathi narrated to him her tale of sorrow and she said, " Dear son, your brother Vichitavirya passed away issueless. Our kuru line is in danger of becoming extinct. There is no one to occupy the throne. Please bless Ambikeand Ambalike with child.

Vedavyasa said,"Dear mother, they have to do the vritha I am ging to suggest. Then I will bless them so that they bear children."

satyavathi was not happy with the suggestion. She said,"One year is too long a period taking into account the presentsituation. I cannot wait that long. Do something now to help me." Vedavyasa finally agreed to help his mother.Ambike came to Vedavyasa. The moment she saw him, she closed her eyes in great fear. She had led a very comfortablelife in the palace and she had not seen a sage who spent his life in a forest. He had led a simple life taking baththree times a day(morning, noon and evening) performing strict Vritas. He led a life pure and simple. She found hisappearance very strange. If she had performed vritas as suggested by Vedavyasa, she would have understood his radiantpersonality better. But when she saw a lean man with long beard amd matted hair, wrapping himself with deer skin. Shenaturally frightened and stood before him with her eyes closed.

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VedaVyasa - 2

Classification of the Vedas

Parashara named his son Krishna. As he was born on a small island in the middle of the Ganga, he was also calledDwaipayana, Krishna dwaipana grew up in his father's ashram. His life and character were well formed in the conductiveatmosphere of the ashram. He would get up early at the auspicious time of brahmi(dawn before sunrise) do his morningrituals such as sandhyavandana and fire sacrifice. Then he would study the vedas. He would go to the forest and getthe necessary quantities of darbha grass and other samith. He would also get the necessary fuel for homas and for cooking. He would serve his father and other elders in the ashram with singular devotion to the satisfaction of everyone.Ina very short time he mastererd the vedas and shastras and a number of worldly subjects and become an expert in everything he did. Real tapas is nothing but living according to the rules set for one's ashramadharma with devotion andcommitment. As a result of such devoted effort he came to be called a maharshi. He set up his ashram at Badari andbegan to teach hundereds of students and this brought him the name Badarayana as well.

Krishnadwaipana had a number of disciples. He decided to classify the veda, which was until then in one single entity.He classified the veda into four. He thought that this veritable store-house of knowledge would not be easily understood by the future geberation of people. He collected all the hymns in praise of the Lord into one section and called it Rigveda. All the mantras which are used to invoke devas and satisfy them by yajnas were compiled into onegroup and called it Yajurveda. Hymns sung to please the gods who come on being invoked to receive havis at yajnas arecompiled into one section and that is called Samaveda.

All the other mantras which are used in bringing about peace and prosperity, preventing and curing diseases, helpingthe people affected during floods and famins, protecting the good from the bad and processes involved in helpingpeople to live long and healthy lives, helping to amass wealth and such other areas are put together and the collectionis called Atharvaveda.

The four of his were disciples namely Paila, Vaishampayana, Jamini and Sumanthu were initiated to these four vedasand they were invested with the responsibility of continuing the tradition and come together and perform yajnas. AsAs a result of his dividing the veda in to four parts he came to be called Vedavyasa. He had a son by name Shuka.Hewas a Poornabrahmajnai(omniscent) at birth and therefore he was called Shukabrahma.

Sage Vedavyasa wrote the Brama Sutra in which he had discussed in detail all the darshanas which try to seek perfectknowledge about the self and soul. It is also called Vedantha Sutra Shariraka Mimamamsasutra.

The fabulous puranas which existed for thosands of years were not systematically arranged. Sage Vedavyasa divited theminto eighteen Mahapuranas. These puranas give us great details about how to lead a useful and contented life and whatare the duties of a human beings in order to lead such a life and ultimately attain salvation.

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VedaVyasa

Birth of Vedavyasa

Parashara was a grandson of Brahmarshi Vasista. One day he came to the bank of the Ganga. He had to cross the Ganga.There was a colony of fishermen and their cheif was Dasharaja.Once the fisherfolk caught a very big fish. When they cut it open, to their great surprise, they saw two children inits womb, one was a baby boy and the other was a baby girl. Dashraja went to the king of the region and narrated themiracle and offered the two children to him. The king kept the boy for himself and gave the girl back to Dashraja.

Dasharaja was very glad to have the baby girl and she was named Satyavathi. Might be, she was born of a fish, her body smelt fish. This earned her the nick-name Matsya-gandhi. When she grew up naturally she learnt her family tradeand she became an adept in rowing boats. She would row people across the Ganga and she did not take any fee for the service.

She came to know that the sage Parashara desired to cross the Ganga and she gladly offered to take him across the river. She made him sit in the boat and began to row the boat. They almost reached half the distance when saw a smallisland.

Parashara who was omniscient knew that it was a very auspicious time. That was the time when a great manshould take birth in this world. Scholors always compare time to great river.Parashara who knew the significance of that period of time spoke to Satyavathi. He said "Satyavathi, if you are willingyou have the food fortune to become the proud mother of a great man the present time is very auspicious for the birthof a great man. This great is going to become a great teacher of mankind. He would teach them the meaning and imporatanceof dharama,(righteousness) artha(wealth) and kama(desires) and moksha(ultimate salvation). He will codify and classifythe Vedas which are the basis of all religions and he will be successful in continuing the tradition of the vedas.Hewill re-establsih the vedic tradition in the world. He will write a great epic in the form of simple and comprehensiblestories to make every one understand that one can attain moksha(salvation) by following the vedic tradition. The entire world is looking forward to the birth of this great man. Satyavathi was happy to become the mother of a greatson and therefore she agreed to have such a son.

On that little island she conceived with the blessings of sage Parashara and a child was born. It was a wonderful child. As soon as it was born, it grew up into a five years old boy. He stood before his mother, touched her feet and said,"I cannot stay with you. I have to learn a lot. When you feel that you need my help, you call me in your own mind,and I will come and help you solve your problem." So saying he went with his father. With the blessings of sage Parasharaand bearing a great son to Parashara, the bad smell from her body disappeared. Naturally a wonderful pleasant fragrancebegan to emanate from her body. The fragrance from her body would spread around her to a radius of one yojana(14.58 kms)and therefore she came to be called yojangandhi.

Vyasa's Lineage

Sage Vedavyasa was the greatest grandson pf Vasista the best among the sages, the grandson of sage Shakti and the sonof sage Parashara. He is the father of sage Shuka and this is how his lineage has been given.

Vyasam Vashishta naptaram Shakteh Pautramakalmasham
Parashaaratmakam Vande Shukatatm taponidhim

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Agastya - 12

Devendra's confrontation with Agastya

Once Agastya began a twelve year long yagya. A number of sages took part in the fire sacrifice. These sages, could not perform yajnas in their ashram for twelve years and Indra did not get havis. He was angry and there was no rain. The earth dried and crops failed. But Agastya fed everyone sumptuously. The sages were surpurised to know how Agastya could feed while the earth was reeling under a severe famine. Some of them were worried about the successful conclusion of the yagna. Then Agastya said, "O revered sages do not get worry. If Devendra causes rain to fall on the earth it is well and good. If does not I will assume the role of Devendra and protect everyone on the earth."When Devendra heard about Agastya's resolve he got scared and he caused rain to coll the earth. This way sage Agastya did a lot for the welfare of the people on the earth. We get a lot of information about Agastya in our epics, history and other literature. We get the folling details about him from such books.
1. Agastya had a brother by name Suthekshna. He was a disciple of the sage as well.
2. Once there was a demoness by name Ajamukhi. Once when she saw Durvasa in a valley down the Himalayas, she fell in love with him and asked him to marry her. Durvasa married her and the couple got two sons by name Ilvala and Vatapi. They begged Durvasa to give them the strength of his tapas. This made Durvasa angry and he cursed them saying that they would be destroyed soon by sage Agastya.
3. When Sri Rama completed fourteen years of life in the forest, he was returning to Ayodhya. A number of sages came to see him and Agastya was one of them. He gave Sri Rama a special arrow. When he used it against a rakshasa, it would kill the demon, fly past to an ocean, get it cleansed of the blood, and come back to his quiver.
4. Once sage Agastya went to see a sage by name Apasthambha. When that sage asked Agastya who among the Trinity was greater,he replied saying:"The Trinity are different only in shape but all three from one invincible force. The question who is greater does not arise at all."
5.King Manibhadra belonged to the lunar line of kings. Kavika was his queen. They had a number of children. Seven of them learnt Mayavidya(Witchcraft). They created a huge serpent and came to the Rishyamooka range. They saw Agastya walking in front of them. They wanted to make fun of the sage. They twisted the snake into a coil and all the seven stood around talking the form of seven huge timber (Vatica robusta) trees blocking his path. Agastya came to know what was happening by his yogadrishti and said,"Fine, be here standing like trees for a long time." The repentant princes begged the sage for forgiveness. Agastya told them that Sri Rama would come that way and when he shot an arrow and topple all the seven at one go they would get relieved of the curse and they would get their original form. Accordingly they were relieved of the curse by Sri Rama. Agastya visited almost every famous sage living both in the north and in the south of this great land. Even today people praise the great miracles performed by him by the power of his tapas. He is described as a sad dwarfish sage in our Puranas. He was a great devotee of Lord Shankara and Lord Shanmukha. The Tamil literature refers to him as the originator of Tamil literature and the people of Tamil Nadu are proud to own him as their sage. There are reference to Agastya as the man who installed Shivalingas and built temples in a number of places. He installed Shiva lingas in a number of places in the present state of Karnataka. He was the first sage to come to the southern part of this great land. Therefore south is considered the direction of Agastya. It is believed that Agastya composed a book in Tamil which deals with music. He has also written a book on Tamil grammer and number of plays and other books in Tamil. Tolkapyam is considered to be the oldest book on Tamil grammer and it was writtenby Tolkapyar, one among the twelve disciples of Agastya. The Kamba Ramayana in Tamil has a number of references to Agastya. Today we see Agastya being workshipped in a number of temples in Tamil Nadu. The greatest Tamil writer Villiputturan says that it was sage Agastya who gave Tamil language to the world. Sage Agastya had given a number of disciples and scholars to the world. A number of Veda mantras were revealed to him and therefore he is considered one of the drishtaras of Veda mantras. Sri Lalita Sahastranama is great gift to us from Agastya. He was an expert in manthra shastra and tantra shastra and one of the greatest among sages.

********************* Mangalam ***************************

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Agastya - 11

Agastya relieved Dushyantha of the curse

Dushyantha was the last son of the king of Pataliputra. He was a very wicked prince. He killed a number of children and the king excommunicated him from the land. When the prince went to the forest he chanced to see a boy, the son of Ugrarava and he killed the boy by drowning him. Ugrarava was furious and he cursed the prince and as a result he fell into the water and was drowned. Later he became an evil spirit. The evil spirit came to Agastya and begged him to relieve him of the curse.The sage called one of his disciples by name Sutheekshna and asked him to go to Gandhamandana mountain and have a bath in the holy Agnithirtha and bring a little of that holy water and sprinkle it on the spirit of Dushyantha. When Sutheekshna did what he was told by the sage , the prince regained his form and went to heaven.



Agastya earned a golden bracelet

Once Agastya came to a big forest. It was lonely and frightening. As he was walking along he saw a few gandharvas and some divine women singing and dancing. One of the gandharvas went to a lake pulled out a corpse of a man and began to cut it and and eat the flesh raw without any hesitation. When he saw sage Agastya he got frightened and surrendered.



Agastya asked why he was eating human flesh. The gandharva began to narrate a story."In Thretha yuga there was a king by name Vidarbha. I am his son. My name was Shwetha. I ruled the land for a long time and then came here and began to perform tapas. After my mortal body fell, I went to heaven. I became hungry and even in heaven my hunger continued to become intense. I went to a brahmin and asked him for the reason. He told me that as king I did not give alms to anyone. Therefore I remained to suffer from hunger even in heaven. Just to satisfy my hunger, I come here everyday and eat human flesh as directed by that brahmin. He told me that one day sage Agastya would come here and if I gave him a gold bracelet as a gift my sin would be reedeemed. Now that you are here, I am blessed." So saying he gave a gold bracelet to Agastya and got blessed. Then he went to heaven.

Agastya cursed Kubera and his companion
While the Pandavas were in the forest they visited a number of holy places and finally came near the Himalayas. One day Arjuna left his brothers and went to Mount Meru and began severe tapas to please Lord Shankara. A number of years were spent in tapas. The rest of the Pandavas began to search for Arjuna with the help of sages Vrishparva and Arshtishena and finally came to Alkapuri, the capital of Kubera. Bhimasena fought with Kubera's army and destroyed everyone including Kubera's best friend Mahiman. Yudhishtira was sad and begged pardon of Kubera for his brother's act. He asked Kubera,"O great one tell me how human power can overdrive divine strength? How could my brother who is a human could kill Mahiman ?Kubera asnwered saying, "Once my friend Mahiman and I went to Kushavathi to listen to heavenly music. We saw Agastya praying to God on the bank of the Kalindi. My friend spat on his head from the sky. Agastya was very angry and said,"Kubera your's friend spat on my head in front of you. You saw it by kept quiet. Therefore let a human destroy your army and kill your friend Mahiman. You would never feel sorry even when so many were killed. At that point I begged him to pardon me. He relented and said that I would be redeemed when that event took place. That is the reason for this tragedy." At that point Kubera saw Bhimsena. Kubera was freed from the effect of the curse. This way Agastya's curse did not even spare the Lord of wealth.

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Agastya - 10

Initiated Sri Rama to Adithya Hridaya
Sage Agastya had his ashram in the middle of Dandakaranya and lived there with his wife Lopamudra performing tapas and anushtanas and taking part in discussions on dharma with other sages. In order to help his father Dasharatha to keep his word given to his wife Kaikeyi, Sri Rama went to the forest along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana. He visited a number of ashrams of great sages and finally came to the ashram of sage Agastya. The sage along with his wife Lopamudra received Sri Rama, Sita and Lakshmana and played host to them as per prevailing customs. He gave Sri Rama the Vaishava Dhanus and divine arrows in a divine quiver and preached the naunces of Dharma. Lopamudra gave Sita a number of divine ornaments and blessed her. She preached her how a devoted wife should conduct herself. Then as instructed by sage Agastya, Sri Rama and others went to the bank of the Godavari and built an ashram and began to live there. Later when Sri Rama fought with Ravana, he had to face a problem. Ravana had ten heads. As soon as Rama cut one, another would grow in its place. A number of great sages were watching the epic fight and Agastya was one of them. When he realised Sri Rama's problem he went to him and initiated him to the hymn 'Adithya Hridaya'. He asked Sri Rama to chant the same with devotion and with the help of the sun god he should be able to kill Ravana. When Sri Rama did as he was told he was blessed by the sun god and that helped him to kill Ravana easily. Then Sri Rama returned to Ayodhya and began to rule from Ayodhya and it was sage Agastya who helped Sri Rama achieved success in the battle. On the advice of Agastya Sri Rama performed Aswamedha yaga for the welfare of the world.

Krauncha was cursed

While Agastya was travelling south after subduing Vindhya, a demon by name Krauncha stopped him on the way. The demon had the magical ability to cause heavy rains. When he tried his trick. Agastya took a handful of water from his holy pot and cursed him to become a mountain. When the demon surrendered, he consoled him saying that Lord Subrahmanya would go there in course of time and let an arrow fly at him and he would be relieved of the effects of the curse.

Agastya's holy pot could never be empty

Once a demon by name Sheerapadma invaded heaven and droven all the devas out. Devendra went to a place called Shiyuti and prayed to Shiva. It was raining heavily but it stopped all of a sudden. Then Agastya filled his holy pot with water of the Kaveri. We know that Lord Ganesha took the form of a crow and upset the holy pot. Angry Agastya began to chase the crow and after a long chase he saw the crow change its form and Lord Ganesha appeared before him. He narrated the story of Kaveri and blessed him saying that his holy pot would never be empty.

Urvashi, Jayantha and Narada cursed

Once Agastya went to heaven on invitation as guest of Devendra. In order to please the sage, Devendra organised a dance programme by Urvashi. During the course of a dance Urvashi fell in love with Jayantha, the son of Devendra and lost the rhythm of dance. Narada, playing on the veena also fumbled. Agastya was angry and cursed all the three of them. Jayantha became a flower bud, Urvashi was born as Madhuri, on ordinary woman in the world and Narada lost his veena, Mahati andit came to be used by mortals on the earth.

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