The Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, is traditionally attributed to the sage Ved Vyasa. The term “Vyasa” means “compiler” and it is said that he is the one who compiled the text of the Mahabharata from pre-existing material. According to Hindu tradition, Vyasa is also believed to be the author of the epic, who wrote the story of the Kuru dynasty, which the epic describes in detail. He is also believed to have divided the Vedas and wrote the 18 Puranas. Vyasa is considered to be one of the seven chiranjivins (immortals) in Hinduism.
Ganesha and Vyasa wrote Mahabharat
It is also said that Vyasa narrated the story of the Mahabharata to the Lord Ganesha, who was responsible for writing it down. There is an interesting story when Vyasa and Ganesha matched wits.
When Sage Vyasa decided to write Mahabharata, he wanted someone to help him with the writing. He approached Lord Ganesha for help. Ganesha accepted the job but put forth a condition that you will have to recite the tale without a pause and without a break. If you stop even once, I will stop writing.
Vyasa accepted this condition from Lord Ganesha. But, he too set a condition that Ganesha should understand every thing before writing. Ganesha agreed. Both sat down to create an epic.Vyas started narrating his epic at a great speed and Ganesha took down the dictation fast and furious. However, soon Ganesha’s pen broke. It could not keep pace with Maharishi’s recital.
Ganesha understood that he had been a little too proud and underestimated the Maharshri’s intellectual powers. Quietly he broke off one of his tusks, dipped it in ink and used it as a pen. As for Vyasa, whenever he would get tired he would compose a particular difficult stanza.
Ganesha would spend few seconds trying to figure out the lines and Maharishi would get a break. Ganesha and Vyasa spend 3 years writing the epic. Although several stanzas of Mahabharata are said to be lost, even today the epic stands 100,000 stanzas long.
It is believed that the Mahabharata was passed down orally for centuries before it was finally written down. Some scholars believe that the epic was first written down around 300 BCE, but it continued to be expanded and revised over time. The current version of the Mahabharata is believed to be the result of multiple authors over several centuries.
In summary, the Mahabharata is traditionally attributed to the sage Ved Vyasa and it is believed that he is the one who composed, compiled and narrated the story to Ganesha who wrote it down. But it is also believed that the epic was passed down orally for centuries.
