The SAGE and the SCRIBE

MAHABHARATA is a tale of Dharma! This epic story has been written over 18 Parvas or books the beginning of which is the ADI PARVA. Before we dive straight into the Adi Parva let us talk about the storyteller and his writer. 

According to the text itself, the Mahabharata was written in three years by Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasar and the poet modestly tells us that hearing the Mahabharata is better than attaining heaven. The sacred Sanskrit texts often promise spiritual and celestial rewards simply by the act of listening to them. The Mahabharata is no exception to this charming pitch and states that those who hear it read, or read it to others will go to the world of Brahma and become equal to the celestials. The text also promises that the Mahabharata makes the heart desire to attain salvation.

The Birth of the Poet Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasar

Uparichara Vasu was a king devoted to virtue and hunting, but one day this king lay down his weapons and became an ascetic. He practiced such severe and power producing austerities that Indra, the ruler of the celestials, became frightened. Did Uparichara Vasu seek to replace him was Indra's constant reason to worry.

Feeling afraid, Indra appeared to Uparichara Vasu and extolled the beauties and great qualities of an earthly kingdom and his life. Thus he made Uparichara Vasu feel exceedingly proud and fortunate to be a king on earth. Declaring his friendship, Indra gave him gifts, perhaps a bribe of sorts to keep his sights off Indra’s domain.

 The gift most interesting was a large celestial crystalline chariot that was capable of carrying the king through the sky.  Even though Uparichara Vasu has a physical body, he alone among mortals will be able, by the power of Indra’s maya, to fly across the sky like a celestial

King Uparachara Vasu had a beautiful wife Girika. On the day of the ‘Sraddha’ ( annual ceremony) of his deceased father and ancestors, his wife had a desire to bear a child from him but in view of the Ceremony, he left  for a forest to hunt a deer for the Sacrifice as also fetch other material for the Ceremony. But when he was reminded of his wife’s request, he was overcome with passion and spilt his virility which he did not wish to waste and thus retained it on a banana leaf and commanded a falcon to carry the packet to his queen with a message to her. Another falcon mistook the leafy packet as a piece of meat and snatched it. In the clash of the falcons, the packet fell in a river. 

Deep in the waters of the river lived an Apsara, named Adrika who had been cursed by a Brahmana to live as a fish for mistakenly dragging the feet of a Brahmana performing his prayers on the banks of the river. He cursed the Apsara to become a fish as his meditation was interrupted. Seeing the seed of Uparichara Vasu in the water; the Apsara-fish swallowed them. Ten months later she was caught by fishermen, who cut her open and found two children of human form - a boy and a girl. As soon as the children were born, the Apsara was released from her fish form, which apparently was the condition of her curse, to return to her sky-dancing with the other celestials.

The fishermen then gave the children to the king, Uparichara Vasu, who made the male his heir. The girl was both beautiful and virtuous, but because of her birth from the womb of a fish, albeit a cursed Apsara, she smelled of fish and so the king gave her back to the fishermen and gifted him with riches enough to bring up the girl-child. 

This was the genesis of ‘Matsyodari’ who grew up as an extraordinary beauty. The girl’s name was Satyavati and she spent her days running a boat across the river Yamuna. One day a wise Rishi (Seer) named Parasara saw her and overcome by her beauty, desired to have her. Desire/Kama is always a driving force in the human drama and that truth is also to be found in the Sanskrit tales. Satyavati resisted the advances of her Rishi, observing that there were many more Rishis standing on the banks of the river who might see them. Inflamed by his desire for her, the determined Rishi created a fog and covered the entire place with darkness. Being a virtuous girl, Satyavati still protested, saying that if she lost her virginity she would not be able to bear life.

Being a man, the Rishi was naturally pleased by her efforts to resist him and promised her that she would remain a virgin even after they bore a child together as he foresaw (yes, Rishis did have the power to look into the future by their intense meditation) that this child of theirs is God's wish to be born in this world. He also offered her any boon she might desire. Boons play an important part in the Sanskrit texts and many a plot is thickened by boons given by deities and Seers.

Satyavati asked for the boon of becoming sweet scented. Not only did she lose her foul fish odor, but the Rishi gave her such an intensely sweet fragrance that it permeated great distances. Parasara renamed the woman as Satyavati and also blessed her to become a Queen. The memorable son of Parasara and Satyavati was Krishna Dvipayana Veda Vyasar, as he had the purity of Lord Vishnu Himself and Dvipayana since he was born in a river island (Dvipa).

Having conceived the Mahabharata he thought of the means of giving the sacred story to the world. He meditated on Brahma, the Creator, who manifested himself before him. Vyasar saluted him with bowed head and folded hands and prayed that he had conceived the Mahabharata but wanted to leave a lasting relic in the world for which he needed the help of Lord Ganapati as the Scribe to take down his dictation. Brahma in turn asked him to pray to Ganapati himself who appeared before him. Vyasar received him with due respect and sought his aid. Ganapati agreed to help Vyasar but on one condition that his pen must not stop while he is writing that is Vyasar must dictate without pause or hesitation. Vyasar agreed, guarding himself, however, with a counter stipulation that Ganapati must indeed grasp the meaning of the Dharmic shlokas told by Vyasar. Ganapati smiled and agreed to the condition. Then the sage began to sing the story of the Mahabharata. He would occasionally compose some complex stanzas which would make Ganapati pause a while to get at the meaning and meanwhile Vyasar would avail himself this time to take a breath and to compose many stanzas in his mind.

Thus the Mahabharata came to be written by Ganapati to the dictation of Vyasar.

Next Up: The Curse of Parikshit