Mahabharatha - Adi Parva - #4

Hello there!! Hope everything is fine at your end. In continuation to my previous blog on Mahabharatha - Adi Parva - #3, I am continuing with the narration of Ugrasrava Sauti about the number of verses composed by Sage Vyasa and how the epic is structured...

Let's Proceed…

Sauti continued, "I am acquainted with eight thousand and eight hundred (8800) of the complex verses, and so is Sage Suka (son of sage Vyasa), and perhaps Sanjaya (a charioteer; this character will become prominent in future). Due to the beauty of construct and mysteriousness of their meaning, to this day no one is able to easily decipher those closely-knit and difficult verses. Even the omniscient lord Ganesa took a moment to consider the right meaning before writing; while sage Vyasa continued to compose subsequent verses incessantly.

Structure of the Epic

Image source: wikimedia.org

Sauti continued, "This poetic work is similar to a tree, of which the chapter of contents is the seed; the divisions called Pauloma and Astika are the root; the part called Sambhava is the trunk; the books called Sabha and Aranya are the roosting perches; the books called Arani is the knitting knots; the books called Virata and Udyoga the pith; the book named Bhishma, the main branch; the book called Drona, the leaves; the book called Karna, the fair flowers; the book named Salya, their sweet smell; the books entitled Stri and Aishika, the refreshing shade; the book called Santi, the mighty fruit; the book called Aswamedha, the immortal sap; the denominated Asramavasika, the spot where it grows; and the book called Mausala, is an epitome of the Vedas and held in great respect by the virtuous Brahmanas. This epic tree of the Bhärata, shall ever be perineal and a source of livelihood to all distinguished poets."

Overview of different characters

"Sauti continued, 'I will now speak of the key characters from whom this whole epic came into being, the characters who will ever stay immortal. Formerly, the spirited sage Krishna-Dwaipayana (aka Vyasa), obeying the request of Bhishma (son of Ganga) and of his own mother Satyavati, became the father of three boys Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura by the two wives of Vichitra-virya. Having raised them for a few years, he returned to his recluse abode to continue with his ascetism. Only after the demise of these three did the great Rishi Vyasa publish the epic Bhärata in the region of mankind. When solicited by king Janamejaya (the great great grandson of Pandu) and thousands of Brahmanas during the Snake sacrifice, he instructed his disciple Vaisampayana, who was seated near him along with the other officiators of the sacrifice, to recite the epic Bhärata during intervals of the sacrificial ceremonies."

Sauti continued, "Sage Vyasa has represented the greatness of the house of Kuru, the virtuous principles of Gandhari(wife of Dhritarashtra), the wisdom of Vidura, and the constancy of Kunti(wife of Pandu). The noble Rishi has also described the divinity of Vasudeva(incarnation of lord Vishnu), the moral and righteous behavior of the sons of Pandu, and the evil practices of the sons and partisans of Dhritarashtra."

Vyasa compiled the Bhärata, exclusive of the episodes originally in twenty-four thousand verses. Only so much is called by the learned as the Bhärata. Afterwards, he composed an abstract of Bhärata in one hundred and fifty verses which consists of introduction with the chapter of contents. He first taught this to his son Suka; and afterwards he gave it to his other disciples who were worthy. After that he executed another compilation, consisting of sixty hundred thousand (60,00,000) verses. Of those, thirty hundred thousand (30,00,000) are known in the world of the Devas; fifteen hundred thousand (15,00,000) in the world of the Pitris: fourteen hundred thousand (14,00,000) among the Gandharvas, and one hundred thousand (1,00,000) in the region of mankind. Sage Narada recited the 30,00,000 verses to Devas, Devala recited the 15,00,000 verses to Pitris, and Suka published the 14,00,000 of them to Gandharvas, Yakshas, and Rakshasas: and in our world they were recited by Vaisampayana, one of the disciples of Vyasa. After them, I, Sauti, have also repeated one hundred thousand verses.

To be continued….

You can find my previous articles in this series here...

Ancient Hindu texts
Mahabharatha - Adi Parva - #1
Mahabharatha - Adi Parva - #2
Mahabharatha - Adi Parva - #3