Krishna Dwaipayana

Posted by Harsh Nevatia Nov 24, 2006

Once in a while there arises a man whose contribution to his chosen field is so revolutionary that it changes the manner of perception of that field for ages to come. Albert Einstein did that to physics a hundred years ago. Pablo Picasso revolutionized painting around the same time. Many centuries before that Krishna Dwaipayana, better known as Veda Vyasa, gave a new direction to Hinduism.

Before his time the Hindu scriptures were passed down orally from teacher to student for generations. This process naturally resulted in many versions being propagated. It was impossible for anyone outside the community of priests and seers to learn about and understand the scriptures.

Krishna Dwaipayana classified the Vedic hymns into four groups, which became the four Vedas. He also structured each Veda so that its different sections addressed different groups of users. The greatest benefit of this compilation and unification was that thenceforth the Vedas were preserved in an unchanged form. It was because of this mammoth effort on the part of Krishna Dwaipayana that we today have access to the works that poets and philosophers composed more than 8000 years ago. Krishna Dwaipayana preserved for eternity the seed of a culture. For this he earned the sobriquet Veda Vyasa.

However this was only a part of Veda Vyasa’s contribution to Hinduism. The study of the Vedas was restricted to the seers and academicians. The common man could not identify with mystic poetry and complicated rituals. He needed stirring narratives that inspired deep devotion and a repeated reassurance that righteousness shall triumph. For the common man the three holiest scriptures of Hinduism are the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata Purana and the Ram Charit Manas. The first two are written by Veda Vyasa some thousands of years ago. Ram Charit Manas was written by Tulsidas about 400 years ago.

It was the Bhagavata Purana that spread the message of God across the length and breadth of the land. Even today people flock in multitudes to hear sages expound the greatness of this scripture, the rendering of which is traditionally done over seven days.

For the next few articles I will take a break from the Hinduism journey to write about the life of this great sage.

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