Things you didn't know about Mahabharata

[realdemigod]

Luckily I stumbled this article while sitting in the bank

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/15220557.cms

I didn't know there was more than one version of Mahabharata and some part was composed even before Ramayana.. now that raises some serious doubts..doesn't it?

[smaranam]

Luckily I stumbled this article while sitting in the bank

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/15220557.cms

I didn't know there was more than one version of Mahabharata and some part was composed even before Ramayana.. now that raises some serious doubts..doesn't it?

Namaste Realdemigod,

It is a known fact that VedaVyasji first wrote 'Jaya' and then wrapper verses were added around it to make the final Mahabharat.

The bhAgavatam also starts like this:

nArAyaNam namaskRtyam
naram chaiva narottamam
devim sarasvatim vyAsam
tatho jayam udIrayet

Let us bow to Nara-NArAyaNa Rshis (a previous birth of Arjun and Lord KRshNa/NarayaNa Himself), Devi Saraswati, and VyAsdev,
and only then study 'Jaya'




What makes you say that some of the Mahabharat was written before RAmAyana? Do you have anything to show that?

Also, scholarly historical speculations should not be our sources to make such conclusions.

Hare KRshNa ~

[realdemigod]

samaranam,
The article says in some version of Mahabharata some part was written before Ramayana.

[Vasa]

Namaste.

I thought the part about Veda Vyasa being a title For 28 individuals and not a proper name for 1 person was interesting. It certainly would require more research on this subject on my part.

Pranam.

[smaranam]

Namaste.

I thought the part about Veda Vyasa being a title For 28 individuals and not a proper name for 1 person was interesting. It certainly would require more research on this subject on my part.

Pranam.

Namaste,

VyAs means compiler. It is a position, just as Indra, VaruN, VAyu are positions. These 28 vyAs belong to 28 manwantara - cycles of time. Just as there have been 28 Indra and 28 Chandra for this Kalpa - a bigger outer cycle of time.

Information is available in VishNu purAN. BhagvAn VishNu Himself partially expands to becom vyAs. In fact many of our first Rshis who heard the apurusheya Ved were partial incarnations of the Lord.

In every chatur yuga cycle (4 yuga), the intelligence of people starts detiorating by end of dwapar-yug, so the VedavyAs of that time divides the ONE Ved into four parts - Rg, SAm, Yajur, Atharva.

Our current VedaVyAs is KRshNa-dvAipAyana VedavyAs, who wrote Jaya and turned it later into Mahabharat. He did ask some immediate disciples to add some verses, but that was it. Mahabharat was not written by 28 VyAsas.

And realdemigod, i would not rely so heavily on scholars and historical researchers for information.

Another thing to bear in mind is that at those times, Ved and related writings were not written down, since the people it was meant for had exceptional memory which can be easily called super-human today. Things were written down at end of dwApar, again by these super-human memories holder vyAs.

That vedavyAs is a part-incarnation of vishNu makes it clear how He could have carried out such a feat. Also, our VsyAsDev is a Chiranjeevi, like Hanuman. Chiranjeevi = blessed with a very very long life. He lived across the yuga and lives even today in gupta rUpa. MadhvAchArya took His blessings before beginning to write on TattvavAd.
He was the grandfather of Kaurav-PAndav, so a person in Mahabharat, as well as its writer, and continued to witness the events of Mahabharat and KRshNa leela till the very end.


I bother to come here and write this for those whom this knowledge is meant. I know many readers are already laughing at it. It is not for them It is always a risk on the internet.

Hare KRshNa~

[philosoraptor]

I do remember reading that there were different versions of the mahAbhArata. It was said that one version was given to the devas and another to the humans, and these differed primarily by the number of verses.

Also, for those who are interested, "vedavyAsa" is a title referring to the post of the veda compiler, but "shrI kRiShNa dvaipayaNa" is the proper name of our vedavyAsa. The viShNu purANa states that our vedavyAsa is shrIman nArAyaNa Himself, alluding to the magnificence of His composing the mahAbhArata. I have always wondered if this meant all other vyAsa-s are shaktyaveshas while the current on is the Lord Himself, or if others are merely highly exalted jIva-s while the current one is a shaktyavesha avatAra.

[realdemigod]

Thanks Smaranam I agree with you not relying blindly on these articles but many of them were new to me ..made me feel like a caveman. The writer took it from another source which was mentioned at the end of the article and again the authenticity of its source can be debated

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté

If interested, there is more on vyāsa-ji or kṛṣṇa dvaipāyana at this HDF post: http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/sho...5&postcount=35

praṇām

[Omkara]

Most of these facts are commonly known.

Good articles on the mahabharata:
http://mahabharata-resources.org/ola/ola.html
http://mahabharata-resources.org/
http://www.dvaipayana.net/

The 1200-800 bc date is now discredited following the finding of the ruins of the submerged city of dvarka.

I think only krishna dvaipayana is an avatar.None Of the other vyasas are mentioned in the list given in the Shrimad Bhagavatam.

Dvaita followers disagree with the idea of different types of avatars.For them all avatars(including ved vyas) were omnipotent and omniscient.

Interesting fact : Ashwatthama is said to be the next vyasa.