Who is Vedavyasa?

  Most ofus have seen the picture that shows Sage Vedavyasa dictating Mahabharata epic to Lord Gabapati, who, it is said that, wrote it with a broken tooth of his, that too, under a condition that the sage should not falter or slow down, or pause while dictating the epic! Here the question is who are these Sage Veda Vyasa is and Lord Ganapati! In fact, the real name of Vedavyasa is Shree Krishna Dvaipayana, (the Omniscient Shree Hari Narayana, or Badarayana) and Lord Ganapati (with an elephant head- symbolic of keen eyes and sharp ears representing complete awareness, pure Consciousness). Incidentally, the terms Veda and Vyasa mean the circumference and the radius connecting the centre, focus. In other words, the all encompassing, all-pervading, supreme Lord Vishnu only is this 'Veda Vyasa' or Vyasa deva!
  The Bhagavad-Gita comes as an interlude in Bhishma parva of the epic Mahabharata. It is actually a sort of a monologue, loud thinking of the Learned Sage. It appears as if a dialogue between Bhagavan Shree Krishna as ritambhara-prajnya (pure Consciousness) and Arjuna as manovikalpa (the blemished Mind- full of ego, desire, attachment, anger, and jealousy). But, when we go through the text of the Gita we find that Lord Shree Krishna is imparting his disciple Arjuna about the true nature of the jiva and the transient nature of the world. The Gitopadesha is set to melodious tune making it a ‘divine song’! (Shree Vidyabhushana Teertha has given a musical rendering of this Gita, CDs are available).

   As regards the scripture that has come down to us since the beginning of creation, as a dictation given by Lord Himself, Shree Krishna Dvaipayana, taken down by the scribe, none other than the Deity of the Elements (gana), Lord Ganapati, is an intriguing one! First, it is difficult for us to understand how the supreme Lord Shree Krishna, an avatara of Mahavishnu of Vishnu purana speaks and, second, how a Deity mad of clay and life-force infused into it by the mythological character Devi Parvati of Shiva Purana as Ganapati, writes it! Further, if at all He the Lord Ganapati pulls out his tooth (danta) and uses it as his pen. It is open to question ‘where and what did he inscribe! There is no question about the existence of this spiritual text, but where is its original script? These questions- that of Vyasa and Ganapati, the Mahabharata and the Gita, the characters that are mentioned here, etc. raise a number of doubts! We are not sure as to the very origin of the divine song! Whether the Gitopadesha was imparted in the Kurukshetra battlefield for eighteen days, or only eighteen verses are imparted to Arjuna in a whisper in order to encourage him to fight, or whether it is intended to us the fools in search of eternal happiness and bliss living in a transient world governed by limitations of time, space, and causality? That way, the very author Revered Omniscient Sage Veda Vyasa, the renowned author of the Brahmasutras and the Eighteen Epics (Puranas), is also a myth besides his scribe an elephant-headed Ganapati! But, then what is the truth? When t here exists neither a Veda Vyasa a person to dictate, nor a Ganapati to take the dictation who is writing what? It is important to note that the terms Veda and Vyasa mean the radius and Circumference in a circle, i.e. the center connected to periphery symbolically representing the ‘totality’ of ‘Knowledge’. The writer is the Deity of the basal plexus, the very support of all that exists as muladhara prajnya. Al the living beings, the jivas exist because of this power (mula adhara Shakti)! The living beings are supported by this power! As a deity of basal plexus (muladhara prajnya) He is seated at the base of everything that exists. He has written these words of the Lord, Gita as a ‘divine song’, on the Tablet of the Heart of the very jiva that seeks divine guidance/   

   Now, the question arises as to who the author Lord Shree Krishna Dvaipayana is, and what is conveyed by him. The Gita covers all aspects of creation, sustenance and dissolution. This totality of knowledge is possible only to Bhagavan.

    All the characters that appear in the epics, may it be, Mahabharata, Ramayana, or the Srimad Bhagavata, are totally unconvincing to a discerning mind and intriguing to common man since they are not born as humans! Neither the Fatherless Pandava, nor the hundred Kourava are ever born or die, as the Lord Himself proclaims! Bhagavan Shree Krishna is narrating all about “Who He Is” and “What He has created” in this ‘Divine Song’, the Gita! In fact, He, the Lord, explains in great detail the nature of this world, the magical way He has created it, and what all we think and believe as this phenomenal objective world (jagat). He proclaims that, “He is the Purusha (person) responsible it!” He even goes to the extent of saying that “He puts the seed of creation and enters His creation, and exists at the core of the substance as the ‘Self’!

    Thus, we have a challenging task here to try decode the secret, to know and understand the nature of the transitory world, as well as, our own true nature! Whoever clearly understands this will have nothing to worry or regret and will always be happy and joyful.

    The Gita is proclaimed by the Bhagavan as the secret knowledge of brahmn, the brahma vidya, and a means to attain to brahmn, the yoga shastra. This is the spiritual essence of the Gita. The source of this scripture is unknown and it is extremely difficult to understand the Verse 1 of Chapter IV where the Lord says that, “He imparted this Knowledge to Vivasvan, the Sun God (who is supposed to be 4.56 billion years old!)”. Further, it much intriguing to note that He proclaims that He is unborn and eternal!

  The spiritual essence of the Gita is god-visioning- vishvaroop darshan, visioning His virat svaroop and knowing His diverse manifest forms! It is a mysterious experience to the one who is attained siddhi purusha. There is no other way of experiencing this divine bliss than to take to spiritual practice as advised by the Lord here. Gita anushthana marga is the best way to realize the supreme! Even contemplation, meditation on one or two verses a day will ultimately lead the spiritual sadhaka to attainemnt! Hence, it is intended to give selected verses in the following with a brief explanation.The method of gita upasana is given by the Lord Himself as a yogacharya! There is nothing one can add, advise, or instruct besides what the Blessed Lord says (Bhagavan uvacha).

    Meditation on the spoken words of the Bhagavan is enough to experience supreme bliss. It is better to keep always a copy of the Gita in the pocket and read a verse or two and contemplate on it whenever one is free from the botherations of the worldly affairs. The effect of this spiritual practice is there to see within a year or even much earlier. In the last verse of the last chapter of the Gita, Sanjaya says, “Success is assured where the Bhagavan Himslef leads the one who is daring and acts!”  

     The Gita is said to be an unheard divine song (anahata dhvani), rather, heard within as antardhvani and, as such, an unwritten scripture. It speaks of ‘Self-Realization’ (Atmabodha)asrevealed by Bhagavan Shree Krishna. It has come down to us from almost beginning of the Creation when Bhagavan revealed it to the Sun, Vivasvan, 4.56 billion years ago! Even the Planet Earth came into existence after a lapse of 0.3 million years from out of the condensation of the solar flares! Today we are living almost at the close of the seventh manvantara, called the Vaivasvata manvantara. Each manvantara has four yugas, viz kruta or satya, treta, dwapara and the kali with four quarters (charana) each, together lasting 4 320 000 years. Six manvantaras have already gone by and seven more are to come after the close of our kaliyuga running now! Hence, we are in the first charana of the Kali yuga, the last quarter of the vaivasvata manvantara, and, three yugas- krita, treta, and the dvapara have already gone! With the close of this Kaliyuga, the vaivasvata manvantara will come to an end and a new manvantara and its first yuga will start. At the end of each yuga will apear a divine person, mahapurusha, purushottama, an avatara purusha like Shree Hari Narayana, Sri Ram, Shree Krishna, the Buddha or a Kalki as stated in the Vishnu purana. There are already twenty-five avataras of Vishnu Bhagavan of which ten are very popular! Thus, the entire creation and dissolution will go on till the last, the fourteenth manvantara, after which there will be total dissolution of Creation and the Creator Brahma will go to sleep! (See Vishnu Purana). 

   The Gita begins with words, “Bhagavan Uvacha”,  meaning, “the Blessed Lord said”, and, as such, these are the words of the supreme Lord. Hence, there is no question of an author or a publisher to this  “Autobiography of Lord, Bhagavan Shree Krishna”. He, the Bhagavan is the script writer, director, producer of the Universe, and the ultimate destroyer!  In a sense it is as though the scripture does not exist at all! Who will write what even when the Sun is yet to be born and where is the earth or its creatures? These are only spoken words sung in a melodious tone, rather, a divine song, that’s all! The authorship of this divine song, ‘Bhagavad-Gita’ attributed to Bhagavan is quite intriguing! However, this portion of the scripture is believed to be taken out of the Shanti Parva of the famous epic Mahabharata by Sri Shankaracharya and placed before us as Srimad Bhagavad-Gita. As a part of the epic, supposed to be authored by Sage Vedavyasa, that too, with the help of a scribe believed to be none other than the Deity of Learning and the Lord of all Ganas, Lord Ganapti. Thus, Sage Veda Vyasa is dictating the text to a divine person Ganapati. ‘Veda Vyasa’ is in fact the pen name of Shree Krishna Dvaipayana for having classified the voluminous Veda of a lakh verses into four divsions! However, there are no such persons, either a Vedavyasa, or a Ganapti is the mystery!! The mystery deepens when Bhagavan Shree Krishna says in Chapter X vibhuti yoga that sage Veda Vyasa is none other than Himself! Shree Krishna Bhagavan, also known as unique, advitiyam, second to none, the dvaipayana, like an island!  Further, who is the scribe? Is there any person like Ganapti? It is well known from the epic Shiva Purana which describe Lord Ganapati as one who was made in clay, like a doll and life-force breathed unto Him by Parvati, the Mother Earth! Hence, there is no such person as Ganapati at all!. In that sense of the term, all living beings are made of clay like Ganapati ans sustained by the food obtained from soil! Even Lord Shiva, supposed to be the Father of Ganapati is also our Father, Pashupati natha. Neither there is a Sage Vedavyasa, nor the Lord sitting here as Ganapti, and whence and where comes a Mahabharata or the Bhagavad-Gita? It is all in the Mind! Utmost, it is the ingenuity of an intellectual to indulge in these metaphysical aspects and present these spiritual texts like these!   

 As the mythological account goes, the Bhagavad-Gita comes as an interjection in the Bhishma parva of the great epic Mahabharata due to the condition laid down by Lord Ganapati who was taking the dictation of the epic Mahabharata from Vyasadeva. The condition was that Vyasadeva should go on dictating the text while Ganapati, the scribe, goes on writing. However, the omniscient Lord Ganapati was faster and Vyasa got stuck at some stage for want of suitable matter for dictation and thought about Arjuna’s reluctance to fight was surging! He had to speak something and he blurted out the Gita which he remembered, quickly without waste of time, lest the scribe should leave! So, Vyasadeva, Sri Krishna Dvaipayana narrated the Gitopadesha that was first imparted to Vivasvan, Surya deva, at the beginning of creation!

  Thus, here comes this short ‘adhyatma bodha’ in the form of “Sri Krishna’s advice to Arjuna”. Later on we will find that this is not even a dialogue or a conversation between two persons, but a monologue that appears like a dialogue between the embedded ‘Soul’ (jivatman) lamenting for its sad state, in confused mind (personified here as Arjuna, born as result of the Indra mantra uttered by Kunti), and the latter seeks guidance from the supreme Lord, Poorna-prajnya, (pure consciousness), personified here as Shree Krishna paramatman (seated within as the Self!).

   In fact, this entire episode is totally unconnected with the main text of the Mahabharata war and the battle field ‘Kurukshetra’ is a field, ‘kshetra’, known to only the ‘kshetrajnya’. Finally, the ‘kshetra’ and ‘kshetrajnya’ (jnyata and jnyeya) become one- Shree Krishna as the Field as well as the Knower of the Field. Whether it is Shree Krishna, Vyasa, or Ganapati, the ‘knower’ and the ‘known’, the preceptor and the perceived, are one. Jnyan, chit, consciousness, or the “sat” is the ultimate reality; all else is its manifest forms. Hence, the Lord proclaims, “I only exist and nothing exists besides Me!”

  It may surprise the sadhaka if it is stated that “there is neither a vyasa who is dictating the Gita, nor is there a Ganapati taking down the dictation!” It is, at best, a dialogue between ‘paramatman’, the pure Consciousness (chit) and the blemished soul, a vibrant mind (chittavrutti), full of attachment, ego, anger, etc. The distressed mind Arjuna is seeking guidance from ‘purna-prajnya’, Shree Krishna. All the characters depicted here (in the epic Mahabharata) are just characters with blemished souls, may be, that seek emancipation form their embodied states. In fact these characters are not like us, the human beings on earth, since the earth is yet to be born at the time when the Lord is imparting the gitopadesha to Vivasvan (Ch. IV. verse 1). Vivasvan is Surya deva stated to be 4.56 billion years old. There are lots of secret codes, symbolism, metaphors, similes, and words that hold many secrets in the Gita.