Of books a few only attain the position of classics. Of them, not more than half a dozen have come to be accepted as Scriptures. Of such, the pre-eminent is the Bhagavad Gita-this incomparable converse between God and Man. Edwin Arnold called it The Song Celestial; Humboldt characterised it as "the most beautiful, perhaps the only true philosophical song in any known tongue." The reasons for its preeminence are many. It is composed by Vyasa Dvaipayana, the author of the Mahabharata, the poet of poets and the first and foremost prophet of the human race. It was he who crafted the ball of "mud" and gave to gandhari so she could beget Duryodhana and the other hundred children. It was he brought about the birth of Pandu and Drithirashtra. It was he who intervened at a decisive moment during the battle between Karna and Arjuna. How was this great being born and what was his lineage? Here's his story.
One day, as the sage Parashara, the grandson of the great Vasistha, was crossing the Yamuna in a
boat, he took a fancy to the fisherman's lovely daughter who was ferrying him across. To this girl, Satyavati, was born a son, dark-hued like the mother. He was named Krishna. Born on an island in the yamuna near modern Kalpi in the Jalaun district in U.P, he was also called Dvaipayana. When Krishna had grown up he left his mother. It is likely that he joined his father and was brought up in the later tradition of the Vasisthas. The boy had the Vasistha heritage: a massive intellect and unfailing insight, a mastery of words and a passion for self-perfection. He took to the ascetic life. He had, however, an only son, Shuka, the offspring of a momentary lapse.
The Vedic gods had surrendered their pre-eminence to the non-Aryan God Shiva, called lshana, the Great Lord. Krishna turned to Him when he needed strength. But Narayana Rishi, identified with the Vedic Vishnu, was his favourite deity, for that sage of Badrinath was for him Vasudeva, God come to earth.
Krishna Dvaipayana collected the surviving Vedic mantras; redacted them and gave them a standard form and accent, which they still retain. Thus he gave us the source and symbol of India's eternal culture, our Rock of Ages. Because of this achievement a grateful generation named him Veda Vyasa, Vyasa for short, a name revered in India for three millenniums as no other has been.
The simple Vedic sacrifices had now been replaced by elaborate sacrificial rituals, which lasted for years. Vyasa became an adept in sacrificial lore, and performed an elaborate sacrifice himself. It is possible that he had helped in its standardization, for, a few decades after his death, we find it collected in the Brahmanas.
Vyasa founded and presided over a vast forest university. It may have been at Prithudak, which is modern Pehava in the Kamal district, or at Naimisharanya itself, or anywhere in the region of Kurukshetra, which came to be known as Brahmarshidesha, the sacred land of the sages. His brilliant son, Shuka, the born ascetic, and his four disciples, Sumantu, Jaimini, Paila and Vaishampayana, themselves great rishis, ably assisted him in building up a great tradition of learning.
As we know, Vaishampayana's pupil, Yajnavalkya, composed the white Yajurveda. From time to time Vyasa visited other sacred places in Brahmavarta; everyone was a home of learning. As he visited them, he taught, inspired, uplifted, gathered wider knowledge himself and developed his spiritual horizon. He perhaps founded the tirtha cult, investing the lakes into which the disappearing Saraswati had split with special sanctity.
One day, as the sage Parashara, the grandson of the great Vasistha, was crossing the Yamuna in a
boat, he took a fancy to the fisherman's lovely daughter who was ferrying him across. To this girl, Satyavati, was born a son, dark-hued like the mother. He was named Krishna. Born on an island in the yamuna near modern Kalpi in the Jalaun district in U.P, he was also called Dvaipayana. When Krishna had grown up he left his mother. It is likely that he joined his father and was brought up in the later tradition of the Vasisthas. The boy had the Vasistha heritage: a massive intellect and unfailing insight, a mastery of words and a passion for self-perfection. He took to the ascetic life. He had, however, an only son, Shuka, the offspring of a momentary lapse.
The Vedic gods had surrendered their pre-eminence to the non-Aryan God Shiva, called lshana, the Great Lord. Krishna turned to Him when he needed strength. But Narayana Rishi, identified with the Vedic Vishnu, was his favourite deity, for that sage of Badrinath was for him Vasudeva, God come to earth.
Krishna Dvaipayana collected the surviving Vedic mantras; redacted them and gave them a standard form and accent, which they still retain. Thus he gave us the source and symbol of India's eternal culture, our Rock of Ages. Because of this achievement a grateful generation named him Veda Vyasa, Vyasa for short, a name revered in India for three millenniums as no other has been.
The simple Vedic sacrifices had now been replaced by elaborate sacrificial rituals, which lasted for years. Vyasa became an adept in sacrificial lore, and performed an elaborate sacrifice himself. It is possible that he had helped in its standardization, for, a few decades after his death, we find it collected in the Brahmanas.
Vyasa founded and presided over a vast forest university. It may have been at Prithudak, which is modern Pehava in the Kamal district, or at Naimisharanya itself, or anywhere in the region of Kurukshetra, which came to be known as Brahmarshidesha, the sacred land of the sages. His brilliant son, Shuka, the born ascetic, and his four disciples, Sumantu, Jaimini, Paila and Vaishampayana, themselves great rishis, ably assisted him in building up a great tradition of learning.
As we know, Vaishampayana's pupil, Yajnavalkya, composed the white Yajurveda. From time to time Vyasa visited other sacred places in Brahmavarta; everyone was a home of learning. As he visited them, he taught, inspired, uplifted, gathered wider knowledge himself and developed his spiritual horizon. He perhaps founded the tirtha cult, investing the lakes into which the disappearing Saraswati had split with special sanctity.
