Free Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) by Bibek Debroy Page A

attaining the objectives of
dharma
, 4
artha
, 5
kama
6 and
moksha
7 and the Mahabharata includes Hinduism’s most important spiritual
     text—the Bhagavad Gita.
    The epics are not part of the
shruti
tradition. That tradition is like revelation, without any
     composer. The epics are part of the
smriti
tradition. At the time they were
     composed, there was no question of texts being written down. They were recited,
     heard, memorized and passed down through the generations. But the smriti tradition
     had composers. The Ramayana was composed by Valmiki, regarded as the first poet or
kavi
. The word kavi has a secondary meaning as poet or rhymer. The
     primary meaning of kavi is someone who is wise. And in that sense, the composer of
     the Mahabharata was no less wise. This was Vedavyasa or Vyasadeva. He was so named
     because he classified (
vyasa
) the Vedas. Vedavyasa or Vyasadeva
     isn’t a proper name. It is a title. Once in a while, in accordance with
     the needs of the era, the Vedas need to be classified. Each such person obtains the
     title and there have been twenty-eight Vyasadevas so far.
    At one level, the question about who
     composed the Mahabharata is pointless. According to popular belief and according to
     what the Mahabharata itself states, it was composed by Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa
     (Vyasadeva). But the text was not composed and cast in stone at a single point in
     time. Multiple authors kept adding layers and embellishing it. Sections just kept
     getting added and it is no one’s suggestion that Krishna Dvaipayana
     Vedavyasa composed the text of the Mahabharata as it stands today.
    Consequently, the Mahabharata is far
     more unstructured than the Ramayana. The major sections of the Ramayana are known as
kanda
s and one meaning of the word kanda is the stem or trunk of a
     tree, suggesting solidity. The major sections of the Mahabharata are known as
parva
s and while one meaning of the word parva is limb or member or
     joint, in its nuance there is greater fluidity in the word parva than in kanda.
    The Vyasadeva we are concerned with had
     a proper name of KrishnaDvaipayana. He was born on an island
     (
dvipa
). That explains the Dvaipayana part of the name. He was dark.
     That explains the Krishna part of the name. (It wasn’t only the
     incarnation of Vishnu who had the name of Krishna.) Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa was
     also related to the protagonists of the Mahabharata story. To go back to the
     origins, the Ramayana is about the solar dynasty, while the Mahabharata is about the
     lunar dynasty. As is to be expected, the lunar dynasty begins with Soma (the moon)
     and goes down through Pururava (who married the famous apsara Urvashi), Nahusha and
     Yayati. Yayati became old, but wasn’t ready to give up the pleasures of
     life. He asked his sons to temporarily loan him their youth. All but one refused.
     The ones who refused were cursed that they would never be kings, and this includes
     the Yadavas (descended from Yadu). The one who agreed was Puru and the lunar dynasty
     continued through him. Puru’s son Duhshanta was made famous by Kalidasa in
     the Duhshanta–Shakuntala story and their son was Bharata, contributing to
     the name of Bharatavarsha. Bharata’s grandson was Kuru. We often tend to
     think of the Kouravas as the evil protagonists in the Mahabharata story and the
     Pandavas as the good protagonists. Since Kuru was a common ancestor, the appellation
     Kourava applies equally to Yudhishthira and his brothers and Duryodhana and his
     brothers. Kuru’s grandson was Shantanu. Through Satyavati, Shantanu
     fathered Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. However, the sage Parashara had already
     fathered Krishna Dvaipayana through Satyavati. And Shantanu had already fathered
     Bhishma through Ganga. Dhritarasthra and Pandu were fathered on
     Vichitravirya’s wives by Krishna Dvaipayana.
    The story of the epic is also about
     these antecedents and consequents. The core Mahabharata