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

story is known to every
     Indian and is normally understood as a dispute between the Kouravas (descended from
     Dhritarashtra) and the Pandavas (descended from Pandu). However, this is a distilled
     version, which really begins with Shantanu. The non-distilled version takes us to
     the roots of the genealogical tree and at several points along this tree we confront
     a problem with impotence/sterility/death, resulting in offspring through a surrogate
     father. Such sons were accepted in that day and age. Norwas
     this a lunar dynasty problem alone. In the Ramayana, Dasharatha of the solar dynasty
     also had an infertility problem, corrected through a sacrifice. To return to the
     genealogical tree, the Pandavas won the Kurukshetra war. However, their five sons
     through Droupadi were killed. So was Bhima’s son Ghatotkacha, fathered on
     Hidimba. As was Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu, fathered on Subhadra.
     Abhimanyu’s son Parikshit inherited the throne in Hastinapura, but was
     killed by a serpent. Parikshit’s son was Janamejaya.
    Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa’s
     powers of composition were remarkable. Having classified the Vedas, he composed the
     Mahabharata in 100,000 shlokas or couplets. Today’s Mahabharata text
     doesn’t have that many shlokas, even if the Hari Vamsha (regarded as the
     epilogue to the Mahabharata) is included. One reaches around 90,000 shlokas. That
     too, is a gigantic number. (The Mahabharata is almost four times the size of the
     Ramayana and is longer than any other epic anywhere in the world.) For a count of
     90,000 Sanskrit shlokas, we are talking about something in the neighbourhood of two
     million words. The text of the Mahabharata tells us that Krishna Dvaipayana finished
     this composition in three years. This doesn’t necessarily mean that he
     composed 90,000 shlokas. The text also tells us that there are three versions to the
     Mahabharata. The original version was called Jaya and had 8,800 shlokas. This was
     expanded to 24,000 shlokas and called Bharata. Finally, it was expanded to 90,000
     (or 100,000) shlokas and called Mahabharata.
    Krishna Dvaipayana didn’t rest
     even after that. He composed the eighteen Maha Puranas, adding another 400,000
     shlokas. Having composed the Mahabharata, he taught it to his disciple
     Vaishampayana. When Parikshit was killed by a serpent, Janamejaya organized a
     snake-sacrifice to destroy the serpents. With all the sages assembled there,
     Vaishampayana turned up and the assembled sages wanted to know the story of the
     Mahabharata, as composed by Krishna Dvaipayana. Janamejaya also wanted to know why
     Parikshit had been killed by the serpent. That’s the background against
     which the epic is recited. However, there is another round of recounting too. Much
     later, the sages assembled for a sacrifice in Naimisharanya and asked Lomaharshana
     (alternatively, Romaharshana) to recite what he hadheard at
     Janamejaya’s snake-sacrifice. Lomaharshana was a
suta
, the sutas
     being charioteers and bards or raconteurs. As the son of a suta, Lomaharshana is
     also referred to as Souti. But Souti or Lomaharshana aren’t quite his
     proper names. His proper name is Ugrashrava. Souti refers to his birth. He owes the
     name Lomaharshana to the fact that the body-hair (
loma
or
roma
)
     stood up (
harshana
) on hearing his tales. Within the text therefore, two
     people are telling the tale. Sometimes it is Vaishampayana and sometimes it is
     Lomaharshana. Incidentally, the stories of the Puranas are recounted by
     Lomaharshana, without Vaishampayana intruding. Having composed the Puranas, Krishna
     Dvaipayana taught them to his disciple Lomaharshana. For what it is worth, there are
     scholars who have used statistical tests to try and identify the multiple authors of
     the Mahabharata.
    As we are certain there were multiple
     authors rather than a single one, the question of when the Mahabharata was composed
     is somewhat pointless. It wasn’t