Guru TattvaHis teaching on the Guru
MAHARSHI VYASA AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO HINDU SCRIPTURE
Namostu-Te Vyasa Visala-Buddhe Phullaravindayatapatra-Netra; Yena Tvaya Bharata-Taila-Purnah Prajvalito Jnanamayah Pradipah
Salutations unto thee, O Vyasa of broad intellect and with eyes large like the petals of full-blown lotuses, by whom the lamp of Knowledge, filled with the oil of the Mahabharata, has been lighted (Gita Dhyanam).
In ancient days, our forefathers, the Rishis of Aryavartha, went to the forest to do Tapasya during the four months following Vyasa Purnima—a particular and important day in the Hindu calendar. On this memorable day, Vyasa, an incarnation of the Lord Himself, began to write his Brahma Sutras. Our ancient Rishis did this Tapasya in caves and forests. But times have changed and such facilities are not common nowadays, although Grihasthas and Rajas are not wanting, who are able and willing to place at the disposal of the members of the fourth Ashrama such help and facilities as they could afford. The forests and caves have given place to the rooms in their own Gurudvaras and Mutts. One has, of necessity, to suit himself to places and times; and change of place and situation should not be allowed to make such a difference in our mental attitudes. Chaturmasa begins from Vyasa Purnima Day when we are, according to our Sastras, expected to worship Vyasa and the Brahma-Vidya Gurus and begin the study of the Brahma Sutras and other ancient books on ‘wisdom’.
THE BIRTH OF KRISHNA DVAIPAYANA
Our mythology speaks of many Vyasas; and it is said that there had been twenty-eight Vyasas before the present Vyasa—Krishna Dvaipayana—took his birth at the end of Dvapara Yuga. He was born of Parasara Rishi through the Matsya-Kanya—Satyavati Devi—under some peculiar and wonderful circumstances. Parasara was a great Jnani and one of the supreme authorities on astrology, and his book ‘Parasara Hora’ is still a textbook on astrology. He has also written a Smriti known as Parasara Smriti which is held in such high esteem that it is quoted by our present-day writers on sociology and ethics. Parasara came to know that a child, conceived at a particular moment of time or Ghatika, would be born as the greatest man of the age, nay, as an Amsa of Lord Vishnu Himself. On that day, Parasara was travelling in a boat and he spoke to the boatman about the nearing of this auspicious time. The boatman had a daughter who was of age and awaiting marriage. He was impressed with the sanctity and greatness of the Rishi and offered his daughter in marriage to Parasara. Our Vyasa was born of this union and his birth is said to be due to the blessing of Lord Siva Himself who blessed the union of a sage with a Jnani of the highest order, although of a low caste.
HIS STUPENDOUS CONTRIBUTION TO HINDU SCRIPTURE
At a very tender age, Vyasa gave out to his parents the secret of his life that he should go to the forest and do Akhanda Tapas. His mother at first did not agree, but later gave permission on one important condition that he should appear before her whenever she wished for his-presence. This itself shows how farsighted the parents and the son were. Puranas say that Vyasa took initiation at the hands of his twenty-first Guru, sage Vasudeva. He studied the Sastras under the sages Sanaka and Sanandana and others. He arranged the Vedas for the good of mankind, and wrote the Brahma Sutras for the quick and easy understanding of the Srutis; he also wrote the Mahabharata to enable women, Sudras, and other people of lesser intellect to understand the highest knowledge in the most easy way. He wrote the eighteen Puranas and established the system of teaching them through Upakhyanas or discourses. In this way, he established the three paths, viz., Karma, Upasana and Jnana. To him is also attributed the fact that he continued the line of his mother, and that Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura were his progenies. His last work was the Bhagavata which he undertook at the instigation of Devarshi Narada who once came to him and advised him to write it, as without it, his goal in life would not be reached.
Vyasa is considered by all Hindus as a Chiranjivi, one who is still living and roaming throughout the world for the well-being of his devotees and appears to the true and the faithful. It is said that Jagadguru Sankaracharya had his Darsana in the house of sage Mandanamisra, and that he appeared to many others as well. Thus, in short, he lives for the welfare of the world. Let us pray for his blessings on us all and on the whole world.
THE BRAHMA SUTRAS AND ITS DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS
Everybody knows that there are six important systems of thought developed by our ancients known as the Shad-Darsanas or the Six Orthodox Schools of Philosophy, viz., Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Purva Mimamsa and Uttara Mimamsa or Vedanta. In each system there is a different shade of opinion. Later, these thoughts became unwieldy, and to regulate them the Sutras came into existence. Treatises were written in short aphorisms called Sutras in Sanskrit, meaning, clues for memory or aids to long discussions on every topic. In the Padma Purana, the definition of a Sutra is given, which says that the Sutra should be concise and unambiguous; but the brevity was carried to such an extent that the Sutra has become unintelligible and particularly so with respect to the Brahma Sutras. Today we find the same Sutra being interpreted in a dozen ways. The Brahma Sutras written by Vyasa or Badarayana—for that was the name which he possessed in addition—are also known as Vedanta Sutras as they deal with Vedanta only. They are divided into four chapters, each being subdivided again into four sections. It is interesting to note that they begin and end with Sutras which read together mean, “the inquiry into the real nature of Brahman has no return,” meaning that “going by that way one reaches Immortality,” and that “they no more return to the world.” About the authorship of these Sutras, tradition attributes it to Vyasa. Sankaracharya, in his Bhashya, refers to Vyasa as the author of the Gita and Mahabharata, and to Badarayana as the author of the Brahma Sutras. His followers—Vachaspati, Anandagiri and others—identify the two as one and the same person, while Ramanuja and others attribute the authorship to Vyasa himself. The oldest commentary on the Brahma Sutras is by Sankaracharya; he was later followed by Ramanuja, Vallabha, Nimbarka, Madhva and others who established their own schools of thought. The chief of them who are five in number, as mentioned above, mostly agree on these two points, viz., (1) that Brahman is the cause of this world and (2) that knowledge of Brahman leads to final emancipation. But they differ amongst themselves on the nature of this Brahman, the relation between the individual soul and the Supreme Soul, and the condition of the soul in the state of release. According to some, Bhakti, and not Jnana as interpreted by Sankara, is the chief means of attaining Liberation.
Vyasa’s life is a unique example of one born for the dissemination of spiritual knowledge. His writings still inspire us and the whole world, even to this day. May we all live in the spirit of his writings!