Ved Vyasa composed the Jaya/Bharata/Mahabharata in his mind first…. Well we don’t have any other option except current Mahabharata, so basis on that I’m trying to analyse, When Mahabharata were written and composed by Krishna Dwipayana with Ganesha. It was composed over a span of more than 1000 years, perhaps between 800 BCE and 400 ACE. For what it is worth, there are there are scholars who have used statistical tests to try and identify the multiple authors of the Mahabharata.Īs we are certain there were multiple authors rather than a single one, the question of when the Mahabharata was composed is somewhat pointless. Having composed the Puranas, Krishna Dvaipayana taught them to his disciple Lomaharshana. Incidentally, the stories of the Puranas are recounted by Lomaharshana, without Vaishampayana intruding. Sometimes it is Vaishampayana and sometimes it is Lomaharshana. Within the text therefore, two people are telling the tale. Much later, the sages assembled for a sacrifice in Naimisharanya and asked Lomaharshana (alternatively, Romaharshana) to recite what he had heard at Janamejaya’s snake-sacrifice. However, there is another round of recounting too.
That’s the background against which the epic is recited. Janamejaya also wanted to know why Parikshit had been killed by the serpent. 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. When Parikshit was killed by a serpent, Janamejaya organized a snake-sacrifice to destroy the serpents. Having composed the Mahabharata, he taught it to his disciple Vaishampayana. He composed the eighteen Maha Puranas, adding another 400,000 shlokas. Krishna Dvaipayana composed Mahabharata in 100,000 Shlokas, and he didn’t rest even after that. 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.Ĭurrent Mahabharata is not solely composed by Krishna Dvaipayana, it is the result of numerous narrations, manipulation, additions, interpolations, publications (LOL) etc. Multiple authors kept adding layers and embellishing it. But the text was not composed and cast in stone at a single point in time. According to popular belief and according to what the Mahabharata itself states, it was composed by Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa (Vyasadeva). Each such person obtains the title and there have been twenty-eight Vyasadevas so far.Īt one level, the question about who composed the Mahabharata is a pointless. Once in a while, in accordance with the needs of the era, the Vedas need to be classified. Vedavyasa or Vyasadeva isn’t a proper name. He was so named because he classified (vyasa) the Vedas. Jaya (Originally not available) aka Bharata (Originally not available) aka Mahabharata (Originally not available) Vedavyasa or Vyasadeva. The Ramayana was composed by Valmiki, regarded as the first poet or kavi. The epics are part of the smriti tradition. They were recited, heard, memorized and passed down through the generations. At the time they were composed, there was no question of texts being written down. That tradition is like revelation, without any composer.
The epics are not part of the shruti tradition. Well before we go further, we should to know about the Shruti and Smirti tradition. Note: Current Mahabharata is not written by Veda Vyasa, it means we don’t have original Mahabharata. There was no Book (composition) Named Jaya with 8800 Shlokas (Will explain it). By the way, we don’t have any Mahabharata right now which have 100,000 Shokas.Īgain, Jaya aka Bharata aka Mahabharata was composed by Krishna Dvaipayana in two sets, first composition had 100,000 (with Upakhayanyas) Shlokas and 2 nd had 24000 Shlokas and both were called as Jaya, Bharata and Mahabharata. There are general thoughts that Jaya had 8,800 Shlokas, Bharata with 24,000 Shlokas and Mahabharata were composed in 100,000 Shlokas. These all are same and composed by Veda Vyasa aka Krishna Dvaipayana and got different name due different reasons (Will explain). Jaya, Bharata and Mahabharata are not different versions of Mahabharata at all. We all have numerous discussion regarding Jaya, Bharata and Mahabharata and which was written first and when and who wrote it.įorgot the current Mahabharata ( KMG, Gita Press, BORI and others), I’m talking about ancient Mahabharata with current references.