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Shri
Vedavyasa
 Shri
Vedavyasa, the greatest author the mankind has
ever seen, is regarded more as a rishi than an
incarnation of Lord Vishnu. In fact he is
regarded as a partial avatar and is one among 22
avatars of Lord Vishnu. All puranas have praised
him as Lord Vishnu’s incarnation and Shiva
Purana mentions that Lord Shiva had requested
Lord Vishnu to assume this avatar to preserve
and propagate the holy word that is Vedas. Shri
Adi Shankaracharya worships him as Lord Vishnu
while Shri Madhwacharya giving his mantra states
that by worshipping Shri Vyasa alone one will
get all round knowledge.
Shri Vyasa’s message to the humanity
is, “by helping fellow human beings one will
get ‘punya’ and by troubling, one will earn
the sin!” Shri Kashi Math has Shri Vyasa as
one of the presiding deities. Shrimat Sudhindra
Tirth Swamiji of Shri Kashi Math has constructed
temples in Haridwar and Kalpi (the birth place
of Shri Vyasa, near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh) in
memory of the great contributions Shri Vyasa had
made in the field of sacred literature of India.
Guru Poornima is associated with Shri Vyasa who
is regarded as Adi Guru to all the sages and
saints and sanyasis. (pic.
Shri Vyasa in Kashi Math)
From Shri
Vyasaji’s Pen
About
5,000 years ago a sage was born. He was not an
ordinary sage but a sage of sages.
Because of his dark complexion he was
named Krishna and because he was born in an
island near
Kaalpi in the River Yamuna, his name bore an
addition of Dwaipayana. Although he was Krishna
Dwaipayana, later on, on account of his yeoman
services for the preservation and propagation of
Vedas he got the title of Vedavyasa. Even to-day
he is known and worshipped by this name itself.
Besides 18 Puranas and Brahmasutras, Shri
Vyas Dev composed Mahabharat, the longest epic
the mankind has ever seen. This is a vast
treasure house of knowledge known as the 5th
Veda.
(pic.
Infant Vyasa in the lap of mother Satyawati at
Kalpi Temple)
Here are some of the selected
quotations from his immortal pen:
“All
that is told in a thousand holy books I shall
narrate in half a sloka: Helping others will
bring you punya and troubling others will get
you sin.
While
in distress, for a man his wife alone is a good
companion.
Outstretching
my arms, I hereby announce that from Dharma
alone, Artha (wealth) and Kama (desires) can be
gotten. But no one is in a mood to listen to me.
People
living in the Kaliyuga are the most fortunate
ones. Because by chanting God’s name-kirtan-for
one day and one night they will earn the same
amount of punya that is equal to the punya
earned by a person by performing devatarchan
(worship of God) for one month in Dwapara Yuga,
by performing yajna (sacrifice) for one year in
Tretayuga and by performing tapas(austerities)
for twelve years in Kritayuga.
(Pic : Kalpi, Shri Balvedavyasa Mandir)
In
Kaliyuga, the best way to earn God’s grace is
only by chanting devotionally His name.
Every
living being has a right to live. May you be
devoted to the welfare of all the living beings
on this earth.
In
Brahmasutras, aphorisms, in the first four
sutras Shri Vyas Dev tells, “If one desires the liberation he has to know and
understand God from whom the Universe came into
being and who,
and
nobody else is the supporter of this universe
and to know Him only the scriptures are the
right means and there are
no other means to know Him better”.
At
the beginning of the Mahabharata, Shri Vyasa
offers prayers to Lord
Narayana, and Lord Krishna, the Supreme
Being and Arjuna, the hero among human beings besides Mother Goddess Saraswati.
In
the concluding hymn of Shrimat Bhagwat Gita, it
is stated that where there is Lord Krishna and
where there is Arjuna carrying the bow, there
will be victory,
justice
and wealth. Lord Krishna, indirectly means God’s
grace, and Arjuna with bow means human
efforts, and if we have both, then success will
be ours.
“Shri
Vyasa touched upon all subjects known to human
mind and if he has not touched
or missed any subjects
they are the ones that are not existing
at all,”this is what the sages of ancient
times had declared.
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