Talk:Sanātana Hindu Dharm and its Ṛṣis and Ṛṣikās:Ṛṣi Vedavyāsa

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Vishal Agarwal

The Festival of Guru Pūrṇimā: Birthday of Veda Vyāsa, the Greatest Guru after Bhagavān

The full-moon night in the month of Āṣāḍha in the Hindu calendar is celebrated as the birthday of Sage Veda Vyāsa. Therefore, this day is called Vyāsa Pūrṇimā, where the word Pūrṇimā means ‘full-moon night’. Since Veda Vyāsa was an excellent teacher (guru), his birthday is also celebrated as Guru Pūrṇimā the Teacher’s Full-Moon Night, and traditional Hindus honor their guru-s on this day every year.

Rṣi Veda Vyāsa was born to a fisherwoman named Satyavatī and Rṣi Parāśara. He was very short, dark, and is said to have also been very unattractive. But despite his appearance and his birth from a fisherwoman, he became the greatest ṛṣi of Hindu dharm.

Rishi Veda Vyasa in Deep Contemplation

The life of Rṣi Veda Vyāsa teaches us that no matter who our parents are, and no matter what we look like, we can become great through dedication to study and hard work. We should also try to stop violence and injustice wherever we can.

He re-edited the Veda-s because they were vast in size and difficult for people to master. Therefore, he divided them into four shorter books that we have today. In addition, he composed the Mahābhārata and the eighteen Purāṇa-s, which together contain over 500,000 verses. He also composed many other sacred texts and taught them all to his many students. His students taught their own students, and thus, these texts are still being studied today, after several thousand years.

In this way, Vyāsa was an ideal teacher he composed many sacred works and taught them to many students. If Vyāsa had not lived, Hindu dharm might have looked very different today.

Several major traditions in Hindu dharm claim that they were initiated by Veda Vyāsa. Today, his birthday is celebrated as the festival of Guru Pūrṇimā. On this day, we honor our guru-s by offering them gifts and worshipping them.

A popular stotra that is chanted on this day is the Guru Stotram. Therefore, Guru Pūrṇimā is like a traditional Teacher’s Day, celebrated when there is a full moon (a full-moon night is called Pūrṇimā).

The following are the traditional verses chanted in honor of this great ṛṣi:

OM! Salutations to Veda Vyāsa, the descendent of Vaśiṣṭha Muni
And the sinless grandson of Śakti.
Salutations to the son of Parāśara, to the father of Śukadeva,
To him who is a repository of spiritual austerities.

Salutations to Vyāsa, an incarnation of Viṣṇu.
Salutations to Viṣṇu in the form of Vyāsa!
Salutations to him who is a repository of Brahman and the Vedic lore.
Repeated prostrations to the descendent of Sage Vaśiṣṭha.

Salutations to Vyāsa, who is Brahmā without the four heads,
Who is Viṣṇu without the four arms, who is Śiva without the third eye.
Prostration to Bhagavān Bādarāyaṇa, the teacher of Vedānta.

Veda Vyāsa had four children. The first were a set of three brothers Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu, and Vidura. The fourth was Śukadeva. The story of the first three brothers is found in the Mahābhārata, whereas Śukadeva is an important character in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, another very important Hindu text.

There was great enmity between the evil sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, who were called the Kaurava-s, and the sons of Pāṇḍu, who were called the Pāṇḍava-s. Many times, Veda Vyāsa tried to stop violence and killing and to prevent injustice.

Let us read a story that Veda Vyāsa told to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra after the Kaurava-s cheated the Pāṇḍava-s and robbed them of their kingdom. The Pāṇḍava-s had to leave their home and live in great difficulty in the forest for several years. Right after the Pāṇḍava-s left, Veda Vyāsa arrived at the palace of King Dhṛtarāṣṭra and said the following story to him:

Long ago, Surabhī, who is the mother of all cows and bulls on this earth,
Went to Indra in heaven.
She wept in front of Indra saying,

King of the Deva-s, look at that weak bull my son below on the earth.
He is pulling a plough with another son of mine, a stronger bull.
A farmer is beating him with a stick and twisting his tail
Because he is too weak to pull it along with my stronger son.

Indra said,
There are thousands of sons of yours who are pulling carts and ploughs
For different people on the earth. Then why do you cry only for that one weak son?

The mother cow Surabhī replied,
My Lord, I know that my stronger sons will be able to do their work without pain.
They can take care of themselves. You are correct they are all my own children.
But the heart of the mother always weeps,
And gets filled with love for her weakest children.
And this is the reason why I cry for that weak bull.

Rṣi Veda Vyāsa then said to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: King, Mother Surabhī had a special love for that weak bull, Even though all the cows and bulls on this earth are her children.

After King Pāṇḍu died, you are father not only to the Kaurava-s, But also to the Pāṇḍava-s. The Kaurava-s are one hundred in number; the Pāṇḍava-s are only five. The Kaurava-s have enjoyed life in the palace since their birth, While the Pāṇḍava-s have suffered a lot, even in their childhood.

Even now, due to your partiality, the Pāṇḍava-s are roaming like beggars in the forest. Their clothes are torn, and they have barely enough to eat.

And yet, you still love only the powerful and wealthy Kaurava-s as your sons. Why does not your heart melt at the suffering of the Pāṇḍava-s? Do you not have any compassion in your heart? Where is your sense of justice?

Veda Vyāsa then told King Dhṛtarāṣṭra: King, I can understand your love for your son. But remember that dharm is supreme. You must stop him from doing evil karm. And after all, the Pāṇḍava-s are also your own family. Then why are you allowing Duryodhana to harm them?

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