Dvāpara Vyāsas: The Twenty-Eight Vyāsas

A Vyāsa is “one who arranges”. In the Purāṇas, a Vyāsa is the great teacher who divides, arranges and hands on the eternal Vedas. According to the Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa’s account of the ages of the universe, in every Dvāpara Yuga (the third of the four ages) Bhagavān Viṣṇu-Nārāyaṇa appears as a Vyāsa. In the present Vaivasvata Manvantara (the age of the present Manu) there are twenty-eight Dvāpara Yugas, and each has its own Vyāsa.

The twenty-fifth of these is Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana, the son of Parāśara. He divided the Veda into the four saṃhitās (collections), composed the Itihāsas and Purāṇas, and appointed five great śiṣyas (disciples) to pass this knowledge on to the world.

The Idea of the Dvāpara Vyāsa

The Vedas are eternal and have no fixed form. But in each Dvāpara Yuga they need a mahātmā (great soul) to divide them, arrange them and hand them on to human society, through śākhās (branches of Vedic recitation) and lines of disciples. This is the work of the Vyāsa. The Kūrma Purāṇa says:

“Kṛṣṇadvaipāyanaḥ vyāsaḥ svayam eva nārāyaṇa-viṣṇu-svarūpa eva”: Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana the Vyāsa is himself a direct form of Nārāyaṇa-Viṣṇu.

It also says that Bhagavān Hari takes birth fully by his own will. The original Parabrahman, Nārāyaṇa, cannot be known even by the devatās and ṛṣis; only Bhagavān Vyāsa-Nārāyaṇa himself knows it.

The Vyāsas of the Dvāpara Yugas

The Kūrma Purāṇa lists the Vyāsa of each Dvāpara Yuga in the present cycle:

Note: the text names the Vyāsas of the Dvāparas from the first to about the twenty-fifth, giving the earlier ones in order.

Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana: The Twenty-Fifth Vyāsa

The Vyāsa of the twenty-fifth Dvāpara is Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana, born to the great ṛṣi Parāśara and Satyavatī, who was known as Matsyagandhā. He is described as a direct svarūpāntara (another form) of Nārāyaṇa.

What He Did

Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana first pleased Parameśvara Śaṅkara (Śiva) through pūjā and stuti (hymns of praise). By Śiva’s anugraha (grace), he gained the power to divide and spread the Vedas fully. He then:

1. Divided the one undivided Veda, which at first was a single whole with four pādas (parts), into four saṃhitās.
2. Set up the fourfold system of yajña (sacred offering) that goes with the four Vedas.
3. Arranged twenty-one śākhās of the Ṛgveda.
4. Arranged one hundred śākhās of the Yajurveda.
5. Arranged one thousand śākhās of the Sāmaveda.
6. Arranged the Atharvaveda in its various divisions.
7. Created the Purāṇa literature in eighteen parts.

His Five Śiṣyas

Having composed and arranged this great treasure, Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana chose five great śiṣyas and shared the Vedas among them:

1. Paila: given the Ṛgveda
2. Vaiśampāyana: given the Yajurveda (to hand on as the ādhvaryava, the duties of the adhvaryu priest)
3. Jaimini: given the Sāmaveda
4. Sumantu: given the Atharvaveda
5. Sūta (Romaharṣaṇa): given the Itihāsas and Purāṇas

Bhagavān Kūrma himself says that the Sūta who tells the Purāṇas is a form of Viṣṇu, born as a Sūta to hand on the collection of the Purāṇas.

Number of Branches

The Deeper Meaning

The Kūrma Purāṇa stresses that the whole Veda, eternal, made of akṣaras (imperishable syllables) and one in nature with Oṃ, is the breath of Parameśvara. Its final meaning is Bhagavān Vāsudeva himself:

“Bhagavān Vāsudeva is known through the Vedas. He is the paramapurāṇa-puruṣa who is sung by the Vedas. One who knows him is a true veda-vid.”

It adds that the one who knows the Vedas comes to know, through the Vedas, the Paramātmā who is beyond the Vedas, who has made the Vedas his very out-breath.

So the work of every Dvāpara Vyāsa is not only about texts. It serves the whole universe: to bring the light of Brahman within reach of bound souls in each cycle of time.

The Vāyu Purāṇa’s Account of the Division of the Veda

Chapter 60 of the Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa (titled Mahāsthāna-tīrtha-varṇana) gives a separate, detailed account of the veda-vibhāga (division of the Veda) that adds to the Kūrma Purāṇa’s telling. Here the setting is the Svāyambhuva Manvantara. After the Dvāpara Yuga passes, Brahmā speaks to Manu:

“O Mahāmati! Due to yuga-doṣa, all the dvijātis (brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas) will become alpavīryas (of diminished power). The Vedas must be brought out from within the people and taught again so that veda-vināśa (destruction of the Veda) does not occur. If the Veda is destroyed, yajña is destroyed; if yajña is destroyed, devas are destroyed; if devas are destroyed, sarvanāśa (destruction of everything) follows.”

Brahmā told Manu to arrange for the Vedas to be taught again. In the Svāyambhuva Manvantara, the original Veda was catuṣpāda (four-footed) and one lakh (100,000) ślokas long. It is described as ten times larger in its first form, before it was divided.

Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana’s Mission

In the present age, the Dvāpara of the Vaivasvata Manvantara, the Pārāśarya (son of Parāśara), Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, declared to be an aṃśa (portion) of Viṣṇu, was chosen through Brahmā’s inspiration to divide the Veda and take five disciples. The five are the same as in the other accounts: Paila (Ṛgveda), Vaiśampāyana (Yajurveda), Jaimini (Sāmaveda), Sumantu (Atharvaveda) and Lomaharṣaṇa (Itihāsas and Purāṇas).

The Disciples of Lomaharṣaṇa

The Vāyu Purāṇa alone gives the full list of Lomaharṣaṇa Sūta’s disciples: Ātreya, Sumati, Dhīmanta, Kāśyapa, Akṛtavraṇa, Bhāradvāja, Agnivarṇa, Vasiṣṭha, Mitrāyu, Sāvarṇi, Somadatta, Suśarman and Śāṃśapāyana. Lomaharṣaṇa says: “O brahman! These are my students; steadfast in vrata in the Purāṇas.” Three of them, Kāśyapa, Sāvarṇi and Śāṃśapāyana, composed three saṃhitās. Together with the original pūrva-saṃhitā (the Saumikā), these make four collections of the Purāṇas in all.

Counts of Vedic Verses

The Vāyu Purāṇa gives exact counts for each Veda:

These counts keep alive an ancient Vedic tradition of carefully counting the verses of the sacred texts.

Sources

• Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 13
• Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 51
• Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 52
• Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 60