52 - Branches of the Vedas

Suta said:

1. Formerly, in the present Manvantara, in the first Dvapara yuga, the great lord Svayambhuva Manu himself is considered to be Vyasa.1

1. Vyāsa or the arranger (of the Vedas and the Puranas) is the designation of the person or office-bearer whose job is to classify the mass of Vedic Mantras and divide them into Vedas. This person in-charge carries out this job at the end of each Dvapara Yuga. This sage is regarded as an "incarnation of Vyāsa and the list of such Vyasas is repeated in VP. III. 3. Vayu P. I.23.109-214, Bh. P. I. 4.14-25 and others. 

The Kurma gives the list of the following. 25 persons who carried out the job of Vyasa and came to be considered as the "incarnations" of Vyāsa: 

(1) Svayambhuva Manu (But god Brahma according to VP. III. 3,11 and LP. I. 24.12). (2) Prajapati (His name was Satya according to LP and Vayu P.), (3) Ushanas, (4) Bruhaspati, (5) Savitri, (6) Mrutyu, (7) Indra, (8) Vasishtha, (9) Sarasvata, (10) Tridhaman, (11) Rushabha, (12) Sutejas, (13) Dharma, (14) Suchakshus, (15) Trayyaruni, (16) Dhananjaya (17) Krutanjaya, (18) Rutanjaya, (19) Bharadvaja, (20) Gautama, (21) Vachashravas, (22) Narayana, (23) Trunabindu, (24) Valmiki, (25) Krishna dvaipayana. (It is noteworthy that the names of Vyasas in the 25th and 26th Dvapara Yuga are not mentioned in the Venk. edt. of KP. Varanasi edition names them as Shakti and Parashara who-if similarity in names be not deceptive-may be presumed to be the grandfather and father of Krishna-dvaipayana Vyasa). Venk. edt. brackets a half-verse and mentions the great sage Jatukarnya as the Vyasa in the 27th Dvapara. Other Puranas (and the Varanasi edt. of KP.) mention 28 avataras of Vyasa.

2. At the behest of lord Brahma, he divided the Vedas into many branches. In the second Dvapara, Prajapati was Vedavyasa.

3. Vyasa in the third Dvapara was Ushanas; in the fourth Dvapara, Bruhaspati; in the fifth Dvapara Savitri; in the sixth Dvapara, Mrutyu. 

4. Indra was Vyasa in the seventh Dvapara; Vasishtha in the eighth Dvapara; in the ninth Dvapara, Sarasvata was. Vyāsa and Tridhaman was Vyasa in the tenth Dvapara. 

5. The Vyasas were Rushabha in the eleventh, Sutejas in the twelfth, Dharma in the thirteenth and Suchakshus in the four tenth Dvapara. 

6. Trayyaruni in the fifteenth; Dhananjaya in the sixteenth; Krutanjaya in the seventeenth and Rutanjaya in the eighteenth Dvapara. 

7. Bharadvaja was Vyasa in the nineteenth; Gautama thereafter; Vachashravas in the twenty-first and thereafter Narayana, the great. 

8-10. Trunabindu, in the twenty third, Valmiki thereafter; when the twenty-fifth Dvapara arrived (there was a Vyasa. In the twenty-sixth Dvapara there was another Vyasa—*These two are omitted in the text). The great sage Jatūkarna was Vyasa in the twenty-seventh Dvapara. (In the twenty-eighth Dvapara) Vyasa was Krishna Dvaipayana, son of Parashara. He alone was the demonstrator (propounder) of the Vedas and Puranas.

*The critical edition of KP reads: Panchavimshe tatha Shaktih Sadvimshe tu Parásharah. Shakti was Vyāsa in the twenty-fifth and Parashara in the Twenty sixth.

11. The great Yogin Krishna-Dvaipayana, Hari, the son of Parashara propitiated, realised and eulogised the three-eyed lord Ishana and thanks to his grace,1 the holy sage classified the Vedas.

1. The KP. gives the credit of krishna-Dvaipayana's contribution to Shiva's grace- (a Puranic propaganda of Shiva?)

12-13. He accepted four disciples who were the masters of the Vedas2 viz; Jaimini, Sumantu, Vaishampayana and the fourth sage Paila. I was also his disciple, the fifth one. The great sage made Paila as the reciter of the Rugveda.

2. The following verses give the names of the disciples of Vyasa and their expertise in particular Veda:

Name of the disciple      Name of the Veda mastered

1. Paila                                                         1. Rugveda (21 branches)

2. Vaishampåyana                                  2. Yajurveda (101 branches)

3. Jaimini                                       3. Samaveda (1000 branches)

4. Sumantu                                                4. Atharva (9 branches)

5. Romaharshana                                    5. Puranas (18 works)

In concluding the chapter, the author identifies Omkara with the Vedas. In passing, it may be pointed out that the classification of the Vedas given here is found in other Puranas such as Bh. P. I.4.14-25, VP.. 3.2-31 and in the Mbh. II.63.85-90.

14. He enjoined Vaishampayana as the expounder of the Yajurveda and Jaimini as the expounder of Samaveda. 

15. He accepted the excellent sage Sumantu as the expounder of Atharvaveda. He appointed me to narrate Itihasas and Puranas. 

16. Originally, the Yajurveda was one, but he divided it into four. There are four sacrificial priests who are to perform the Yajnas thereby. 

17. O excellent Brahmanas, it is the work of Adhvaryu to repeat the mantras of the Yajurveda, of the Hotru to recite the mantras of the Rugveda, * of the Udgatru to sing the Saman and of Brahma to accomplish yajna by mantras of the Atharvan.

*Syad agnihotram in the printed text is probably syad rugbhir hotram as the context shows.

18. Then the holy sage composed the Rugveda after extracting it from the Yajna; through the Yajur Mantras he composed Yajurveda and the Samaveda through Saman verses. 

19. Formerly, he divided the Rugveda in twenty-one branches. He composed Yajurveda with a hundred Shakhas (Branches or Sections). 

20. He divided the Samaveda into a thousand branches. Kushaketana (Sage Kushadhvaja?) divided Atharvaveda (v.l. He divided the Atharva in nine branches.)

21. The Holy sage Vyasa composed Puranas with eighteen different volumes. Thus, the original ancient Veda which was one whole became of four parts. 

22. Omkara was born of Brahman, it wipes off all sins and defects. The eternal Vasudeva, the lord, can be known only through the Vedas. 

23. He, the greatest one, is sung by the Vedas; he who knows him is the knower of Vedas; this Vasudeva is the greatest Brahman, the excellent brilliance and bliss. 

24. Vasudeva is Reality, expounded by the words of the Vedas. He is the highest region (goal to be reached). This knowledge is known through the Vedas and it is a sage devoted to the Vedas who knows the Vedas and consequently Vasudeva. 

25. The Supreme Lord who breathed out the Vedas knows the highest unknowable (avedam). The glorious Lord Maheshvara, the embodiment of the Vedas, is realised through the Vedas. 

26. He alone is the object of knowledge and the Veda itself. One is released from Samsara by resorting to him. 

27. The great sage, son of Parashara knows thoroughly this imperishable Veda, Omkara the undecaying Veda, the knowable and the unknowable.