Akademik

(or Vedavyasa)

   Vyasa (arranger or compiler) is the sage or RISHI who compiled all the VEDAS. He did not “write”them—they are eternal MANTRAS that are received by different rishis in different eras, as the world is re-created. He is identified with the Vyasa who recited the ancient MAHABHARATA story to the god GANESHA, who wrote it down. In the Mahabharata Vyasa is also called Krishna Dvaipayana. The Vedavyasa who composed the most commonly consulted Sanskrit commentary on the YOGA SUTRA is also considered to be the same person.

   Further reading: Bruce Sullivan, Krsna Dvaipanaya Vyasa and the Mahabharata: A New Interpretation (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1990); ———, “The Religious Authority of the Mahabharata: Vyasa and Brahma in the Hindu Scriptural Tradition,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 62, no. 2 (1994): 377–401; ———, “The Unworshipped Avatar: Vyasa’s Relationship to Vishnu and Brahma,” Journal of Vaisnava Studies 4 (Summer 1996): 57–64.