Everyone knows about the war in the Mahabharata, but not many know who wrote it. Most people think it was written by the sage Veda Vyasa. However, only a few know that Vyasa just told the story of Mahabharata, while the actual writing was done by Lord Ganesha, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. According to religious stories, when Vyasa wanted to write the Mahabharata, he needed someone who could write without any interruptions. In this sequence, Maharishi Vedavyasa recalled the remarkable skills of Lord Ganesha in knowledge and writing.
Maharshi Veda Vyasa reached Lord Ganesha
Veda Vyasa went to Lord Ganesha and explained why he needed his help. He told Ganesha that the Mahabharata was a very important story with lots of valuable lessons for people to learn. Vedavyasa wanted to make sure that the story was written down accurately so that everyone could understand and learn from it, even for many years to come.
Veda Vyasa asked Ganesha if he would be willing to help him write down the Mahabharata. He knew that with Ganesha’s help, they could make sure that every part of the story was recorded correctly. Vedavyasa hoped that Ganesha would agree to help him, knowing that together, they could preserve the wisdom of the Mahabharata for generations to come.
Lord Ganesha’s Clause for Agreement
Lord Ganesha agreed to write down the story exactly as Sage Vyasa would narrate it. However, Ganesha had a condition for Vyasa i.e. if Vyasa paused, even for a second, during the narration, he would immediately cease writing the story.
Vyasa Counter Clause
After thinking for a while about Ganesha’s clause, Sage Vyasa accepted it but smartly added his counter condition. He agreed that he’d narrate the story without a pause, but he knew about the writing speed of Lord Ganesha which was lightning fast so he added a condition that Ganesha shall comprehend the meaning of each verse completely before writing them down. And Ganesha agreed to this.
Writing process
Sage Vyasa was a wise narrator who knew the Mahabharata inside out. He started narrating the story in the form of verses, explaining every minute detail because he knew the importance of what was being written for future. He knew that it would be a lesson for generations to come.
As Vyasa continued the narration of the story, Lord Ganesha, known for his wisdom, wrote down everything. He didn’t just write quickly; he made sure he understood every word before writing it down. Ganesha wrote with great care and attention to detail to make sure nothing was missed.
Twist and reason for that counter clause by Vyasa
As the days and years passed by the continuous narration sage Vyasa added many double-meaning verses in between to buy some time from the speed of Ganesha’s writing. It used to take some time for even lord Ganesha to understand those double meaning twisted verses and hence Vyasa gets some rest from narration in that time preparing himself for the next verse.
How many verses are there in Mahabharat?
Mahabharat, the super long story, has about 200,000 verses. That’s like a mountain of words!
Just imagine writing a book with that many lines—it would take forever!
How much time it took to write the Epic Mahabharat?
The exact time it took to write the Mahabharata is uncertain and varies depending on different accounts and interpretations. According to traditional beliefs, Sage Vyasa narrated the Mahabharata to Lord Ganesha, who transcribed it, over a period of several years. Some estimates suggest that the process took around three years, while others propose a longer duration. However, the precise timeline remains a subject of debate and speculation among scholars and historians.
Also read:
The Epic Genesis: How the Mahabharata Unfolded Through Time
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