They were perhaps whispers of God, or maybe insights of the wise. They gave the world meaning and life a purpose. These chants relieved Vedana, the yearning of the restless human soul, hence became collectively known as the Veda. Those who heard them first came to be known as the Rishis. 

The Veda reveals the creation of a society by the Rishis where everything had a place and it changed with rhythmic regularity. Everything was interconnected and everything was cyclical. The point of existence in this dynamic, ever-changing world then was not to aspire or achieve, but to introspect. 

Krishna Dwaipayana which means the dark child who was born on a river island. A fisherwoman’s son, born out of wedlock, took it upon himself to compile the scattered hymns. His father was Parasara, grandson of the great Vasishtha, one of the seven Rishis who heard the Veda first. In time, Krishna Dwaipayana became known as Veda Vyasa, compiler of the books of wisdom. 

The original composition in the Sanskrit language runs to one hundred thousand stanzas in verse, thus making it the longest composition in the world: in sheer quantity eight times longer than The Iliad and The Odyssey put together. 

This tale of heroism, persecution and intrigue must have passed into ballads or similar modes of popular entertainment.

Vyasa’s epic was originally entitled Jaya, which means triumph or victory. When the vision of it came to him through the grace of Brahma, the Creator, Vyasa needed someone to take it down as he recited. Ganesha, the god with elephant head, accepted the assignment on one condition - that there should be no pause in the dictation. The author accepted this condition, provided that Ganesha realised and understood the meaning of every word before putting it down in writing. 

Vyasa kept up his dictation at a breathless speed, and Ganesha took it down with matching zest. When, at one point, his stylus failed, he broke off one of his tusks and continued the writing. The composer, whenever he found his amanuensis outrunning him, checked his speed by composing, here and there, passages - terse, packed and concentrated - which would force him to pause to get at the meaning. There are several passages in The Mahabharata which convey layers of meaning depending upon the stress and syllabification while reciting them aloud. 

Vyasa’s tale Jaya had sixty portions. Of these, only one part reached humans through Vyasa’s student, Vaisampayana. Thus no one really knows everything that Vyasa narrated and Ganesha wrote down. 

Vyasa classified the hymns and created four collections - Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. On completing this monumental task, Vyasa had this inexplicable urge to write a story, one that would convey the most abstract of Vedic truths to the simplest of men in the farthest corners of the world in the most concrete of forms. The gods liked the idea and sent Ganesha to serve as his scribe. 

Ganesha ensured that what Vyasa dictated was not adulterated by human prejudice, in return Vyasa ensured that all that was written appealed to the divine. 

The characters of Vyasa’s tale were people he knew. The villains, the Kauravas, were in fact his own grandchildren.

Jaya became Bharata at the next stage, when Vaisampayana, who listened to the original narrative from Vyasa himself, conveyed it to an assembly of listeners at the court of Janamejaya. The work acquired considerable volume at this stage, swollen to about fifty thousand stanzas. Vaisampayana narrated Vyasa’s tale at the yagna of Janamejaya, the great grandson of the Pandava Arjuna. This was overheard by a Sauti or bard called Romaharshana, who passed it onto his son Ugrashrava, who narrated it to Shonak and the other sages of the Naimisha Forest. 

Vyasa also narrated the story to his son, the parrot - headed Suka, who narrated it to Parikshit, Janamejaya’s father, comforting him with its wisdom as he lay dying. 

Jamini, another of Vyasa’s students, also heard his teacher’s tale, but he was confused. Since Vyasa was not around to clarify his doubts, Jamini decided to approach Markandeya, a Rishi blessed with long life, who had witnessed the events that had inspired Vyasa’s tale. Unfortunately, by the time Jamini found Markandeya, the sage had renounced speech as part of his decision to renounce the world. Markandeya’s pupils then directed Jamini to four birds who had witnessed the war at Kuru-kshetra. The mother of these birds was flying over the battlefield when she was struck by an arrow that ripped open her womb. Four eggs fell out and fell upon the ground. The ground was bloodsoaked, hence soft. The eggs did not break. The bell of a war elephant fell on top of them and protected them through the battle. When they discovered after the war, the Rishis realised the birds had heard much during the war and knew more than most humans. Their perspective and insights will be unique. The birds were given the gift of human speech. Thus blessed, these birds were able to talk and clarify Jamini’s doubts. 

New tales were added to Vyasa’s tale. The story grew from a tiny sapling into a vast tree with many branches. At first it was about an idea. Then the idea changed and it came to be known as Vijaya. Before long it became not about people. It was retitled Bharata, the story of the Bharata clan and the land they ruled. 

The story of the expansion continued. Detailed conversations on genealogy, history, geography, astrology, politics, economics, philosophy and metaphysics were included. The Bharata came to have eighteen chapters and over a hundred thousand verses. Even the story of Krishna’s early years, the Harivamsa, was added as an appendix. That is how the Bharata came to be the Mahabharata, the ‘great’ epic of the Indian people.

The Mahabharata has been retold a hundred thousand times in temples, courtyards and village fairs in various languages, in different forms, by dancers, singers, painters, wandering minstrels and learned scholars. 

The epic is a treasure house of varied interests. It is a great tale with well - defined characters who talk and act with robustness and zest - heroes and villains, saints and kings, women of beauty, all displaying great human qualities, superhuman endurance, depths of sinister qualities as well as power, satanic hates and intrigues - all presented against an impressive background of ancient royal capitals, forests and mountains. 

The very sound of Sanskrit has a hypnotic quality which is inevitably lost in translation, its rhythm and depth. It has been transformed into a story form from prose narrative. 

Vyasa not only composed the narrative, but being aware of the past and future of all his characters, helps them with solutions when they find themselves in a dilemma. Sometimes he may see into the future and emphasise the inevitability of certain coming events, making his heroes resign themselves to their fate. 

This work opens the eyes of the world blinded by ignorance. As the sun dispels darkness, so does Bharata by its exposition of religion, duty, action, contemplation and so forth. As the full moon by shedding soft light helps the buds of the lotus to open, so this Purana by its exposition expands the human intellect. The lamp of history illuminates the ‘ whole mansion of the womb of Nature.’ 

• Vyasa .