Story 13 - Birth of Vedavyasa

What is the story about?

The story heralds the birth of Vedavyasa who has written this great episode ‘Mahabharata’. Mahabharata is also known as Panchama Veda (the fifth Veda) since it discusses the nuances of Vedic dictums in easy and logical way for the sake of common populace. The stories of Mahabharata are illustrations to the great Vedic thoughts.

The story discusses Yashti Pravesam tradition which has been followed for many years in India by the kings at the time of coronation. ¹

Background of the Story

The sarpayāga of Janamejaya came to an and with the intervention of Rishi Aāstīka. By the same time Vedavyasa entered the court of Janamejaya. He was received with all reverence by the king and his deputies. Later Janamejaya requested sage Vedavyasa to narrate the entire story of his forefathers and the great conflict of Kurukshetra.

Vedavyasa looked at his disciple Vysampayana and ordered him to narrate the story in the court of Janamejaya. Everyone in the royal court was inquisitive to hear the Kuru heroes’ story and the eventual Kurukshetra war. Vysampayana started the narration.

The romance of Uparichara Vasu with Girika

 Once upon a time there lived a mighty king by name Uparichara Vasu (उपरिचर वसु ) ruling Chedi desa (the present day Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh). As he was very much inclined and interested in tapas, he renounced his kingdom and started doing tapas. The Gods were agitated as they could see the dharma declining in the absence of danda (the fear of king’s force) in his empire.

They approached the king and Indra said, ‘Oh king! In your absence, the people are falling prey to evil practices and adharma. You are my good friend upon the earth. I advise you to go back to your kingdom and establish dharma’. Then Indra presented an aeroplane made of crystal (which can fly in the air as per his wish) and Indramāla (a special garland by which he can attain extraordinary powers and can ward off the arrows). Indra also presented him a Venu Yashti (a special wooden stick which persecutes evil people and protect dharmic people).

Uparichara Vasu was very much pleased and obliged the advice of Indra. He erected a great platform and firmly fixed the Venu Yashti and performed a great puja in honour of Indra. On the orders of the king, the Yashti was decked with flower garlands and coconuts were offered. Indra was pleased by the offerings, and he declared, ‘From now on, kings who perform Yashti puja before ascending thrones shall rule their countries with peace and attain victories with ease’.

Having firmly placed in the kingdom, Uparichara Vasu used to roam in the air in his newly acquired aeroplane. One day he saw Suktimati (a small river) in deep trouble.  Kolāhala, a mountain saw Suktimati and fell in love with her. He wanted to catch hold of Suktimati and obstructed her passage. The king came down and kicked Kolāhala with all force and saved Suktimati. But, by the time she became pregnant by the mountain and she delivered two children who, in no time, grew big and bowed to their mother, Suktimati. How can the river Suktimati take care of her children? She presented both of them to Uparichara Vasu. The son of Suktimati was made Senapathi (commandant of royal army) and the daughter, Girika became the wife of Uparichara Vasu.

Girika was such a beautiful and romantic lady that she had bewitched the king, and the king could not leave her even for a moment. But alas! Before the king had his nuptial pleasure, there was a call from his father. His father ordered him to go to forest for hunting wild animals which had become a great menace to the populace. Uparichara Vasu had no choice. He left his darling in the house and set out to forest. It was spring season and the king saw the mating birds appear to mock at him.

He had arrows in the hands, but the mind was fixed to Girika. He was dreaming in the daytime without sleep, and he experienced retaḥskalanam (रेतःस्कलनम् – the semen discharge). He thought, ‘Let not my retas get wasted, nor my wife’s रितुकाल् (period of fertility)’. He collected his semen into a leaf bowl and sent it to his wife through an eagle.

The eagle was flying in the sky with the leaf bowl and encountered with another eagle trying to snatch away the leaf bowl. While they were fighting in the sky, the leaf bowl fell into a river and the retas got mixed into river water. A fish swallowed the semen and in due course of time gave birth to two children – one male and one female. The fish was none other than an apsara who was cursed for some reason by Lord Brahma to become a fish. She was relieved of her curse, and she left for her loka.

The king heard the news and picked up his two children. He gave the girl to Dāsarāju, the chief of fisher men tribe and asked him to nurture the child. Since the girl came out from the womb of a fish, her odour was that of a fish and people could feel her odour from a long distance. Dāsarāju named the girl as Satyavati but people use to call her as Matsyagandhi since her odour was that of a fish. The boy was made yuvarāj and eventually he became the king of Matsyadesa.

Sage Parāśara meeting Satyavati – the birth of sage Vedavyasa.

Satyavati grew up in the fisherman house and by the time she became adolescent, she was exceptionally beautiful. She was assisting her father in navigating the boats across the river. One day she was alone in the boat and sage Parāśara requisitioned her services for crossing the river.

While they were in the midst of the river, Parāśara could see her beautiful smiling face with all glean and glory. He could not control the pangs of love. He approached her and asked to fulfil his wish.

संगमं मम कळ्याणी कुरुष्वेत्यभ्यभाषत |
साब्रवीत् पश्य भगवान् पारावारे स्थितान् ऋषीन् || – Adiparva 63.72 ²

(‘Oh Lady! You fulfil my wish’, thus he expressed his desire. She said, ‘Hey Bhagavan! Look at those rishis sitting near the shore’).

‘How can our union happen when many eyes are watching at us?’ Parāśara respected her sentiment and created a cloud of thick fog around the boat. It was suddenly dark, and she bent her head with shy.

‘Hey Bhagavan! I am a virgin and under the control of my father. If my virginity is spoiled, how can I go home and show my face to my father?’ Parāśara blessed her and said, ‘You shall remain as a virgin, and it is my assurance. You can ask any other boon’.

She requested that she should be rid of the foul fish odour. Parāśara was happy to bless her with natural fragrance and from then onwards, her fragrance can be recognised by people for a yojana distance. She, thus, became Yojana Gandhi (Yojana is equivalent to 12 kilometers & Gandhi is lady with aroma).

Satyavathi (Yojana Gandhi) was very happy, and she united with him with all feminine virtues. The union resulted in ‘sadyogarbham’ (the instantaneous birth of a child), and a boy was born. Immediately he grew into adulthood and set out to Himalayas for tapas. Since he was born in द्वीपं- dvīpaṃ, he was named as Dvaipāyana (later he was known as Vedavyasa). He promised his mother that he would appear before her whenever she wishes to see him.

Satyavathi came back to her house and Dāsarāju was surprised at the aroma of his daughter.

‘Oh father! Today I met with a rishi by name Parāśara. He is the son of sage Sakti who in turn is the son of great sage Vasishta. He blessed me with this fragrance’. Dāsarāju felt very happy at the turn of events.

Vedavyasa and his contribution

 Vedavyasa is the author and also an actor in Mahabharata. Mahabharata is called as Panchama Veda since it is equivalent to four Vedas in propagation and promotion of dharma. Dharma, Artha, Kāma and Moksha are elaborately discussed in this story in tune with Vedic philosophy. The chapters dealing with Bhagavad Gita, Sanatsujatiyam,Vidura Niti, Yaksha Prasnas, & Vishnu Sahasranama made  Mahabharata an immortal work bequeathed by Vedavyasa to subsequent generations.

धर्मेचार्थेच कामेच मोक्षेच भरतर्षभ
यदिहास्ति तदन्यत्र यन्नेहास्ति न तत् क्वचित् – Adi Parva 62.53 ³

(Whatever is there in Mahabharata is there any where; and what is not hear is not anywhere).

Apart from Mahabharata, Vedavyasa also authored his magnum opus, BRAHMA SUTRAs and all the one hundred eight Puranas.

He is credited with dividing and classifying all Vedic mantras into four parts – Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda & Adharvana Veda. Due to this very reason, Dvaipāyana came to be known as Vedavyasa.

Thus, Vysampayana concluded the story of Veda Vyasa and proceeded to narrate the story of Mahabharata.

Points to Ponder

1. Venu Yashti is a bamboo stick presented to Uparichara Vasu by Lord Indra. In this story we see that the king established it on high pedestal and performed puja. The practice of performing Yashti puja is a great tradition in kingly families. Great kings of Bharat used to perform Yashti puja before ascending to the thrones till kingship got into extinction after the advent of Independence.
2. Virginity is one more important aspect of this story. How can the virginity remain sacred after the union with the partner? Gods and great rishis possess ashta siddis (eight divine powers) ⁴ by means of which they can perform supernatural things.
   वाचा दृष्ट्या तथा स्पर्शात्संघर्षणेति पंचधा
   मनुष्य धर्मोदैवेन धर्मेणहि नदुष्यति- Asramavasa Parvam, Mahabharatam
   (Gods and rishis can pregnant a lady by the power of their sankalpa,words,looks, touch and/or physical union – five ways of making a lady pregnant . Human dharma cannot become impure by Daiva dharma). The union of Parāśara with Satyavathi might be anyone of the first four ways.
3. ‘Whatever is there in Mahabharata is there any where; and what is not hear is not anywhere’. This statement does not mean all modern sciences such as physics, chemistry, medicine etc. It should be construed that whatever existing knowledge of that time was available in the book of Mahabharata and one need not search for knowledge from anywhere.