Courtesy: Sri.Bryan Hill
In the vast realm of saN^skR^ita literature, the mahAbhArata's greatness stays unparalleled. Though it is a paurushheya text - composed by a person, in this case, by the bhagavAn vedavyAsa, it has been given the status of an apaurushheya composition. The shruti itself proclaims:
इतिहासपुराणः पञ्चमो वेदानां वेदः
" Among the vedas, itihAsa and purANa are the fifth veda. "
Another shruti statement:
इतिहासपुराणाभ्यां वेदं समुपबृंहयेत्
" The vedas are to be studied with the asistance of the itihAsa and purANa. "
indicates that without the assistance of the mahAbhArata, it will be impossible to ascertain the true import of the vedas. The very name ' mahAbhArata ' conveys its mahattva - greatness and bhAreN tatatva - pervasion, through its weight. In this regard , shrI AnandatIrtha bhAgavatpadAchArya (also known as shrI madhvAcharya - founder of the dvaita school of thought) quotes in his gItAtAtparya - nirNaya, several verses from the brahmANDa - purANa:
शास्त्रेषु भारतं सारं तत्र नामसहस्रकम् । वैष्णवं कृष्णगीता च तज्ज्ञानान्मुच्यतेऽञ्जसा ॥
न भारतसमं शास्त्रं कुत एवानयोः समम् । भारतं सर्ववेदाश्च तुलामारोपिताः पुरा ॥
देवैः ब्रह्मादिभिः सर्वैः ऋषिभिश्च समन्वितैः । व्यासस्यैवाज्ञया तत्र त्वत्यरिच्यत भारतम् ॥
महत्वाद् भारवत्त्वाच्च महाभारतमुच्यते । निरुक्तमस्य यो वेद सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते ॥
स्वयं नारायणो देवैः ब्रह्मरुद्रेन्द्रपूर्वकैः । अर्थितो व्यासतां प्राप्य केवलं तत्वनिर्णयम् । चकार पञ्चमं वेदं महाभारतसञ्ज्ञितम् ॥
" The bhArata is the quintessence of all the shAstras and in the bhArata, vishhNusahasranAma and the gItA recited by kR^ishhNa are essences of the bhArata. By knowing them one will become completely liberated.
There is no shAstra which is equal to bhArata. When such is the case with the bhArata, how can there be a shAstra which can be equal to these two (vishhNusahasranAma and bhagavadgItA).
Once upon a time, as per the order of Lord vedavyAsa Himself, brahmA and others along with all the gods and sages, weighed mahAbhArata and all the other vedas, in a balance. The mahAbhArata excelled even all the vedas.
The mahAbhArata is so called because of its greatness and weight. He, who knows this etymological meaning of the word, will be free from all the sins.
Lord nArAyaNa Himself, having been requested by brahmA, rudra and the othergods, took the incarnation of Lord vedavyAsa for the sole purpose of determining the nature of the Supreme principle and authored the fifth veda named as the mahAbhArata.
The greatness and weight of the mahAbhArata are due to nothing else but the plenitude of its contents - arthapaushhkalya. shrI madhvAchArya once gave an explanation of an aitareya shruti in a different manner than the conventional meaning. When questioned about it, he explained the plurality of meanings of the shrutis and the mahAbhArata as follows:
त्र्यर्थतां श्रुतिषु वित्त दशार्थं भारतं ननु शतार्थमपि वैष्णवं पदसहस्रतयं हि ।
" You should know that the shrutis have a minimum of three meanings, mahAbhArata has a minimum of ten and the thousand names of Lord vishhNu have at least a hundred. "
This was not just imagination or exaggeration by shrI madhvAchArya. The fact that the mahAbhArata has such meanings beyond the ken of gods such as bR^ihaspati known for their vast knowledge and the plenitude of its meanings is also established by evidence. The upanAradIya - purANa states as follows:
ब्रह्माद्यैः प्रार्थितो विष्णुः भारतं स चकार ह । यस्मिन् दशार्थाः सर्वत्र न ज्ञेयाः सर्वजन्तुभिः ॥
" Lord vishhNu, being requested by brahmA and others authored the mahAbhArata in which there are ten meanings everywhere, which cannot be completely perceived by anyone. "
However, the mahAbhArata which is also known as the fifth veda cannot just be taken at par with the vedas. The great sage bhagavAn vedavyAsa, an incarnation of Lord vishhNu and the author of the mahAbhArata has repeatedly stated therein many things which are not stated in the vedas, but are known only to Him. Hence, the mahAbhArata is even superior to the vedas. Similar to the brahmANDa - purANa text quoted earlier, in the skanda - purANa also we come across the following statement:
भारतं चापि कृतवान् पञ्चमं वेदमुत्तमम् । दशावरार्थं सर्वत्र केवलं विष्णुबोधकम् ॥
परोक्षार्थं तु सर्वत्र वेदादप्युत्तमं तु यत् ॥ इति
" (bhagavAn vedvyAsa) also composed the mahAbhArata, the fifth and the best of the vedas. It has a minimum of ten meanings everywhere and conveys only (the greatness and qualities of) vishhNu. It has hidden meanings everywhere and is (hence) superior to the vedas. "
The mahAbhArata with a minimum of ten meanings also has three meanings froma different perspective and this is also corroborated by the evidence. The difference between the vedas and the mahAbhArata is that while the three meanings of the vedas are the AdhyAtmika, Adhidaivika and Adhibhautika, the mahAbhArata itself says its three meanings are manu, AstIka and uparichara. The Adiparvan of mahAbhArata states:
मन्वादि केचिद् ब्रुवते ह्यास्तिकादि तथाऽपरे । तथोपरिचराद्यन्ये भारतं परिचक्षते ॥
The term manu with the etymology ' मनुते परमात्मानम् अनेन ' (realises the Supreme Being through these) states the five requirements which finally lead to the realization of the Supreme Being. These are - Righteousness (धर्म), devotion etc., the ten virtues(भक्त्यादिदशकम्), listening to the teachings of the preceptor etc., (श्रुतादि), character and humility(शीलविनयौ) and the vedas. Among these, धर्म is represented by yudhishhTHira. The ten virtues are - भक्ति(devotion) ज्ञानं(knowledge) वैराग्यं(detachment), प्रज्ञा(wisdom), मेधा(inteligence), धृतिः(steadfastness), स्थितिः(existence), योगः(meditation), प्राणः(life), and बलम्(strength). These ten virtues are represented by bhImasena. The श्रुतादि is श्रवणं(listening to the teachings of the preceptor), मननम्(reasoning), and ध्यानम्(meditation). arjuna represents these virtues. शील and विनय i.e., character and humility are represented by nakula and sahadeva respectively. draupadI represents the vedas. The mahAbhArata is called मन्वादि as it, with the pretext of narrating the story of the pANDavas, also brings out the significance of the virtues such as धर्म.
The pANDavas are called आस्तिकाः due to their steadfast faith in God. The mahAbhArata narrating their story in its essence is called आस्तिकादि.
The term उपरिचर signifies Lord vishhNu - the Supreme Being. As stated in the स्कान्दपुराण - केवलं विष्णुबोधकम् - the main import of the whole of the mahAbhArata lies with Lord vishhNu. Hence the mahAbhArata in its entirety is considered as उपरिचरादि.
The fact that the bhagavadgItA, a part of the mahAbhArata is considered as one of the three prasthanas (core compositions) in vedAnta darshana, also shows the unique greatness of the mahAbhArata. Keeping in view all these points, the mahAbhArata itself, has declared its uniqueness by the single statement:
यदिहास्ति तदन्यत्र यन्नेहास्ति न तत् क्वचित्
' Whatever is here, is found elsewhere. What is not here, is never found anywhere else. '
Thus, the mahAbhArata is the most unique and is also regarded as इतिहास - history, as it narrates the events that took place in the hoary past. It is also designated and held in high esteem as शास्त्र - philosophy, as it deals with the most profound spiritual truths. Similarly, the mahAbhArata is also appreciated for the best poetry, by the poets, as it conveys sentiments which cause extraordinary delight in the hearts of connoisseurs. This poetic nature of the mahAbhArata prompted AnandavardhanAchArya, one of the greatest critics of literature and a poet himself, to discuss in detail, in his ध्वन्यालोक about the specific sentiment in the mahAbhArata, which can be considered as its soul.
Thus, mahAbhArata in its discussions on the values of life namely dharma, artha, kAma and moxa through innumerable anecdotes, varieties of characters, events, stories and plots that inspired the great poets of this land immensely for centuries, to compose their masterpieces, and also by presenting various philosophical principles that led to the formation of different philosophical schools, has, indeed given rise to the well known saying:
व्यासोच्छिष्ठं जगत्सर्वम्
" The whole universe is just a leftover, after being tasted by Lord vedavyAsa. "
It is unfortunate that this great work which has been so strongly influencing the minds of people, scholars or laymen alike, not only in this country, but also abroad, has many portions deleted and interpolated from time to time. This was also stated by shrI madhvAchArya, more than seven hundred yeras ago, in his mahAbhArata tAtparyanirNaya, which could be considered as the first ever commentary on the entire mahAbhArata and a unique one. These are the words of shrI madhvAchArya based on his own experience after searching for the manuscripts of the mahAbhArata through the length and breadth of this country and visiting many places:
क्वचिद् ग्रन्थान् प्रक्षिपन्ति क्वचिदन्तरितानपि । कुर्युः क्वचिच्च व्यत्यअसं प्रमादात् क्वचिदन्यथा ॥
अनुत्सन्ना अपि ग्रन्था व्याकुला इति सर्वशः । उत्सन्नाः प्रायशः सर्वे कोट्यंशोऽपि न वर्तते ॥
ग्रन्थोऽप्येवं विलुळितः किम्वर्थो देवदुर्गमः । कलावेवं व्याकुलिते निर्णयाय प्रचोदितः ॥
हरिणा निर्णयान् वच्मि विजानंस्तत्प्रसादतः ॥ शास्त्रान्तराणि सञ्जानन् वेदांश्चास्य प्रसादतः ॥
देशे देशे तथा ग्रन्थान् दृष्ट्वा चैव पृथग्विधान् । यथा स भगवान् व्यासः साक्षान्नारायणः प्रभुः ॥
जगाद भारताद्येषु तथा वक्ष्ये तदीक्षया । सङ्क्षेपात् सर्वशास्त्रार्थं भारतार्थानुसारतः ॥
महाभारततात्पर्यनिर्णय २.३ – ८
" In some places, they have interpolated with their own compositions. In some other places some portions are removed. In some instances, changes are made due to sheer misunderstanding. Though the text are not destroyed, they are entirely corrupt. As a matter of fact, most of the texts are lost. When the texts themselves are thus corrupted, what about their meanings, which are difficult to understand even by the gods? In the kali - yuga (age of kali), when the texts are corrupted, being prompted by shrI hari, to bring out the conclusions of the texts, I will state the conclusions of these works, having known their import with His grace and also having known the other shAstras and the vedas. I have studied the work in different sources, in various places of the country, (to arrive at) the(true) mahAbhArata. I will spell out, briefly the purport of the entire shAstra, as composed by Lord vedavyAsa in the mahAbhArata and other works. "
From the Preface of the Shrimahabharatalakshalankara Vol. 1, by D. Prahladacharya
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