Question

How Maharshi Vyasa knew all the story of Mahabharata?

Answer

We believe the Great epic Mahabharatha was written by the great sage Veda Vyasa. He was the grandfather of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He had great powers of meditation and hence lived a very long life (One of the Immortals). He lived even after all his grandchildren – the Pandavas and the Kauravas had died.

अश्वत्थामा बलिव्र्यासो हनूमांश्च विभीषण:। कृप: परशुरामश्च सप्तएतै चिरजीविन:॥

सप्तैतान् संस्मरेन्नित्यं मार्कण्डेयमथाष्टमम्। जीवेद्वर्षशतं सोपि सर्वव्याधिविवर्जित॥

Ashwathaama Balirvyaaso Hanumanshcha Vibheeshanaha Krupaha Parshuramascha Saptaitey Chiranjivinaha Saptaitaan Samsmareynnityam Markandeymathaashtamam Jivedvarshshatam Sopi Sarvavyadhivivarjit

The above lines mean that by daily remembering these 8 immortals (Ashwatthama, King Bali, Veda Vyasa, Hanuman, Vibhishan, Kripacharya, Parashuram and Rishi Markandaya.

Veda Vyasa is one of eight Immortals according to our Hindu Scriptures. He lived through all the 5 generation

There is real story behind Who wrote the Mahabharatha?

Once when Veda Vyasa was meditating in the Himalayas, the God of creation – Lord Brahma appeared before him. Brahma asked Veda Vyasa to write the story of Mahabharatha. Brahma told Veda Vyasa that as he had seen the entire story and knew all the characters intimately, he was the best person to write the story. However Veda Vyasa was perturbed when he heard this. He knew that the Mahabharatha was a very complex story. He could not compose and write such a huge story at the same time. He needed somebody's help to write the story.

Brahma told Veda Vyasa to ask Lord Ganesha – the elephant headed God, for help. He knew that Vyasa was capable of composing the epic at a very fast pace. In order to test Vyasa, he imposed a very novel condition. Veda Vyasa knew that Lord Ganesha being the God of Knowledge would take down the narration very fast. He smiled and asked a favour of Lord Ganesha. He said that Lord Ganesha was not to write anything unless he understood the meaning of what was narrated to him. Lord Ganesha smiled and accepted the condition.

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Thus Veda Vyasa began narrating the story and Lord Ganesha wrote down the story accurately. Whenever the sage needed some rest, he would compose a stanza (a verse) with a very difficult meaning. Lord Ganesha would ponder over the meaning of the stanza, while the sage refreshed himself, or composed more stanzas. The 'pen' with which Lord Ganesha started writing the story was not able to keep up with the pace of the two of them. Lord Ganesha was writing the story so fast that the pen broke! However Lord Ganesha did not stop writing, he just broke one of his tusks and started writing with it. That is the reason Lord Ganesha is seen in most of the pictures with only one tusk and the broken tusk in his hand. Thus, though the Mahabharatha was the longest story ever written, it was written in a total of three years!

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