Annexure 1

Vedās and Sāstras

The monosyllabic ‘Ohm’ of Brahma embodied all knowledge, which was entrusted in it's entirety to the sage Vyāsa (meaning editor, compiler, according to Minor, 1982) and charged to arrange the Vedas. Vedas are ‘Śruti’ literature believed to have been revealed or discovered when the ancient sages placed themselves in touch with reality (Rice, 1988). As such, the Vedas belong to the history of the world and to the history of India, and are from a time with no records. It is believed that Vishnu took the form of Vyāsa. Again, it is repeatedly told that the Vedas are eternal, beginning less and not made of man. At every Dwapara age, Vishnu took the form of Vyasa for the benefit of mankind, divided and then sub-divided the Vedas so that mankind, with its limited prowess and energy, could understand them. The form in which Vishnu divided the Vedas is named Veda-Vyāsa (Dutt, 1894, pp. 171–173; Vishnu. 3.1). Vyāsa charged four of his disciples who were proficient in these works to undertake the task. They were Paila, Vaisampāyana, Jaimini and Sumanta. Each of these disciples went on to write one Veda. Their disciples in turn and there were many – divided and subdivided and wrote many additional texts and in many forms and versions. Vyāsa also took Suta or Suka, named Lomaharshana, as his disciple in writing Itihasa and the Purānās.