Lesser Known Facts About Maharishi Vedvyas

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Maharishi Vedvyas was the sage who authored the longest epic ever, the Mahabharata; who wrote the Vedas, as well as the Puranas. How did he gain that power to know the past and to predict the future? How did he become the knower of everything?

Did he get some blessing from the almighty, did he undertake a difficult penance and pleased the God, or was he born with this incredible knowledge of morals and the Dharma? Maharishi Vedvyas, whom everybody knows today as one of the most revered sage, gave some of the most precious books ever to the Hindu community.

Today, we are going to share some unknown facts about this sage.

Hinduism mentions seven immortals, known as the seven Chiranjeevi (immortals). Maharishi Vedvyas was one among these. Read on to know more.

1. Birth

He is believed to have been born as the son of Satyavati and Parashar. Satyavati was the adopted daughter of a fisherman, named Dushraj, and Parashar was a wandering sage. Parashar is known to be the author of the first Purana, Vishnu Purana.

There are two views regarding the birth of Maharishi Vedvyas. According to the first one, he was born in Nepal, in the district Tunahun. Since the name of the municipality is Vedh, it is believed he was named after the name of the birth place.

The other story about the birth of Rishi Vedvyas says that he was born in Uttar Pradesh, on an island near the river Yamuna. Because of this story, he is also known as Dwaipayana, the one born on an island.

2. Dhritarashtra, Pandu And Vidura Born Due To His Blessings

It is said that it was his blessings which brought both Dhritarashtra and Pandu into this world. When the husbands of Ambika, and Ambalika had died, they went to Vedvyas, who gave them a boon, and as a result, Ambika gave birth to Dhritarashtra and Ambalika gave birth to Pandu. Not just this, Vidura is also believed to have been born due to his blessings.

3. Vishnu Purana

Vishnu Purana mentions that Vedvyas refers to those avataras (incarnations) of Lord Vishnu, who are the compilers of the Vedas. Twenty eight such incarnations have been born until now. Hence, this is another reason why he is known as Vedvyas.

4. Association With Basara Region Of Telangana

The place Basara, in Telangana, is believed to be the place where Maharishi Vedvyas decided to settle down, along with his disciples and sage Vishwamitra, after the war of Mahabharata. He used to pray and offer his daily worship there, due to which the place came to be known as Vasara. It later changed to Basara due to the Marathi influence.

5. His Previous Birth

It is believed that Maharishi Vyas possessed the knowledge of the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Dharmashastras (holy books of the Hindus) since last birth. It is said that he was the sage Apantaratmas, a devotee of Lord Vishnu in his last birth. Due to a boon from Lord Vishnu, he was born as Vedvyas.

6. He Was Born With Blessings

According to one story, Rishi Parashar had performed a hard penance, pleased by which Lord Shiva gave him the blessing that his son would be a Brahmarshi, and that he would become famous because of his excellence in knowledge. Hence, Maharishi Vyas was born possessing the divine boons and blessings.