Vighneshwara Becomes a Scribe
Why Lord Ganesha was invoked by Maharshi Vyaasa
Sage Vyasa, after conceiving the Mabharatha epic, desired to offer the story to the world and have it recorded for posterity .
He could not do so, by himself. Doing both functions of composing and recording was beyond his power. Narrating the Epic had to be in a non-stop flow. A scribe was needed who could record it wihout a hitch and the Maharshi knew no one who could do it to perfection.
He meditated on Brahma, the Creator, who manifested himself.
Vyasa bowed and prayed ,"Lord, I have conceived a great epic, but I cannot find one who can take down my recitation.
"Brahma replied," I know only only one person who can do this.
"He is Lord Ganesha. "Please pray to him for help".
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Sage Vyasa meditated on Sri Vighneshwara, who appeared.
Vyasa requested: "Lord, I shall dictate the epic of Mahabharatha. Please record it for me.
Sri Ganesha agreed.
Vyasa said "I will narrate the story. You must take it down as fast as I say it and not stop anywhere in between".
Lord Ganesha agreed and replied,"I will do so. But if you hesitate, I will stop writing.
Vyasa agreed to this but added, " I agree. But you must fully understand the meaning of the shlokas as you write and not proceed to write down what you have not undersstood.
Gajaanana agreed and the work began.
Lord Ganesha broke a bit off a tusk to use it for writing
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As they continued, Vyasa found that Sri Ganesha was too fast for him.
He grew breathless.
He now recited the next shloka in a way difficult to understand quickly.
Lord Ganesha stopped for a moment and Vyasa was able to recuperate and proceed.
Whenever such a break was needed Vyasa adopted this ruse until the holy work was completed.
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Our learned pundits can recognise today, among the shlokas of the Mahabharatha, these difficult shlokas conveniently spaced out in the text .
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