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A 5,000 year old lesson about great story telling
By Aneeta Sundararaj
Approximately 5,000 years ago, there was a great story teller called Veda Vyasa. By all accounts facts about him can be most confusing and are often contradictory. Nevertheless, the most lasting impression of him is that he was a person who knew how to tell a great story for he narrated one of the two great epics of Hindu Mythology, The Mahabharat.
'Vyasa' is said to mean 'person who splits'. Therefore, 'Veda Vyasa' is said to refer to the person who 'Split the Vedas', 'Vedas' being the holy scriptures of the Hindu people. Some think that he was the son of Satyavati, a ferryman's daughter, and the wandering sage Parashara. He was born on an island in the River Yamuna. This would, therefore, make him the step-brother of the grand-sire of The Mahabharat, Bhishma. He is also said to have been the was the grandfather of both the warring parties of The Mahabharat, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Vyasa is said to be the father of the Princes Dhritarashtra and Pandu (by Ambika and Ambalika, the wives of King Vichitravirya).
Many years after the war at Kurukshetra, Lord Brahma appeared to Vyasa. Vyasa received him with due respect and in time, Vyasa asked Lord Brahma, "What brings you all the way to my hermitage?"
"There is something only you can do, Vyasa," said Lord Brahma.
"What is that?" asked Vyasa.
"You have witnessed the great war at Kurukshetra; you knew intimately all the heroes who lived in those days. You knew of everything that happened. It will be an excellent thing if you write the story of the Mahabharata,” replied Lord Brahma.
"That is true... and I will agree to do it. However, I cannot undertake this task alone. I will need someone who can assist me. Do you know of anyone who can assist in this task? " Vyasa asked.
Lord Brahma suggested Lord Ganesh, the son of Shiva and Parvati.
Vyasa agreed and Lord Brahma left in great joy.
A few days later Lord Ganesha came to Vyasa's ashrama.
After the customary salutations, the narration was about to begin when Lord Ganesh laid down a condition - he said, "My Lord, you should not stop the narration at any point, The story must flow without pause. I shall write it down as smoothly as one gulps down a cup of water. If you stop at any point, I will give up my job and go away."
Vyasa accepted the challenge but not before laying down his own conditions. He said,
"Yes, I accept your conditions. But you should understand every word before you set it down."
Lord Ganesh accepted the challenge and the narration began.
As Vyasa dictated, Lord Ganesh would take it down. However, to give himself a breather, Vyasa would often recite a difficult stanza. Lord Ganesh would be forced to consider the stanza before writing it down. The time taken by Lord Ganesh to understand the stanza would be used by Vyasa to consider the next verse and also give him time to rest.
Another rather interesting story is about Lord Ganesh and why he has only one tusk. For those who do not know, Lord Ganesh is the rather portly god with an elephant head that Hindus pray to as he is considered the remover of all obstacles.
It is said that in the midst of taking down the recitations of Vyasa, Lord Ganesh's quill broke. So as not to interrupt the flow of Vyasa's recitation, Lord Ganesh broke his tusk and used it instead to continue taking down the stanzas.
Vyasa was present during the time of The Mahabharat. He knew the characters intimately and he had first had experiences of some of the situations, conflicts and drama that occurred. He was present when the Great War happened and could describe some of the machinery and vehicles of war used. He described the measurement of time in that period so well that even today, 5,000 years later there a scholars around the world who debate these issues. Therefore, the single most important lesson about great story telling we learn form Veda Vyasa is that one should always tell a story about something that he/she knows!
Word Count: 701 words
Keywords: tell a great story, hindu mythology, 5,000 years ago, Veda Vyasa, important rule about telling stories, Government of Ancient India, the challenges of advocacy and mediation, bhagavad gita - arjuna conversation with Krishna,
Story Telling Traditions, compare love marriage arranged marriage,
Hindu mythology airplane, Ancient India and the caste system,
Leaders in ancient India, hindu royal class caste system, Ancient Indian Epics info, mahabharata short summary, stories for story telling
If you have comments about this article, by all means, please send an e-mail to Aneeta Sundararaj at editor@howtotellagreatstory.com
If you found the article you have just read interesting, you may be interested in 'The Hindu Mythology Forum', an online forum that is part of my website, http://www.howtotellagreatstory.com . You'll not only discover other mythological stories, you will also discover discussions about topics like fairy tales and gender stereotypes, arranged marriages, karma and dharma, reincarnation in Christianity and so much more. You must be a member of this forum if you have any interest at all in anything to do with mythology.
About the Author
Aneeta Sundararaj, is the author of two 'traditional' books entitled 'The Banana Leaf Men' and 'Mad Heaven: the biography of Tan Sri Dato' Seri Dr. M. Mahadevan'. She is also the author of the comprehensive interactive course, 'How To Tell A Great Story' which is designed to teach people the exact secrets, tips, techniques and strategies to narrate interesting topics like fairy tales and gender stereotypes using magical stories from The Mahabharat in minutes. This course, together with membership to an online forum focusing on mythology is available at http://www.howtotellagreatstory.com .
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