[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879) › c5.2166 # A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.2166 A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.2166 - **Language:** English ### [c5.2166](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2166) VYĀSA. ‘An arranger.’ This title is common to many old authors and compilers, but it is especially applied to Veda-vyāsa the arranger of the Vedas, who, from the imperishable nature of his work, is also called Sāswatas, ‘the immortal.’ The name is given also to the compiler of the Mahā-bhārata, the founder of the Vedānta philosophy, and the arranger of the Purānas; all these persons being held to be identical with Veda-vyāsa. But this is impossible, and the attribution of all these works to one person has arisen either from a desire to heighten their antiquity and authority, or from the assumed identity of several different “arrangers.” Veda-vyāsa was the illegitimate son of the Rishi Parāsara and Satyavatī, and the child, who was of a dark colour, was brought forth on an island (dwīpa) in the Yamunā. Being illegitimate he was called Kānīna, the ‘bastard;’ from his complexion he received the name Krishna, and from his birthplace he was called Dwaipāyana. His mother afterwards married King Sāntanu, by whom she had two sons. The elder was killed in battle, and the younger, named Vichitra-vīrya, died childless. Krishna Dwaipāyana preferred a life of religious retirement, but in accordance with law and at his mother’s request, he took the two childless widows of her son, Vichitra-vīrya. By them he had two sons, Dhrita-rāshtra and Pāndu, between whose descendants the great war of the Mahā-bhārata was fought. - [Previous: c5.2165](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2165) - [Next: c5.2167](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2167) - [Up: c5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5) ## Cites (1) - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2166](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.2166) · Pramāṇa