Vyasa and Ganesh

Here's another short clip from interviews I gave while in Thailand. I was asked about Vyasa and the Mahabharata.

One of the books that was highly recommended to my by Shridhar Maharaja was a work by Bhaktivinoda Thakura, entitled, "Sri Krsna Samhita," where an attempt is made to explain the philosophical aspects of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Here's Bhaktivinoda on Vyasadeva:

When the one Veda became greatly expanded, then Vyasadeva, after duly considering the subjects, divided the Veda into four and wrote them in book form. This took place a few years before King Yudhisthira s reign. Then Vyasadeva s disciples divided those words among themselves. Those rsis, who were disciples of Vyasadeva, then divided the four Vedas into different branches so that people could easily study them. It should be now understood that the Rg, Sama, and Yajur Vedas are the most widely respected and quoted. It seems that all the ancient verses were compiled in these three Vedas. But we cannot neglect the Atharva Veda due to considering it modern, because in the Brhad aranyaka Upanisad (0.5.11) the following verse is found: asya mahato bhutasya nisvasitam etad yad rg vedo y-aj ur vedah -sama vedo t-harvangirasa itihasah puranam vidya upanisadah slokah sutranyanuvyakhyananyasyai vaitani sarvani nisvasitani "The Rg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda, the Itihasas, or histories, the Puranas, the Upanisads, the slokas, or mantras chanted by the brahmanas, the sutras, or accumulations of Vedic statements, as well as vidya, transcendental knowledge, and the explanations of the sutras and mantras are all emanations from the breathing of the great Personality of Godhead." The Brhad aranyaka cannot be considered modern because it was composed before the writings of Vyasadeva. In the above-mentioned verse there is a description of the histories and Puranas, which are both Vedic literatures that contain ancient topics similar to those found in the Vedas. Whatever arguments Jaimini Rsi presented in order to establish the Vedas as eternal are all for the benefit of the neophytes. Swanlike personalities should accept the purport of swanlike Jaimini s teachings. The purport of his teachings is as follows: All truths discovered are related to the Supreme Lord, therefore they are eternal. Those who describe the Vedic truths as temporary by citing the examples kikata, naicasaka, and pramangada are not aspiring to understand the truth. This is Jaimini s conclusion.
(Sri Krsna Samhita, Introduction)