Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/40

6 Sauti said, "Brahma having thus spoken to Vyasa, retired to his own abode. Then Vyasa began to call to his remembrance Ganesa. And Ganesa, obviator of obstacles, ready to fulfil the desires of his votaries, was no sooner thought of, than he repaired to the place where Vyasa was seated. And when he had been saluted, and was seated, Vyasa addressed him thus:—'O guide of the ganas! be thou the writer of the Bharata which I have formed in my imagination, and which I am about to repeat.'

"Ganesa, upon hearing this address, thus answered:—'I will become the writer of thy work, provided my pen do not for a moment cease writing.' And Vyasa said unto that divinity, 'Wherever there be any thing thou dost not comprehend, cease to continue writing.' Ganesa having signified his assent, by repeating the word Om! proceeded to write; and Vyasa began; and, by way of diversion, he knit the knots of composition exceeding close; by doing which, he dictated this work according to his engagement.

"I am (continued Sauti) acquainted with eight thousand eight hundred verses, and so is Suka, and, perhaps, Sanjaya. From the mysteriousness of their meaning, O Muni, no one is able, to this day, to penetrate those closely knit difficult slokas. Even the omniscient Ganesa took a moment to consider; while Vyasa, however, continued to compose other verses in great abundance.

"The wisdom of this work, like unto an instrument for applying collyrium, hath opened the eyes of the inquisitive world, blinded by the darkness of ignorance. As the sun dispelleth the darkness so doth the Bharata by its discourses on religion, profit, pleasure and final release, dispell the ignorance of men. As the full moon by its mild light expandeth the buds of the so this Puran, by exposing the light of the Sruti hath expanded the human intellect. By the lamp of history, which destroyeth the darkness of ignorance, the whole mansion of the womb of nature is properly and completely illuminated.

"This work is a tree, of which the chapter of contents is the seed; the divisions called Pauloma and Astika are the root; the part called Sambhava is the trunk; the books called Sabha and Aranya are the roosting perches; the book called Arani is the knitting knots; the books called Virata and Udyoga