The festival marks the birth of the Hindu sage Veda Vyasa who compiled the Vedic hymns into their four books: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda.
Veda Vyasa also wrote the Puranas (vedic lore) and Mahabarata (moral epic) to help Hindus understand the Vedas better. His name, “Vyasa” literally means “Compiler”.
According to the Puranas, Veda Vyasa is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who took shape in the 2nd age called Dwarpa Yuga. He divided and categorized the Vedas to make them easier for humans to understand and wrote the Puranas and Mahabarata to reveal the secrets of the Vedas and make their moral teachings on human conduct more clear to the average human being.
Vyasa Divides Vedas
“Parashar says- During each Dwapar Yuga, in every Kalpa, Lord Vishnu takes incarnation as Veda Vyasa and effects the division of Vedas for the benefit of human beings.” – (Vishnu Purana)
Vyasa Writes Puranas to Help Us Understand Vedas
The four Vedas emerged from the mouth of Lord Brahma, on the basis of which were created the numerous scriptures like Vedangs etc. Since these Vedas were difficult to understand, therefore lord Vishnu took incarnation of Vyasa and created the Puranas, so that they could be understood easily. - (Shiva Purana)
Vyasa Writes Mahabarata to Teach Humans Norms
In the great epic Mahabharata, which was created by Veda Vyasa, description of Dharma, Arth, Kama and Moksha appears to be intertwined at times and at other times, it appears to be separate from one another. Veda Vyasa had described the norms, the stages and the means to perform the duties in all the four stages. This epic contains cryptic knowledge of Vedas. – (Markandeya Purana)
Because Vyasa was a great Guru to humankind, his birthday, Vyasa Purnima, is also known as “Guru Purnima” and is a date used in Hindu tradition to celebrate and thank the Gurus who have passed on Vedic knowledge to our current generation.
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