Vyāsa Redux

About this book

"KṚSHṆA DVAIPĀYANA PĀRĀIARA, known as Vyāsa, is conceived of by the makers of Epic Mahābhārata as the principle poet of the work, one who envisions both the events and then the poetic practice itself which represents those events; in this he is not only the inventor but is himself an active character within the narrative of the poem, which is paradoxical and introduces an unreasonable dimension to the epic. As such a figure he possesses both foresight and aftersight in that he comprehends the aetiology of incidents and also apprehends their future direction. This double activity is essentially irrational and yet it is this irreducibly various quality of the person"--