As Lord Brahma was closing the day and each of his tired heads stooped a bit to rest, an ambitious thought re-occurred to him.
While he had evolved into having 4 heads (5 not counting the one which Shiva cut off), one each to understand each of the 4 vedas….and he indeed believed that he did have a good handle of the vedas, what he needed as help from Vyasa (the “divider” and organizer of the vedas) to also create a guidebook on the human condition.
This “guidebook”, or the need for it, had been niggling at him for over the last 3 months. Eventually he had come to believe while just the vedas would help humans understand the minds and grand design of the Gods, there was also a need for a “guidebook” to help them (humans) wade through the everyday minutiae.
He sent via his emissary, a note to Vyasa, so that a meeting could be arranged in the next few days. And the day did arrive, when Vyasa walked into Brahma’s chambers.
Brahma greeted Vyasa with warm affection of a peer intellectual and after the proverbial niceties, proceeded to elucidate his “need” for the guidebook.
Vyasa pondered for a minute and said “We cannot write rules. Intelligence shall reject rules. We have to explain the frailty of life, and yet highlight the need for values, and this can best be done by an epic story.”
Brahma paused and heard with interest, “….and this story shall be about?......”
Vyasa let the silence be and then cautiously said, “About us, about me, about the Kuru clan, about Vishnu’s detour as Krishna….set in the land of Jaya. We shall call it Jaya and I shall tell the story as it happens with all its failings and grandeur.”
Brahma seemed intrigued, but respected Vyasa’s wisdom completely on these matters.
Vyasa continued
“It shall be about the land of Jaya.
It shall be about the feeling of bhaya (fear)
It shall be about being in laya (order)
It shall be about overcoming maya (charade)
It shall be about knowing the daya (way).”
And then with a big pause he further added,
“This story shall be very long, I will need a scribe. One who shall neither judge me nor the real world characters. One who shall recognize and yet be impartial to the human condition.”
Brahma thought hard and said, “the only person who can write fast and with such wisdom is the intellectually happy Lord Ganesha. I can ask summon him now and ask him if he is willing to help.”
As Vyasa nodded, Brahma sent for Ganesha. The elephant headed Lord happily ambled in, in a few minutes, and was given the context.
Ganesha liked the overall idea, readily acquiesced, but added a few caveats,
“ O Sage, before there were words, there were verses
Before there was this world, there were curses
Before there was a possibility, there were chances
Before there was any movement, there were dances.”
And then added with a flourish,
“For the story to be narrated in truth and bare,
We both will have to work as a synchronized pair,
If you pause and halt as you bring the story to light,
I will too have to stutter and sputter as I write,
And such a story when it is eventually read,
Men will behold and wonder, what really happened, and what parts were figmented in our head,
Hence my request to you, O respected sage,
We write without a rest, and never revisit a page,
When its ready, it should be without a time and age,
For generations, this should be re-enacted on the world’s stage,
As we embark on this documentation of the human condition,
I do want this to be a very honest to God rendition.”
With this litany, Ganesh sat down and began munching on some much needed food. In those brief moments, all three of them looked at each other and smiled. Vyasa sporting the smile of benevolence and happiness, Brahma, the smile of tranqulity and Ganesha, the smile of youthful exuberance.
After the many silent moments, Brahma said,
“The Jaya will indeed be the tale of human greatness,
With you both in charge of this, I feel light and weightless,
For milleniums to come, this shall be the song to sing
In every moment, its truth will be the one to bite and sting,
At every corner, the honesty of this shall ring,
This will be the finality of both duty and beauty – on a prayer and wing”
With these words he whispered a blessing to both Ganesha and Vyasa, and set the wheels of Jaya in motion.
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