Respected Swamins/Bhagavathas, Humble prostrations. About 10 days back there was a query about Mahabharata-- Who was the first to call it as the fifth Veda? Is there any pramana or evidence? I am giving below the information collected by me . We all know that Vishnu Sahastranamam is part od Mahabharatam. It was recited/told by Sri Bhishma to Yudhistira after the great battle of Kurukshetra. Sri Parasara Bhattar has written Bhagavath Guna darpanam which is Bhasyam to the Sahastranamam. In thr opening sloka Sri Bhattar pays homage to the great sage Vyasa, the author of Mahabharatham. namo naaraayaNopetham krishna dwaipayanathmake yathamushyaayaNa Vedahamahabharathancha panchaamaha. Obeisance to the Lord who took avataram as KrishNa-dwipaayana (Vyasa) who created the vedas, among which the Mahabhartha is the fifth. Parasara Bhattar was the son Kooraththazwan who was the disciple of Sri Ramanuja. Bhattar was appointed as successor by Sri Ramanuja himself when he breathed his last 1137 A.D. So we can say that Bhattar was the first person to give the title of fifth veda to the Mahabharatha and the period was 12th century. In Vaishnava philosophy we accept Vedas, Upanishads, Itihasas, Puranaas, Agamas, SriBhashyam, Smrithis,the entire naalayira divya prabandam, and the teachings of Sri Ramanujar, Sri Desikan, Sri Mamunigal and so on as pranama or evidence when anything is required to be proved under Nyaya sastra. Hence Parasara Bhattar's Bhashyam may also be taken as pramanam. there was another query about Aswattasma-- He was cursed by Vyasa to suffer from an incurable disease, i.e, leprosy life-long. But he had the boon of chiranjeevi already. Perhaps the sage thought that suffering without end would be worse than Death itself and hence his eternal suffering. I am not able to quote authority as I am not having the original Mahabhartham. I may be excused for giving something which is not convincing. Dasoham, T.S. Rajagpalan. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Mother's Day is May 12th! http://shopping.yahoo.com
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