Vaishampayana

Vaishampayana (Sanskrit: वैशंपायन, Vaiśampāyana) was one of the three to whom the the Indian epic Mahabharata was first narrated by the composer of the epic, Vyasa, in the form of Jaya. He became the first narrator of the epic to humans, when he narrated it to Janamejaya, the great grandson of Arjuna, one of the heroes of the epic, at the snake sacrifice, at the behest of his teacher Vyasa. He also recited Harivamsha to Janamejaya. He  is considered to be the first teacher of the Krishna Yajur-Veda. The Ashvalayana Grihya Sutra mentions him as Mahabharatacharya. He is also mentioned in the Taittiriya Aranyaka and the Ashtadhyayi of Pāṇini.

Comments are closed.