...P^3.1

Let's try to untangle this web. Vyasa composed the epic and Ganesha wrote it down. Vyasa then taught the epic orally to Vaisampayana who narrated it to Sauti and to Janamejaya, the grandson of the heroes of the Mahabharata. Sauti now tells it to the world. The oral story is passed down for centuries until someone somewhere writes it all down again in Sanskrit. In effect then, there are three versions - the one scribed by Ganesha, the one that passed through Sauti and was written down, and finally the oral version.

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... seed ^4.1

Here and elsewhere, the Mahabharata seems to believe only the sperm is required for creation.

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... swayamvara ^5.1

Swayamvara: a ceremony in which a young woman chose her husband. Usually, a lot of men were invited and the girl was allowed to observe them, make her choice and announce it to the assembled group.

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... Mahabharata ^6.1

This is a half-hearted attempt to link a totally extraneous thread of Brahmin-Kshatriya rivalries into the main story of the Mahabharata. The convoluted way in which the curse of the Brahmin () is made relevant to the story - Devayani is made to marry Yayati, one of the Pandavas' ancestors - is rather pathetic. I would have left out the whole Devayani story except that one of its threads () is a charming tale. - VL

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