Shloka 17
वेदव्यासः, चातुर्होत्रम्, ऋग्वेदशाखाः
Vyāsa’s Veda-division and Ṛgveda lineages
चतुर्धा स बिभेदाथ बाष्कलो निजसंहिताम् बौध्यादिभ्यो ददौ तास् तु शिष्येभ्यः स महामतिः
caturdhā sa bibhedātha bāṣkalo nijasaṃhitām baudhyādibhyo dadau tās tu śiṣyebhyaḥ sa mahāmatiḥ
Then the great-minded Bāṣkala divided his own Saṃhitā into four parts and bestowed those portions upon his disciples, beginning with Baudhya.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Manvantara-era rishis and the orderly transmission/division of Vedic śākhās and saṃhitās
Teaching: Historical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Śruti is safeguarded by disciplined paramparā—division into parts and entrustment to qualified disciples so the Veda remains unbroken.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Preserve teachings through careful study, accurate transmission, and mentorship rather than private innovation.
Vishishtadvaita: Affirms śāstra-pramāṇa as a living, transmitted authority grounding knowledge of the Supreme (Viṣṇu) and dharma.
FAQs
It explains how Vedic knowledge is preserved and propagated through distinct recensions (śākhās), ensuring continuity of dharma through regulated teacher–disciple transmission.
By tracing an explicit lineage of teachers who divide, organize, and hand down textual portions to qualified disciples, forming stable branches of learning across generations.
Even in a historical account of Vedic lineages, the Purana frames orderly transmission as part of cosmic governance—dharma’s continuity ultimately rests on Vishnu as the sustaining Supreme Reality.