VYASA: LIFE & POEMS Translation & Introduction by Paul Smith The life of the author Vyasa (approximately 200 B.C.) is fascinating. He was the author of and a character in the second great poetic epic of India the Mahabharata. He is responsible for classifying the four Vedas, and wrote the eighteen Puranas. The Mahabharata is often called as the fifth Veda. The most important section is the Bhagavad Gita, the lesson recited to Arjuna by Krishna on...