Parāśara, the revered sage, spoke to Maitreya about the sacred lineage of knowledge and the unfolding of the Veda. He revealed that in the Dvāpara Yuga yet to come, Drauṇi would become Vyāsa, just as his own son, Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana, had become Vyāsa in their time. Turning his mind to the heart of all knowledge, Parāśara described the one-syllabled Brahman, established as the sacred sound ‘Om’. Because of its greatness and its power to expand, it is called Brahman. This eternal Pranava, Om, is also enshrined in the syllables ‘bhūḥ’, ‘bhuvaḥ’, and ‘svaḥ’—the essence of the Ṛg, Yajus, Sāma, and Atharva Vedas. To that Brahman, Parāśara offered his reverence. He continued, honoring that which is named the cause of creation and dissolution, the supreme and most secret, beyond even the great. Parāśara bowed to that sublime Brahman, the unfathomable, boundless, imperishable abode that bewilders the world, whose very light and activity fulfill all human pursuits. This Brahman, he said, is the foundation for the knowers of Sāṃkhya and the path for the self-controlled; it is imperceptible, immortal, eternal, and the very source of all activity. It is the primordial substance and the source of the self, residing in the cave of the heart—undivided, pure, imperishable, and yet manifold in nature. To this supreme Brahman, the true form of Vāsudeva, the Supreme Self, Parāśara offered constant reverence. He explained that this Brahman, the Lord, is threefold in distinction and yet undivided. Though it appears divided to those of divided understanding, in truth, it remains whole in all distinctions. This Lord is composed of Ṛg, Sāma, and Yajus—the very essence of all. He is the soul of the Vedas and the self of all embodied beings. Being the embodiment of the Veda, he divides himself and makes the Veda manifold in many branches. The Blessed One, free from attachment, is the very form of knowledge in all these branches. Parāśara then spoke of the original Veda, which was fourfold and consisted of one hundred thousand verses. From this vast source, all sacrifice arose, ten times greater, and the very essence of all chants. In the twenty-eighth cycle, his son Vyāsa, the great sage, divided this single, fourfold Veda into four parts. Just as Vyāsa had divided the Vedas, so too had all other Vyāsas before him, and so had Parāśara himself. Thus, he urged Maitreya to understand the divisions and branches of the Vedas, established in all the four ages. He revealed a profound truth: the dark-complexioned Dvaipāyana Vyāsa is none other than Nārāyaṇa, the Lord himself. Who else on earth, Parāśara asked, could be the author of the Mahābhārata? It was by this great-souled son that the Vedas were divided in the Dvāpara age. Parāśara invited Maitreya to listen to how this was truly accomplished. Vyāsa, commanded by Brahmā, began the division of the Vedas. He selected four disciples who had mastered the Vedas: Paila for the Ṛgveda, Vaiśampāyana for the Yajurveda, Jaimini for the Sāmaveda, and Sumantu for the Atharvaveda. For the Itihāsa and Purāṇas, he took Romaharṣaṇa, the Sūta, as his disciple. Originally, there was only one Yajurveda, but Vyāsa divided it into four parts, from which the fourfold priesthood arose, and then he performed the sacrifice. With the Yajus mantras, he established the office of Adhvaryu; with the Ṛg mantras, the Hotṛ; with the Sāma mantras, the Udgātṛ; and with the Atharva mantras, the Brāhmaṇa. Thus, he separated the mantras of each Veda, forming the Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, and Sāmaveda, and by means of the Atharvaveda, he caused all royal rituals to be performed and established the office of Brāhmaṇa as appropriate. From this one great tree of the Veda, Vyāsa brought forth four branches, just as branches spring from a trunk. Paila, entrusted with the Ṛgveda, divided it into two collections, giving one to Indrapramati and the other to Bāskala. Bāskala further divided his collection into four parts, which he gave to his disciples, beginning with Baudha. Sages such as Baudhya, Agnimaṭhara, Uddālaka, Yājñavalkya, and Parāśara each took up their own branch from that school. Indrapramati taught the Saṃhitā to his son Māṇḍūkāya, and from his disciples and their disciples, that Saṃhitā was studied. Māṇḍūkāya composed five Saṃhitās, which he gave to his disciples: Mudugala, Gomukha, Vātsya, Śālīya, and Śiśira. Śākapūrṇi composed three Saṃhitās, while the noble sage Ujvatu created the Nirukta. Krauñca, Vaitālika, and the wise Balāka were also creators of the Nirukta, being learned in the Veda and its limbs. From these branches, further sub-branches arose, and Bāskali composed three other Saṃhitās, giving them to his disciples Kālāyani, Gārgya, and Kathājava. Thus, the many Saṃhitās and those who set them forth were described. Parāśara then spoke of Vaiśampāyana, the wise disciple of Vyāsa, who composed twenty-seven branches of the Yajur Veda. These he gave to his disciples, who received them in succession. Among them was Yājñavalkya, the son of Brahmarāta, a sage learned in righteousness and always devoted to serving his teacher—a sage who, Parāśara noted, would not come to the assembly on Mahāmeru that day. In this way, Parāśara recounted the divine unfolding of the Veda, the sacred divisions, the noble teachers and their disciples, and the eternal, all-pervading Brahman at the heart of all knowledge.