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'''Vaishampayana''' ({{lang-sa|वैशंपायन}}, {{IAST|Vaiśampāyana}}) was the traditional narrator of the [[Mahabharata]], one of the two major [[Sanskrit]] [[epic poetry|epics]] of [[History of India|ancient India]]. He was an [[History of India|ancient Indian]] sage who was the original teacher of the ''Krishna [[Yajurveda|Yajur-Veda]]''. The ''Ashvalayana Grihya Sutra'' mentions him as ''Mahabharatacharya''. He is also mentioned in the ''Taittiriya Aranayaka'' and the ''Ashtadhyayi'' of [[Pāṇini]].<ref>Raychaudhuri, H.C. (1972). ''Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty'', Calcutta: University of Calcutta, p.38</ref>

He was a pupil of [[Vyasa]], from whom he learned the ''Jaya'', the original 8,800 verses of the ''Mahabharata''. He later expanded the ''Jaya'' to 24,000 verses under the name ''Bharata'', which he recited to King [[Janamejaya]] at his ''sarpa satra'' (snake sacrifice). The ''[[Harivamsa]]'' is also said to have been recited by him. The full 100,000 verses of the ''Mahabharata'' was not complete until several centuries later.

==Notes==
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==References==
*Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology

{{Rishis of Hindu mythology}}
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[[Category:Characters in the Mahabharata]]
[[Category:Hindu sages]]

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