From time to time, the Mahabharata became known by different names. Here is its journey from Jaya to Mahabharat.
1. Jaya
When Vyasa first wrote the Mahabharata with the help of Ganesha, his entire focus was on the Yuddha (war) and the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. He named it Jaya, meaning “Universal Victory,” as it was telling the story of Dharma winning over the Adharma.
Then it was also called Vijaya means the individual victory as It was the history of Pandava winning over Kauravas.
2. Bharat
People became more curious to know how the “Puru” dynasty, one of the greatest ruling dynasties, ended this way. As a result, more stories related to the Pandavas and Kauravas were added to address the root cause that led to this great war of the time. After all the Mahabharat is the sequence of events, one led to another. When Vaishampayana narrated the story to Janamejaya, the great-grandson of Arjuna, it was called Bharata, as it told the story of the Bharata clan and the land they ruled.
3. Mahabharat
Later, with the Story of the Bharat clan, some teachings from the great personalities and their events of life were also added. When Ugrasrava narrated the story in Naimisharanya, it expanded to include 100,000 shlokas (verses), adding genealogy, politics, and the story of Krishna. At this stage, it was finally called Mahabharata, meaning “The Great Story of the Bharata Dynasty.”
In the End…
However, to date, no separate manuscripts of Jaya or Bharata have been found.
In the Adi Parva, Vaishampayana himself tells Janamejaya that these 100,000 shlokas were composed by Vyasa, the son of Satyavati.