During the final stage of his life, Vyasa went to the Himalayas and lived in the caves. He immersed himself in deep meditation.

That is when the story of Mahabharata evolved in his mind. As advised by Brahma, he prayed to Lord Vinayaka for help. The Lord agreed to help but laid a condition that Vyasa should narrate the story continuously - without a break. Vyasa agreed to the condition and but laid one of his own: that Vinayaka should understand the meaning of the verses he chants and then write. Vyasa inserted difficult knots in the story, that would take time to untie, and while Vinayaka was trying to understand them, he would use the time to create more slokas.

Thus,Mahabharata which consists of one lakh slokas, was created by Vyasa and written by Vinayaka. Illiad and Odessey, the two great Greek epics of Homer combined are smaller than Mahabharata in content. As Bharatham explains about various factors, it is considered as fifth Veda. (Bharatha: panchamo veda:).

While Vinayaka was writing the epic, it is said his stylus broke and he broke one of his tusks to continue writing. That is the reason why he is called as 'Eka Danthan', it is stated.

Acting on Naradha's advice, Vyasa wrote Bhagavatam and felt at peace with himself. Apart from this, he wrote 'Brahma Sutra' (philosophical book) and wrote the commentary for Patanjali's 'Yoga Sutra'.