Who was the father of the sage Vyasa?

Parashara was the father of the sage Vyasa. In the Mahabharata’s traditional genealogy, Parashara fathered Vyasa with Satyavati before she later married King Shantanu.

The story says that Satyavati was the daughter of a fisherman and ferried people across the Yamuna. During one crossing, she encountered Parashara, a powerful sage. Their union produced Krishna Dvaipayana, later known as Vyasa. Krishna refers to his dark complexion, while Dvaipayana means island-born, recalling the island associated with his birth.

Vyasa became one of the central figures of Hindu sacred and epic tradition. He is traditionally credited with composing or compiling the Mahabharata, arranging the Vedas, and authoring or transmitting numerous Puranic works. Within the Mahabharata itself, he is also a major character and ancestor of both the Pandavas and Kauravas.

Shantanu is a frequent source of confusion because he became Satyavati’s husband and was the grandfather of the Kuru princes, but he was not Vyasa’s biological father. Vichitravirya was Satyavati’s later son by Shantanu and Vyasa’s half-brother.