Right at the beginning of the work we read that when he had finished his work Vyāsa began to think of how he could teach it to his disciples. Knowing his concern Brahmā presented himself to. Upon seeing the Creator Vyāsa reverentially circumambulated him and said: “O Divine! I have composed a poem where I have explained the secrets of the Vedas and many other topics such as the rituals of the Upanishads with the Aṅgas, the Purāṇas, and other matters such as varṇāashrama rules, asceticism, duties of a religious student, dimensions of the sun and the moon, planets and stars and constellations as well as the duration of yugas. The three Vedas and Adhyātma, philosophical systems like Nyāya, and much more. But I cannot find a scribe to write down all this.” Thereupon, Brahmā lauded the accomplishment and suggested Gaṇēsha as the scribe.
[Here we see described the predicament of every author. First, the author has an idea which he has well developed in his mind. Now he/she needs the materials to put it all in writing. For this he needs the resources. Lord Gaṇēsha symbolizes these indispensable props for writing any book. Then again, Vyāsa wants to teach them to his disciples. This is symbolic of the idea that any writer wants to reach many interested readers. Finally, we may take Vyāsa’s appeal to Brahamā was a writer approaching a publisher with the book proposal.]
Spurts of Thought 