Hinduism/Books
Ramayana[edit | edit source]
Ramayana is an Epic Hindu Text.
If the Mahabharata seems to be about normal flawed human beings with their insecurities and jealousies, the Ramayana is about utopian ideals and lofty principles. Ramayana creates the perfect: the virtuous elder brother, the obedient, ever-devoted younger brothers and the self-sacrificing, ever-loving wife. All those who appear to be flawed in some way – like Dhashratha, the father of lord Rama, Keikeyi, the step-mother, and above all Ravana the villain – seem to have been put in the story only as examples of how-not-to-be and to enhance the goodness of the principle characters.
Mahabharata[edit | edit source]
The Mahabharata, originally called Jaya - (victory)
The Mahabharata, perhaps with some justification, is said to be the longest poem in the world. 100,000 stanzas strong, the epic has a story which is as relevant to the world today as it was then. If the Greek Epics - Iliad and the Odyssey - are considered to be long, then it wouldn’t be amiss to mention that the Mahabharata is eight times longer than Homer’s two epics – combined!
Ramayana and Mahabharata[edit | edit source]
Tradition has it that the Ramayana (see Ramayana) was written at the date much earlier than the Mahabharata. History, however, tells another tale. Polyandry was an early Aryan concept. Further, the Ramayana talks about the southern peninsula, which had not been penetrated into in the time of the Mahabharata.