The Mahabharata and the Ramayana are epic poems in the Hindu religion that are popular among people for their entertainment, philosophical, and moral lessons. The tales in the two epic poems have been passed from one generation to another across different cultures in India and South Asia. Both poems have offered and continue to offer valuable lessons and points of reference in matters relating to conduct, statecraft, family, and societal values. Notably, the two poems do not prescribe particular human conduct. Instead, they tell stories that provide examples for the audience to consider, reflect, and apply according to the contexts of their lives. For example, most of the interesting and memorable tales in the poems involve warfare. An examination of the factors provoking the wars in these poems and the manner in which these wars are resolved reveals the likely objectives of the two poems. It appears that these two poems guide the audiences on the ways of conduct during war and peace, and the ways of propagating love, virtue, and justice during times of conflict. At the same time, the notable villains in the poems are characteristically greedy, lustful, and covetous. This essay briefly examines the two poems with a view of proving the significance of each poem in the Hindu religion. Imperatively, the independent analysis of each poem considers the subtle differences in the contents of the poems.
The Mahabharata
This poem, purportedly composed between 300BC and 300AD, is renowned as the longest epic in the world literature. The original versions contained approximately 100, 000 2-line stanzas although the modern versions have approximately 89,000 2-line stanzas. The literal greatness of the Mahabharata in terms of length is evidenced by the fact that it surpasses Homer&rsquo