There are two great epics in Hinduism, which are very ancient. They are the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. They embody the manners and customs, the state of society, civilisation etc., of the ancient Indians.
The animal has its happiness in the senses, the human beings in their intellect, and the gods in spiritual contemplation. It is only to the soul that has attained to this contemplative state that the world really becomes beautiful.
-Swami Vivekananda