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.
Those who die, merely suffering the woes of life like cats and dogs, are they human beings? The worthy are those who, even when agitated by the sharp interaction of pleasure and pain, are discriminating and, knowing them to be of an evanescent nature, become passionately devoted to the Atman. This is all the difference between human beings and animals.
-Swami Vivekananda