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.
I am the thread that runs through all these pearls, and each pearl is a religion or even a sect thereof. Such are the different pearls, and God is the thread that runs through all of them; most people, however, are entirely unconscious of it.
-Swami Vivekananda