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.
This world is nothing. It is at best only a hideous caricature, a shadow of the Reality. We must go to the Reality. Renunciation will take us to It.
-Swami Vivekananda