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Bhagavadgita
The Epic Period
This refers to the two epics, the
Ramayana, and the Mahabharata,
written by the two sages, Valmiki and
Vyasa respectively.
Though the epics describe events of an
earlier period, they are conjectured to
have been written down in the 6th
century B.C.
For the large part, both epics describe
historical events in the literary style of
poetry. Whenever philosophical issues
arise, they delve into them deeper and
relegate tomes to deal with the issues.
The Ramayana has about 25,000
verses and the Mahabharata has about
100,000 verses, the latter being
considered the longest poem written by
any ancient civilization.
The Ramayana
The Ramayana records the life of Rama, one of the earliest
examples of a philosopher-king.
Taught by the sages Vasishta and Viswamitra, Rama tried to
bring the high ideals taught by the sages into the adminstration
of the country. His idealistic rule was successful for some time
and one refers to it, even now, as rama rajya, indicating a just
rule of the country, in which everyone’s voice is heard and a fair
decision is made. This epic is the first record of an experiment in
democracy.
However, as one can surmise, such idealism in one person or a
few persons alone cannot survive unless that idealism is also
shared by the multitude. It is this conflict that is explored in the
Ramayana.
The Mahabharata
The Mahabharata centers on a conflict between two
people vying for the throne. It describes the
psychological, philosophical, moral and political
struggles of various philosopher-kings who try to put
the Upanishadic teachings into practice.
In the large, the epic can be regarded as addressing
the problem of social justice (dharma) from an
idealistic standpoint.
Apart from the fact that the epic gives us some idea
of the culture of the age, it is often viewed as the
struggle between “good” and “evil”, both in
ourselves and society at large.
The Message of the Upanishads