Mahabharata (including Harivamsa ) and Ramayana , the two great Sanskrit epics central to the whole of Indian culture, form the subject of this work. The book begins by examining the relationship of the epics to the Vedas and the role of the bards who produced them. The core of the work, a study of the linguistic and stylistic features of the epics, precedes the examination of the material culture, the social, economic and political, and the religious aspects. The final chapter presents the wider picture and in conclusion looks into the future of epic studies. In this survey the author synthesizes the results of previous scholarship in the field. Herewith a coherent view is built up of the nature and the significance of these two central epics as a whole.