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Brahmin
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p i c M y t h o l o g y
Of later origin than the Vedas and the Upanishads are the
great Epics Ramayana,
Mahabharata and the Bhagavadgita.
Ramayana and Mahabharata celebrate the legendary actions of their respective
heroes, Rama (Ramachandra) and Krishna who appear as mortal men and considered
as incarnations of lord Vishnu. The Bhagavadgita is a small but most popular part of the
Mahabharata. It is the subject of numerous commentaries by scholars both Indian
and Western. These epics are also widely read and revered by Hindus.
Most Hindus know the themes, of the Epics.
Puranas
Puranas meaning old tales, of more recent origin than the Upanishads, and written in verse form, praise the powers of the trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. There are eighteen Puranas containing 400,000 couplets. Of these the Skanda purana is the longest with 81,000 and the Brahma Purana the shortest with 10,000 couplets.
Brahma, Brahmanda, Brahma-vaivarta, Bhavishya, Markandeya and Vamana Puranas are dedicated to Brahma.
To Vishnu are dedicated Bhagavata, Garuda, Naradiya, Padma, Varaha and Vishnu Puranas.
Those dedicated to Shiva are, Agni, Kurma, Linga, Matsya, Shiva and Skanda Puranas.
Bhagavata Purana, that deals with the
incarnation
of Vishnu
as Krishna is the most popular.