Two of the most well know epics of Hinduism comes to life in this remarkable collection of these two books, The Ramayana & The Mahabharata. Rama is the son of King Dasaratha, but he is also an incarnation of the god Vishnu, born in human form to do battle with the demon lord Ravana. Ravana had obtained divine protection against other demons, and even against the gods - but because he scorned the world of animals and men, he had not asked for protection from them. Therefore, Vishnu incarnated as a human being in order to put a stop to Ravana. King Dasaratha has three other sons besides Rama. There is Lakshmana, who is devoted to Rama. There is also Bharata, the son of Dasaratha's pretty young wife Kaikeyi, and finally there is Satrughna, who is as devoted to Bharata as Lakshmana is to Rama. When Dasaratha grows old, he decides to name Rama as his successor. Queen Kaikeyi, however, is outraged. She manages to compel Dasaratha to name their son Bharata as his successor instead and to send Rama into exile in the forest. Rama agrees to go into exile, and he is accompanied by his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana. When their exile is nearly over, Sita is abducted by the evil Ravana who carries her off to Lanka city (on the island of Sri Lanka). Rama and Lakshmana follow in pursuit, and they are aided by the monkey lord, Hanuman, who is perfectly devoted to Rama. The story of the Mahabharata is an explanation of how the World, the world of the Kali Yuga, came into being, and how things got to be as bad as they are. The Ramayana has its share of suffering and even betrayal, but nothing to match the relentless hatred and vengeance of the Mahabharata. The culmination of the Mahabharata is the Battle of Kurukshetra when two bands of brothers, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, the sons of two brothers and thus cousins to one another, fight each other to death, brutally and cruelly, until the entire race is almost wiped out. The five sons of Pandu, the Pandavas, are the heroes of the story. The eldest is King Yudhishthira. Next is Bhima, an enormously strong fighter with equally enormous appetites. After Bhima is Arjuna, the greatest of the warriors and also the companion of Krishna. The last two are twins, Nakula and Sahadeva. These five brothers share one wife, Draupadi (who became the wife of all five of them by accident). The enemies of the Pandavas are the Kauravas, who are the sons of Pandu's brother, Dhritarashtra. Although Dhritarashtra is still alive, he cannot manage to restrain his son Duryodhana, who bitterly resents the achievements of his cousins, the Pandavas. Duryodhana arranges for his maternal uncle to challenge Yudhishthira to a game of dice, and Yudhishthira gambles everything away, even himself. The Pandavas have to go into exile, but when they return they engage the Kauravas in battle. Krishna fights on the side of the Pandavas, and serves as Arjuna's charioteer. The famous "Song of the Lord," or Bhagavad-Gita, is actually a book within the Mahabharata, as the battle of Kurukshetra begins. When Arjuna faces his cousins on the field of battle, he despairs and sinks down, unable to fight. The Bhagavad-Gita contains the words that Krishna spoke to Arjuna at that moment. There is some historical significance of the story, although we cannot confirm or dismiss the story, it is a wonderful addition to anyone's library collection.