Description
The Sanskrit Epics fall into two main classes, the one comprising old stories and legends known as ItihÁsa and PurÁÆa and the other comprising poems known as KÁvyam or ‘ornate epics’. The MahÁbhÁrata has exer-cised a great influence on the later PurÁÆas and the RÁmÁyaÆa has served as a model for later court epics of the post-PurÁÆic age.
