The Hindu epic poem Mahabharata by itself is ten times longer than both the Iliad and Odyssey combined. Not only does the Mahabharata have tales of heroic exploits and derring-do, but it also contains complex and sophisticated philosophical writings. In fact, the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most important Hindu religious texts, is itself a section of the Mahabharata.
The Puranas are another collection of writings in Sanskrit. These texts preserve myths alongside works of philosophy and cosmology and writings about topics such as dance and yoga. One important source of stories about the Hindu god Krishna is the Bhagavata Purana, one of the Mahapuranas or greater Purana texts.
Tales from the Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana make for lively reading. However, more than that, they also give us a window into important Hindu ideas about Dharma, a complex concept that involves law, custom, and both social and cosmic order, as well as philosophies of good and evil. In some of these stories, we learn that what we might think of as evil might not be quite as bad as we think and that even supposedly evil beings can have rich inner lives and sophisticated thoughts about the meaning of life and the places these beings have in the universe.
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