Epics
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Ramayan: Created by Maharishi Valmiki. Consists of 24,000 verses in seven books (Kandas) and 500 sargas) and tells the story of Rama. Verses in the Ramayana are written in a 32-syllable meter called anustubh and ranges in 50000 lines in total. Valmiki is also regarded as India's First Poet. Father Kamil Bulke, author of Ramakatha, has identified over 300 variants of Ramayana. It inspired Tulsikrita Ramayan "Ram Charit Manas" in 1576 by Tulsi Das.
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Mahabharta: The Mahabharta is attributed to Maharishi Vyas and the tale known as Bharta is a shorter version of 24,000 verses, while the Mahabharta contains 1 Lakh verses and 1.8 million words which makes it 10 times longer than "Iliad and Odyssey combined" and 4 times of Ramayana.
