“Mahabharata” (“The Great Tale of the Descendants of Bharata”) is one of the largest literary works in the world, uniting epic narratives, short stories, fables, parables, legends, arguments, myths, hymns, consists of eighteen books and contains more than 75 000 couplets, which is several times longer than the Iliad and Odyssey combined. The Mahabharata is the source of many plots and images that have been developed in the literature of the peoples of South and Southeast Asia. The Ramayana (The Journey of Rama) is an ancient Indian epic, the author of which is considered to be the legendary sage Valmiki, one of the most important sacred texts of Hinduism . The images of the Ramayana have inspired many Indian writers and thinkers: from Kalidasa to Mahatma Gandhi. The Great Epic influenced literature, visual arts, theater and dance and became an integral part of the culture not only of India, but of the whole world.