The monograph explores the origin and features of the ancient Indian epic - Mahabharata and Ramayana, traces the path that Mahabharata has taken from the epic heroic to the didactic, and Ramayana from the heroic to the so-called "artificial." The "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana" are considered against the background of a wide typological comparison with other epic monuments of antiquity and the Middle Ages, as well as folklore epic tradition.