 Itihasas
Itihasa literally
means history in Sanskrit.
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Friendly Treatises and the Commanding Treatises : There are four books
under this heading: The Valmiki-Ramayana, the Yogavasishtha, The Mahabharata
and the Harivamsa. These embody all that is in the Vedas, but only in a
simpler manner. These are called the Suhrit-Samhitas or the Friendly Treatises,
while the Vedas are called the Prabhu-Samhitas or the Commanding Treatises
with great authority. These works explain the great universal truths in
the form of historical narratives, stories and dialogues
Source: Excerpt from "All About Hinduism"
by Sri Swami Sivananda - http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Itihasas/id/22610
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A
proper interpretation of the Itihasas and the Puranas would be to regard
them as the works of gifted seers, who availed themselves of certain ancient
or recent historical and religious traditions and wove those traditions
into narratives, anecdotes, episodes and homilies, these works reflecting
and reproducing certain attitudes towards life. In truth, there are a body
of writings which are popular expositions of inherited truths and messages,
their avowed purpose being to diffuse their purport amongst the people
at large. Thus, the Ramayana furnishes pictures of kings who led a spiritual
life and of ascetics who played a great part in the affairs of nations.
Difficult situations are pictured, whose impact on several human souls
is brilliantly analysed. Dharma, as the chief factor for the shaping of
human life, is the underlying motive of the Ramayana and its many episodes.
The Mahabharata is not only a picture of a great internecine struggle illustrating
the conflict of human motives and human attributes but a repertoire of
comprehensive secular and religious learning. It is not simply a great
poem but also a manual of ethics, politics and morality. It can well be
asserted that the Ramayana and the Mahabharata have throughout been the
foundations of Hindu ethics and beliefs.
Source: Excerpt from the article
"Religious and Literature articles" - http://sriramadesikan.com/religious-and-literature-articles/
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