My book is divided into two distinct parts dealing separately with the Ramayana and the Maha bharata, and at the end of each part I have given, in the form of an Appendix, one or two of the more striking legendary episodes lavishly scattered through these famous epics, and which, though not essential for the comprehension of the main story, are too beautiful or important to be omitted. Of these episodes I should say that they are the best~known portions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, having been told and retold in all the leading Indian vernaculars, and having, most of them, been brought before the European world in both prose and verse.