The epics are how Hinduism is actually transmitted. Most Hindus encounter dharma not through the Upanishads but through Rama's exile and the Pandavas' war — performed in village theatre, recited by professional storytellers, and, in 1987, televised to audiences that reportedly emptied streets. The Mahabharata is the longest poem in the world and knows it, claiming that whatever is here is found elsewhere and what is not here is nowhere. Both epics are morally uncomfortable on purpose: their heroes cheat, hesitate, and lose.