Early on, worshipers of these gods collected or elaborated various myths about these deities and recited them, first as the epics (Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa), and later the Pūrāṇas (origin stories of the gods).
We will now look at these stories about the gods to see what they tell us about ancient notions of divinity, and also societal attitudes about proper human conduct.
The Vedas were considered to be śruti (divine) texts that were therefore perfect.
But the epics and Pūrāṇas were smṛti texts (composed by people), therefore they were part of popular culture, and could be modified in accordance with different historical and geographical settings.