The epics and Dharmaśāstras and related texts of this period give an idea of how those heavens and netherworlds might be inhabited. In the Mahābhārata, Arjuna visits Śiva and obtains a weapon from him in one of his heavenly abodes; so too the gods dwelling in heaven remind Rāma of his duty toward his wife at the end of the Rāmāyaṇa. The great Mahābhārata heroes, the Paṇḍava brothers, also make ascents and descents to heaven and hell at the end of the great battle. Most importantly it is during this transitional period that one sees the intimation that the land of Bhārata is to be identified with Indian civilization and the entirety of the earth.