Let me tell you the account as given in the ancient verses: The divisions of time, beginning with the year, are determined according to the four Manus. Of these divisions, the first is called saṃvatsara, and the second is parivatsara. Among them, the fifth is known as vatsara, and this particular measure is reckoned in relation to the yugas, the great epochs. Within this span, there are one thousand eight hundred and thirty sunrises, and also three hundred and sixty-five solar years. Sixty-one days and nights together are considered as a single season. This is the measure of Citrabhānu, which should be recognized as the solar year. These four measures—saṃvatsara, parivatsara, vatsara, and the solar year—are the means by which certainty is established in the Purāṇas. The mountain described next has three peaks that seem to reach up and touch the vault of the sky. One peak marks the breadth of the path, and its expanse is also spoken of. The southern peak is silver, another shines like crystal, and together with the third, these summits make the mountain renowned as Śṛṅgavān. Between autumn and spring, Śṛṅgavān maintains a middle course. Its peaks shine as if anointed with rays as red as lotuses. Ten and five muhūrtas—fifteen in all—make up a day and night of that measure. At that time, the moon is understood to be in the fourth part of Viśākhā. Then, know that the moon is positioned at the head of Kṛttikā. This moment is to be known as the equinox, as declared by the great sages. When day and night are equal, that is called the equinox. This equinox, in particular, is the divine mouth among the Brāhmaṇas. Sinīvālī, Kuhū, Rākā, and Anumati, as well as Nabho, Nabhasya, Aviṣa, Ūrja, Saha, and Sahasya, are the southern ones. Next are to be known the Ārtavas, five years, the sons of Brahmā. For this rite, the new moon is to be known as the gateway to the seasons. By knowing the proper time, a person does not become confused in ancestral or divine rites. From the light, the world is remembered, and it is called Lokāloka. There stand four great beings, emerging from the flood of non-being: Hiraṇyaromā, Parjanya, Ketumān, and Rājasa. These are the guardians of the worlds, stationed in the four directions at Lokāloka. The path of the ancestors lies outside the Vaiśvānara path. Those who ensure the continuation of the world are established on the ancestral path. Desiring worlds, they set forth; their path is the southern one. They are purified by austerity, by observance of boundaries, and by learning. The later ones are born from the earlier ones, even at the time of their demise. There are eighty-eight thousand sages who are householders. This enumeration is of those who, possessing ritual action, entered the cremation grounds. Through inclination, aversion, activity, and indeed through sexual union—by these various causes—those who attained perfection entered the cremation grounds. One cremation ground lies north of the Nāga street, and another is south of the group of Seven Sages. There reside perfected beings, pure and devoted to celibacy.