In the Tretā age, each event and experience unfolds individually, time and again. Long ago, at the beginning of this cycle, Brahmā himself spoke these truths during the interval of Vaivasvata. From these utterances arose the Saṃhitās, each one giving birth to the next, forming an unbroken chain. What has passed before returns again and again, and in every age, new branches spread forth from these ancient roots. Among the lineages of sages and teachers, these branches arise repeatedly, weaving the same patterns through time. Thus, what has been before should be understood to happen in the future as well. The happenings of the past reappear in the present interval, and from what came before, we can know what follows; from the present, both the past and future can be discerned. In this way, the gods, the ancestors, the seers, and the Manus—all beings of the celestial realms—move in concert. The gods of Janaloka, for ten great cycles—ten kalpas—are bound together by the inescapable laws of time and destiny. When the appointed time comes, their activities cease as they recognize the inherent limitations. Then, leaving Janaloka, they ascend to Tapoloka, a realm from which there is no return. Ultimately, in Brahmaloka, together with the sages, they reach dissolution, merging back into the source. Because time itself has no beginning, so too do all enumerations—of gods, ancestors, sages, and ṛṣis—stretch endlessly. In this manner, through such sequences and methods, the great ages (kalpas) and the reigns of Manus (manvantaras) unfold. At the close of each manvantara, dissolution arrives; after dissolution, creation arises anew. The full order of these cycles cannot be recounted, not even in hundreds of years. Yet, for human understanding, the sages have given us a reckoning: a manvantara is counted as thirty crores and twenty thousand years, excluding the excess. With the addition of a divine year at the beginning, the next period after Manu is described, and fifty-two thousand more years are to be added. A thousand yugas together are considered a single day of Brahmā. In every cycle, Brahmā stands at the forefront, accompanied by gods, sages, and even the demons, as he creates all beings again and again throughout the kalpas. At the junction of all manvantaras, the four yugas—Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali—are joined in their eternal sequence, remembered by the wise. The venerable Lord once spoke to Manu, bestowing this authority and knowledge. These teachings encompass the past, the future, and the present. I shall explain the transition from one period to the next, and by the force of destiny, each comes to an end as is proper. When the authority of the Seven Sages, the gods, the ancestors, and the Manus is exhausted, they become anxious, sensing the change in their condition. When a manvantara ends, those deities who are to be the future rulers of the next manvantara are born. And when a manvantara is complete, this same teaching is spoken even in the Kali age. Just as the Krita age follows after Kali, so do these cycles continue, as understood by the wise.