As the age draws to its close, seven suns shine forth in the heavens, their radiance blazing with the fiery heat of dissolution. Together, they blanket the sky, remaining steadfast as they scorch the earth below. Under their relentless rays, the earth—its mountains, rivers, oceans, and islands—loses all moisture, becoming utterly dry. These rays envelop the world from every direction—above, below, and across—leaving nothing untouched. When the seven suns unite, their brilliance merges into a single, immense flame. The entire fourfold world is consumed by its own inner radiance, and the earth, stripped of trees and grass, appears bare, like the back of a tortoise. Everywhere, flames fill and blaze anew, engulfing all that remains. In this fiery devastation, all things dissolve and return to the state of earth. The sevenfold Fire, the Lord Himself, remains, having reduced all to ashes. This blazing fire rests upon the earth and drinks up the remaining waters. Manifesting the energy of Rudra, its radiant self burns all the worlds. After consuming the earth below, the fire turns upward, burning the heavens above. The flames of this fire of dissolution rise higher and higher. At this moment, urged on by Kāla-Rudra, the blazing fire intensifies, burning everything without remainder. This is the fire of time, Kāla, the universal form, consuming all in its path. When the burning is complete, all appears as a single mass, resembling a lump of iron. Then, dreadful clouds of dissolution arise in the sky. Some are smoky, some yellow; others resemble the pale conch or fragrant jasmine, while some are dark as pure collyrium. Among them, some clouds stretch across the sky like Indra’s bow, displaying many terrible forms and resounding with dreadful voices. These clouds, enveloped sevenfold, extinguish the darkness-fire, destroying the fierce, inauspicious, and all-consuming flames. Water overcomes fire, and so, at that time, the fire enters into the waters. Great streams of water pour forth, flooding the worlds. Torrents rush like the waves of the great ocean, and again they fall upon the earth, filling the oceans once more. The mountains dissolve, and the earth itself sinks into the waters. The Lord, Prajapati, assumes yogic sleep, lying down in repose. At this point, the Varaha epoch begins, as has been declared. This has been described in ancient texts by sages who contemplate the cycles of time. In the tamasic cycles, the dissolution is said to be of Hara; in the rajasic, of Prajapati. Other cycles are sattvic, and among them is my own manifestation. Those who worship Girisha and me attain the supreme state. When the world becomes a single vast ocean, I enter yogic sleep. Those dwelling in the world of Janas, through austerity and yogic vision, perceive the thousand-footed, glorious, thousand-rayed, and thousand-eyed form. I am the ladle, the spoon, Soma, and also the clarified butter. I am the Veda, the object of knowledge, the Lord, the protector, the master of cows, and the mouth of Brahman.