In the twilight of the Kali age, a powerful force arose to cleanse the earth. Those who were not exceedingly righteous, along with those born from mixed castes and their followers, were slain everywhere. With the wheel of action set in motion, this invincible being brought an end to the mlecchas, roaming the earth with unmatched might. Though he appeared as a man in this age, he was, in a previous birth, the deity Pramiti—none other than Vishnu himself. From the lunar lineage, when the Kali age reached its completion, the lord began his journey in his thirty-second year, which would last twenty years. During this time, he destroyed countless beings, leaving only seeds behind on earth through his harsh deeds. Driven by mutual causes and sudden anger, he subdued and eradicated nearly all the unrighteous outcastes. With his followers, he settled between the sacred rivers Ganga and Yamuna. There, with his ministers and army, he remained for some time. He overthrew all the kings and thousands of foreigners, and as the yuga drew to its end, only a handful of people were left. Those who survived, seized by greed, became utterly unrestrained, harming each other even after bowing in greeting. With no king to guide them, uncertainty prevailed. Tormented by mutual fear, the people abandoned their families and homes, wandering in distress. Indifferent to their own lives, utterly devoid of compassion and deeply miserable, they began to kill one another, as Vedic and customary law had been destroyed. With boundaries lost, expelled and without affection or shame, righteousness vanished and their strength broke, reducing them to just twenty-five. Abandoning sons and wives, their senses disturbed by disputes, and struck by drought, they forsook their livelihoods and wandered far from their homelands. They dwelled in borderlands, seeking rivers, seas, wells, and mountains. Suffering greatly, they survived on honey, meat, roots, and fruits, wearing bark, leaves, or animal skins, with no rituals and no possessions. Having fallen away from caste and stage of life, they endured terrible hardship—only a few remained, facing immense suffering. Afflicted by old age, disease, and hunger, their minds overwhelmed by sorrow and despair, they began to reflect. From this despair, a state of equality arose—an awareness characterized by equality. From awakening came righteousness and virtue, and those left at the end of Kali, though without form or restraint, possessed this state within themselves. Then, for them, the age turned over in a single day and night, their minds bewildered as if in sleep or intoxication. By the force of destiny, the cycle of the Krita age returned, and once again the Krita Yuga began. Those who survived Kali were reborn in the Krita Yuga, and the perfected beings who remained moved about unseen. In this new age, seven groups, along with the seven sages, were established: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras, remembered for the purpose of seed—procreation. Together with those born in Kali, all became undifferentiated at that time. Among them, the seven sages expounded dharma, and others did so as well. The practices associated with varna and ashrama, both Vedic and traditional, were twofold. When these rites were performed among them, the people flourished in the Krita age. Of the dharmas performed according to Vedic and traditional rites, as shown by the seven sages, some remained at the end of the age for the sake of establishing dharma. The sages stayed during the periods of the Manus, just as grass persists on earth after being scorched by fire. As the first rain brings forth new growth at the roots of forests, so too did the Krita ages originate among those of Kali. Thus, the succession of ages proceeded, each following the other, continuing until the end of a Manvantara, without interruption. With each age, happiness, lifespan, strength, beauty, dharma, wealth, and desire diminished, losing three quarters in every successive age. The fulfillment of dharma declined during the portions called sandhya and sandhyamsa—this restriction unfolded in order. For all four ages, this was the method; the cycle of the four ages multiplied up to a thousand. This cycle constituted the day of Brahma, with the night remembered as equal in length. From the end of the age arose dullness and lack of integrity among beings. These characteristics marked all the ages, and for these four ages multiplied, the total reached seventy-one. As the ages revolved in succession, it was called a Manvantara. In each age, whatever occurred, happened accordingly. So too, in other cycles, events unfolded in order; in each creation, as distinctions arose, so did the occurrences. There were twenty-five, neither fewer nor more; thus, Kalpas occurred together with ages and their characteristics. This was the nature of all the Manvantaras. Just as the changes of ages had long continued, so the world of living beings persisted, revolving through decline and rise according to the nature of the ages. Thus, the characteristics of the ages were described in summary, for past and future, in all the Manvantaras.