When the plants, though sown, failed to sprout anew, Brahma—the self-born Lord—pondered deeply and devised the means of agriculture to ensure their growth. Thus, he established the accomplishment of work by hand, and from that time onward, cultivated plants began to flourish upon the earth. Once agriculture was perfected, the Lord himself ordained proper boundaries for the fields, setting them according to justice and the unique qualities of the land. Not stopping there, he established the duties of the various classes and stages of life for all the worlds and all people, so that dharma and prosperity might be rightly upheld. To each group, Brahma assigned a fitting place: for Brahmanas engaged in sacred rites, their place is remembered as Prajapatya; for Kshatriyas who stand firm in battle, their place is Indra’s. The Vaishyas, upholding their own duties, are given the place of Maruta, while the Shudra castes, devoted to service, are assigned the place of the Gandharvas. The eighty-eight thousand ascetic sages share their place with those who dwell with their teachers, and the seven seers are remembered in the abode of the forest-dwellers. Prajapatya is the place for householders, the abode of Brahman for renunciants, and the immortal realm for yogis. Thus, the Lord arranged the places and duties for all beings. At this point, Kraustuki, filled with wonder, addressed Markandeya: “O Lord, you have told me in detail about the origin of the cosmic egg and the birth of Brahma, the great soul, within it. Now, O descendant of Bhrigu, I wish to know: when everything is withdrawn at the end of dissolution, does the creation of beings exist or not?” Markandeya replied, “When this entire universe dissolves into Prakriti, that is known by the wise as the Prakritika dissolution. At that time, all that is manifest and its modifications are withdrawn and rest in their own nature; only Prakriti and Purusha remain, together in their essence. “In this state, tamas and sattva are perfectly balanced, neither excessive nor deficient, interwoven together. Just as oil is present in sesame seeds or ghee in milk, so too rajas remains, accompanying tamas and sattva. “The lifespan of Brahma—two parardhas—is called a day of the Supreme Lord; an equal period is his night, when dissolution reigns. At the dawn of creation, the beginningless source of the universe awakens—the cause of all, whose nature is beyond comprehension, supreme and acting without another. “The Lord of the universe enters both Prakriti and Purusha and, by supreme yoga, swiftly stirs them, for he is the highest Lord. Just as intoxication enters young maidens, or the spring wind brings agitation, so does he, embodied as Yoga, enter and awaken them. “When primordial matter is thus agitated, Brahma, the god, arises within the cosmic egg, just as I have described. He who agitates, the Lord of Prakriti, remains established in the state of Pradhana, both in contraction and expansion. “Though without qualities, he, the source of the world, assumes the quality of rajas and, taking the role of Brahma, engages in creation. After creating beings, endowed with sattva, he becomes Vishnu, and through righteousness, protects the worlds. Then, dominated by tamas, he becomes Rudra, withdrawing the entire world, and rests—threefold in qualities yet ever beyond them, pervading the three worlds. “Just as a cultivator, a protector, or a reaper is named for his function, so does the Lord assume the names and roles of Brahma, Vishnu, and Ishvara. In the state of Brahma, he creates worlds; as Rudra, he dissolves them; as Vishnu, he remains indifferent—these are the three states of the Self-born. “Rajas is Brahma, tamas is Rudra, and sattva is Vishnu, the Lord of the world; these three are the gods, and these three are the qualities. They are mutually paired and dependent, never separated for even a moment, nor do they abandon one another. “Thus, Brahma, the four-faced god of gods and first of the world, is established in creative act by resorting to rajas. Hiranyagarbha, the first of the gods, though beginningless in a figurative sense, was born at the dawn of creation, seated upon the lotus stalk rising from the earth. “His lifespan, O great-souled one, is a hundred years. Hear now the reckoning of time according to Brahma’s measure: ten nimeṣas make one kāṣṭhā, five kāṣṭhās make one kalā, thirty kalās make a muhūrta, and thirty muhūrtas make a day and night. “A human day and night is thirty muhūrtas; thirty such days and nights make two fortnights, which is called a month. Six such months form a year, divided into the southern and northern courses; for the gods, a day and night is thus, with the northern course as their day. “A chaturyuga—consisting of Krita, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali—is twelve thousand divine years. Listen to their division: the Krita Yuga is four thousand years, with a twilight and dawn of four hundred years each; the Treta Yuga is three thousand years, with twilight and dawn of three hundred years each; the Dvapara Yuga is two thousand years, with two hundred years each for twilight and dawn; and the Kali Yuga is one thousand years, with one hundred years each for twilight and dawn. “Thus, the total span of the four yugas is twelve thousand years, as composed by the sages. Multiplied by a thousand, this is called a day of Brahma. O brāhmaṇa, in a day of Brahma there are fourteen Manus, and their periods are divisions of that thousand. “Such, O wise one, is the measure of time and the eternal cycle of creation, preservation, and dissolution as established by the Supreme Lord.