In the grand cycles of creation, the gods, the Seven Sages, Indra, Manu, and the kings born of Manu all come into being together with him, and, as before, they too dissolve when the time comes. A single manvantara, the reign of one Manu, encompasses seventy-one and a fraction of the four yugas, the great ages. Now, listen as I reveal the measure of a manvantara in human years: it spans thirty crore years, and to this are added sixty-six niyutas, along with twenty thousand more. This is the full extent of a manvantara. To understand its reckoning in divine years, know that a manvantara equals eight thousand divine years, plus fifty-two thousand more. Fourteen such periods together make up a single day of Brahmā. At the close of this day, the wise declare, comes a dissolution known as naimittika, when the earth, the atmosphere, and the heavens are all destroyed, while only Maharloka endures. Yet even the inhabitants of Maharloka, scorched by intense heat, must ascend to Janaloka. During this time, the three worlds lie submerged beneath a single vast ocean, and Brahmā himself enters a deep sleep through the night. Brahmā’s night matches the length of his day, and when it ends, creation begins anew. Thus passes a single year for Brahmā, and a hundred such years mark the full span of his life. This hundred-year span is known as the supreme measure, and half of it—fifty years—is called a parārdha. O best of the twice-born, one parārdha of Brahmā’s life has already elapsed, and at its close occurred the great kalpa known as the Padma. Now, in the second parārdha, which is presently unfolding, the first kalpa is counted as the Vārāha. Such are the wondrous creations of Brahmā, whose own origin is unmanifest. At the end of each night, as he awakens, these worlds and beings come into existence in every kalpa. Within these creations, settlements are of many kinds. A settlement without walls or moats is known as a kharvata. There are also branch-towns, domains ruled by ministers, and lands governed by vassals. Villages are those dwellings chiefly inhabited by Shudras, who thrive through their own prosperity and agricultural labor, situated amidst fields and fertile land. Any other dwelling established for a particular purpose, apart from cities and such, is simply called a residence by men. Among villagers, one who is mostly unruly, strong, and roams on others’ land without fields is known as a dramī, living under the king’s protection. There are also settlements of cowherds, called ghoṣas, without marketplaces, where goods are loaded on carts and herds of cows are tended wherever the people choose to dwell. After creating cities and other settlements for themselves, people also constructed abodes for pairs of individuals, for the sake of residence. As before, they built their houses near trees, recalling ancient ways. Their homes spread out like the branches of trees, some bending low, some reaching high, just as the limbs of a tree stretch in many directions. The branches that once belonged to wish-fulfilling trees now served as the beams and rafters of their houses. Yet, when the pairs of people were destroyed, they had to find new means of livelihood, for the wish-fulfilling trees and their honey had vanished entirely. Afflicted by sorrow, thirst, and hunger, the people struggled—until, at the dawn of the Treta Yuga, they found success. When all other means of subsistence failed, abundant rains fell for them. From these rains, waters gathered in low places, forming streams, channels, and rivers, so that water which had previously trickled to the earth now flowed in abundance. From the union of earth and water, plants arose—fourteen kinds, both cultivated and wild, appearing without the need for plowing or sowing. Trees and shrubs bearing flowers and fruits in their seasons were born, and thus, at the beginning of the Treta Yuga, plants first appeared. Sustained by these plants, people lived through the Treta Yuga. But soon, desire and greed awakened among them. They began to claim rivers, fields, mountains, trees, shrubs, and herbs for themselves, each according to their strength and sense of justice. Because of this fault, O twice-born, the precious medicinal herbs vanished before their eyes. Many perished at once, and thus the herbs were lost. When the people became bewildered and afflicted by hunger, they sought refuge in Brahmā, the supreme lord. Understanding that the earth’s bounty had been consumed, the blessed and mighty Brahmā fashioned Mount Sumeru as a calf and milked the earth. In this way, grains once more appeared upon the surface of the earth, and both cultivated and wild seeds were produced anew. Seventeen groups of fruit-bearing herbs are spoken of: rice, barley, wheat, millet, sesame, priyangu, udara, koradusha, chinaka, mashas, mudgas, masuras, nishpavas, kulatthakas, adhakas, chanakas, and others—these are the ancient cultivated herbs. Fourteen kinds of herbs, both cultivated and wild, are also known: rice, barley, wheat, millet, sesame, priyangu, kulattha, shyamaka, nivara, yattilla, gavedhuka, kuruvinda, markataka, and venuyava. These are remembered as the fourteen principal cultivated and wild herbs. Thus, through cycles of creation and dissolution, and by the grace of Brahmā, the world and its sustenance are renewed, and humanity finds its means of life once more.