O best of the twice-born, listen as I recount the unfolding of time and the origins of the world’s order. When one parārdha—a vast span of Brahma’s life—was completed, there came the great kalpa known as the Padma. Now, in the second parārdha, which is the present cycle, the first kalpa is celebrated as the Vārāha. Thus, the creations of Brahma, who is born from the unmanifest, arise at the end of each cosmic night when he awakens, and with every kalpa, the worlds come into being anew. In those early ages, settlements took many forms. A kharvata was a simple settlement, lacking walls and moats. There were also branch-towns, domains governed by ministers, and territories ruled by vassals. Villages, on the other hand, were chiefly inhabited by Shudras, who prospered through their own labor and agriculture, their homes nestled amidst fields and fertile lands. Any dwelling established by people for a specific purpose, distinct from cities and such, was known as a residence for men. In the villages, an unruly and strong person who wandered on others’ land without fields was called a dramī, living there under the king’s protection. Cowherds, without a marketplace, traveled with their goods loaded on carts and herds of cows, settling wherever they wished; such a moving settlement was called a ghoṣa. Thus, after establishing cities and other dwellings for themselves, people built homes for pairs of residents, creating abodes for the sake of living. As in earlier times, they constructed their houses near trees, recalling how their ancestors had done the same. They fashioned the branches of their dwellings just as branches grow on a tree—some bent, some raised—spreading in various directions. The branches that once belonged to wish-fulfilling trees became the beams and rafters of their homes. But when the pairs were destroyed, people began to seek new means of livelihood, for the wish-fulfilling trees and their honey had entirely disappeared. Stricken by sorrow, thirst, and hunger, they suffered until, at the dawn of the Treta Yuga, they found a way to survive. When all other means failed, abundant rain fell, and from that rain, water gathered in low places, forming streams and channels, and rivers began to flow. The small amounts of water that had once reached the earth increased greatly. By the union of earth and water, plants arose—fourteen kinds, both cultivated and wild, sprang up without need for plowing or sowing. Trees and shrubs bearing flowers and fruits in their seasons were born, marking the first appearance of plants at the beginning of the Treta Yuga. Sustained by these plants, people lived, but soon, desire and greed arose 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, and many perished at once, the herbs lost to them. Bewildered and stricken by hunger, the people turned to Brahma, the supreme lord, seeking refuge. Understanding that the earth’s bounty had been consumed, the mighty Lord made Mount Sumeru into a calf and milked the earth, causing grains to appear once more on her surface—seeds of both cultivated and wild plants. From this, the groups of fruit-bearing herbs, numbering seventeen, were produced: rice, barley, wheat, millet, sesame, priyangu, udara, koradusha, chinaka, mashas, mudgas, masuras, nishpavas, kulatthakas, adhakas, and chanakas. These are counted among the ancient cultivated herbs. Among the fourteen wild and cultivated herbs to be produced were rice, barley, wheat, millet, sesame, priyangu, kulattha, shyamaka, nivara, yattilla, gavedhuka, kuruvinda, markataka, and venuyava. Yet, when these scattered herbs did not sprout again, Brahma devised the means of agriculture for their growth. The self-born Lord bestowed skill in hand and action upon people, and from that time, herbs that are sown and cultivated came into being. With agriculture established, the Lord himself set proper boundaries for the fields, according to justice and the qualities of the land. O upholder of dharma, he then established the duties of the classes and stages of life for all beings, so that dharma and wealth might be rightly protected. The place of Prajapati was designated for Brahmanas who perform rites, that of Indra for Kshatriyas who do not flee in battle, the place of Marut for Vaishyas who follow their own dharma, and the place of Gandharva for Shudras who serve. For the eighty-eight thousand sages of pure celibacy, their place is with their teachers; for the seven sages, the forest-dweller’s abode; for householders, the place of Prajapati; for renunciants, the abode of Brahma; and for yogis, the immortal place—thus were the places arranged. There are also places not meant for you: where beds are exposed to sunlight, where fire and water are always present, where lamps are lit by the sun’s rays, and where the house is the vessel of Lakshmi—such a dwelling is not your abode. Likewise, where there are sprinklings of sandalwood, the sound of the lute, mirrors, honey and ghee, and copper vessels set aside—such a house is not your shelter. Thus, in the unfolding of time and the ordering of the world, Brahma established creation, sustenance, and the proper ways of living, guiding all beings according to dharma.