In the distant cycles of time, at the very dawn of the Krita age, all of humanity belonged to a single class, undivided and pure. But as the ages rolled on and Kali Yuga drew to its close, people everywhere became like Shudras, the distinctions of class and virtue having faded away. A full hundred divine years passed in this manner, which, by human reckoning, is thirty-six thousand years. During this long stretch, people, driven by hunger, began to kill and consume birds, animals, and fish. Eventually, all these creatures disappeared from the earth, and as the twilight period of the age arrived, destruction swept over all. Gathering together in their misery, the survivors turned to digging up roots and tubers, subsisting on fruits and whatever they could find. Homeless, they lived under the open sky, clothed in garments made of bark, sleeping on the bare ground. Owning nothing, they became pure in their poverty, freed from the burdens of possessions. So, the few people who remained continued to decline, but for these last remnants, their simple food brought a kind of abundance. For another hundred divine years—the twilight period—this state endured, until at last, only a handful of women and children survived. These women, coming together in pairs, produced offspring among themselves, and with the birth of these new children, those who had been born before passed away. As soon as the children were born, the conditions of the Krita age returned, just as embodied beings experience different bodies in heaven and hell. The bodies at the beginning of Krita and the other ages were fit for enjoyment, marking the renewal of Krita and the decline of Kali. From deep reflection, dispassion arises; from equality of mind springs self-knowledge, and from self-knowledge, righteousness is born. Thus, among those who survive the end of Kali, people are born once more as before, and by the force of the turning age, Krita Yuga returns. All that has happened or will happen in these Manvantaras follows the essential characteristics of the ages, as briefly described. In detail and in proper order, bowing to the Self-born, when the cycle begins anew, Krita Yuga indeed returns. Those born at the end of Kali are also of the Krita age, and perfected beings—though unseen—move among them. Alongside the Seven Sages and those established in righteousness, the four classes—Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras—become undifferentiated, just as all beings do in the Krita age. Among these people, the Seven Sages expound righteousness, guiding them in the ways of virtue. Endowed with the practices of the orders and classes, and following the Vedic and traditional injunctions, when these rites are performed, the Krita age is reestablished. Those who abide in Vedic and traditional righteousness, as taught by the Seven Sages, remain in the Krita age, upholding righteousness. In each period presided over by a Manu, the sages persist, just as new grass springs forth after the old has been burned away by fire. When the first rains fall in the forests, new shoots arise at the roots; so too do the ages succeed one another, each following in turn. Until the end of a manvantara, happiness, lifespan, strength, beauty, righteousness, wealth, and desire prevail without interruption. But with each age, these qualities diminish, three quarters at a time, successively. Thus, the cycle of the ages has been described. For all four ages, this is the arrangement, and in each cycle, there are seventy-one such yugas. As these proceed in order, it is called a manvantara. In all these yugas, whatever occurs at any time—those very things happen again in due order in other cycles as well. Just as distinctions arise in each creation, so it is in every age. In the fourteen manvantaras of a kalpa, there are asuric beings, yātudhānas, piśācas, and yakṣa-rākṣasas. In each age, at the proper time, these beings are born, and their characteristics correspond to the age and the kalpa. Thus, the characteristics of the ages have been described in order. The changes of the manvantaras are lengthy, and because of the nature of the ages, the world of living beings is never still, but constantly changes, rising and declining. These characteristics of the ages have passed in due order, and the manvantaras of this kalpa will also be declared. In every kalpa, there are fourteen manvantaras, both past and future, present in these cycles. I will describe in detail and sequence the existence in each age, the origin of beings, and their lifespan. Beings live only for the duration of a yuga, or slightly less by two; in the fourteen manvantaras, know that there are as many. For humans, animals, birds, and immobile beings, their lifespan is determined entirely by the laws of the yugas. In every respect, lifespan has diminished according to the law of the age. Consider the condition of beings and their longevity in Kali Yuga: the highest lifespan for humans is said to be one hundred years. Gods, asuras, humans, yakṣas, gandharvas, and rākṣasas—at the height of their development—are equal in the Krita age, and the stature of the eight divine races is ninety-six finger-breadths. With a measure of nine finger-breadths, thus the eight are produced; this is their natural size for those who attain greater stature. Humans existing now, in the portions at the junctions of the yugas, have the measure of gods and asuras, which is, in succession, seven times seven finger-breadths. Thus, the story of the ages unfolds—of decline and renewal, of beings and their destinies, all governed by the eternal law of time.