O noble one, listen to the unfolding of creation as it was revealed. The primordial elements—each endowed with qualities such as sound and more—were distinguished as calm, fierce, and dull, according to their nature. Though they possessed various powers and existed separately, without unity, they could not bring forth living beings. Only when these elements came together, mutually combining and supporting one another, did they attain the mark of a single, complete aggregate. Presided over by the Purusha, and for the sake of manifestation, the great principle and its successors, ending with the particulars, produced the cosmic egg. In due course, this egg expanded, much like a bubble in water. Within it, the unmanifest essence became manifest as Janārdana. Brahmā, in the form of Brahman, established himself within; Meru became its umbilical cord, and the great mountains formed its placenta. All the cosmic waters and oceans belonged to that great soul, and within them were gathered islands, oceans, and luminous worlds. Inside the cosmic egg arose the gods, asuras, and humans, surrounded by water, fire, wind, and space, along with the elements beginning with earth. This egg was enveloped tenfold by the great principle, starting with the elements and the unmanifest, encompassing the entirety of creation. With all these coverings, united with all beings, the cosmic egg was like a coconut, its seed enclosed by outer husks. Brahmā then began the creation of the world, preserving it through each age for as long as the kalpa endured. The one Lord Janārdana alone assumed the designation, endowed with the quality of sattva, as the god of immeasurable power. At the end of the kalpa, Janārdana took on a fierce, dark form, and terribly devoured all beings. When the world became a single ocean, he lay upon the serpent couch, bearing all forms. Upon awakening, he created the world anew, assuming various forms; as the cause of creation, preservation, and destruction, he manifested as Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva. The creator creates himself; Viṣṇu protects what is to be preserved, and the Lord withdraws and destroys. Earth, water, fire, wind, and space—all are governed by him, the universal lord, the source and imperishable. Thus, all creation and its support exist within him; he is both the created and the creator, the protector and the protected. With states beginning from Brahmā, he is of infinite forms, the supreme Brahmā, the bestower of boons, the most excellent. Bhīṣma then asked: “How can the qualityless, immeasurable, pure, and great soul Brahman be the agent of creation and the rest?” Pulastya replied: “The powers of all beings are inconceivable, accessible only to knowledge; thus, the creative and other powers of Brahman exist. Though he is truly eternal, the wise say he is born; by his own measure, his lifespan is reckoned as a hundred years. This is called a parārdha, and half of that is also described. Fifteen nimeṣas make a kāṣṭhā. Thirty kāṣṭhās make a kalā, and thirty kalās make a muhūrta; by that count, a day and night are reckoned, and with muhūrtas, a human day is measured. So many days and nights make a month of two fortnights; six such months form a year divided into southern and northern courses. The southern course is the night of the gods, the northern their day. The periods called Kṛta, Tretā, and so on, are reckoned by thousands of divine years. Understand the division of the four yugas into twelve parts: four, three, two, and one, in order, for Kṛta and the others. Each yuga consists of thousands of divine years, with twilights preceding and following, described in hundreds. The time between the twilight and its portion is thus. This is the period called a yuga—Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali; these four together are called a caturyuga. A thousand caturyugas make a day of Brahmā; in one such day, there are fourteen Manus. Hear the measure of their time: the Seven Sages, the gods, Indra, Manu, and his sons. At one time, all are created and dissolved as before; the number of four yugas counted together is a little more than seventy-one. The period called a manvantara is the time of Manu and the gods, remembered as eight hundred thousand by divine reckoning, with fifty-two thousand more. The complete total is thirty crores, counted by number, plus sixty-seven niyutas and twenty thousand more, excluding the excess. This is the reckoning of a manvantara in human years; multiplied by fourteen, it is a day of Brahmā. The day of Brahmā is called naimittika; at its end comes dissolution, when the three worlds—Bhū, Bhuvaḥ, and others—are burned. The residents of Maharloka, afflicted by heat, go to Jana-loka. When the three worlds become a single ocean, Brahmā, best of knowers of Brahman, rests upon the serpent-bed, having swallowed the three worlds, contemplated by steadfast yogis of Jana-loka. For a night of equal measure, at its end, he creates again. Thus passes a year of Brahmā, and likewise a hundred such years, completing his lifespan.