Eager to understand the mysteries of creation, the king respectfully asked the great sage Pulastya for a detailed account of how all beings came into existence. Pulastya began, explaining that every living creature, whether its actions are virtuous or wicked, is shaped by those very deeds. Because of the results of their actions, beings are not instantly released from the cycle of creation; instead, they are withdrawn at the time of cosmic dissolution, only to emerge again. All beings, from the gods to the immovable plants and stones, fall into four fundamental categories. When Brahmā, the creator, first set out to populate the universe, he produced mind-born beings. From him, four primary groups emerged: the gods (devas), the asuras (demons), the ancestors (pitṛs), and humans. To create these, Brahmā engaged his own self, and from his liberated aspect, even the wicked beings of the Lord of creatures were born. As Brahmā willed to create, from his lower part first emerged the asuras—beings of darkness and negativity. Displeased with this, he abandoned that evil, darkness-formed body, and from its remains, night itself was born. Entering another body, Brahmā then created the gods, beings filled with the pure quality of sattva, from his mouth. This body, too, he later abandoned, and it became day, dominated by the quality of sattva. Thus, the strong asuras are most active at night, while the gods flourish during the day. Brahmā next took on a body composed solely of sattva, and as he contemplated the ancestors, they came forth from him. After creating the ancestors, he relinquished that body, which then became twilight—the interval between day and night. Donning yet another body, this time dominated by rajas (passion and activity), Brahmā created humans. This body, too, he quickly abandoned, and it became the light of morning twilight. With the coming of this light, both humans and ancestors are said to arise, and it is at twilight that they are especially present. Thus, light, night, day, and twilight—all these are manifestations of Brahmā’s own forms. The bodies of Brahmā are associated with the three guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas. Again, he took on a body of rajas, and from the hunger that arose within him, anger was born, personified as a female. Consumed by hunger and shrouded in darkness, Brahmā, the Blessed One, created beings driven by their appetites. Some of these beings, deformed and ravenous, rushed toward their creator. Those who declared, "Let us protect him," became known as Rakshasas (protectors). Others, who cried, "Let us eat," became Yakshas (eaters). Witnessing these fierce beings, the Creator was so startled that his hair began to fall out, and from the hair that fell and crawled on the ground, serpents (snakes) were born—thus called because of their creeping movement and their lack. From the wrath of the Creator, fierce beings embodying anger were produced—tawny in color, they became flesh-eaters. As Brahmā drank from the cosmic cow, Gandharvas (celestial musicians) sprang forth from him. Similarly, as he drank in the essence of speech, Gandharvas were born. Having thus created these various beings, the Blessed Brahmā, propelled by his own power, then created birds of many kinds by his own will. From his chest he formed birds, from his mouth he produced goats, and from his belly he brought forth cows and buffaloes. From his feet, he created horses, elephants, donkeys, wild oxen, deer, camels, mules, and other creatures. From the hair of his body, he gave rise to medicinal plants bearing fruits and roots—this was at the very beginning of the Treta Yuga, at the dawn of the kalpa. With animals and plants properly created, Brahmā assigned them their roles in sacrifice: the cow, goat, buffalo, sheep, horse, mule, and donkey were designated as domestic animals. Then, he created wild animals—the carnivores, the cloven-hoofed, the elephant, the monkey, the bird, the camel, and reptiles as well. From his own being, Brahmā also manifested the sacred meters and hymns: the Gayatra and Rc verses, the Trivrt, Soma, and Rathantara. From his mouth came forth Agnistoma, the foremost of sacrifices, the Yajus verses, the Trishtubh meter, and the fifteenfold Stoma. From his southern mouth emerged the Brihatsaman and Uktha, the Sama hymns, the Jagati meter, and the seventeenfold Stoma. From his western mouth came the Vairupa and Atiratra, the twenty-onefold Atharvan, and the Aptoryama. From his northern mouth, the Anushtubh and Savairaja were produced, and from his limbs, beings of various forms were born. Thus, having created gods, demons, ancestors, and humans, the Lord of creatures, the Grandfather of all, brought them forth again at the beginning of each kalpa. He also created the hosts of yakṣas, piśācas, gandharvas, apsarases, siddhas, kinnaras, rākṣasas, as well as lions, birds, beasts, and serpents. All that is perishable and imperishable, moving or stationary, was brought forth by the blessed Lord Brahmā, the prime creator. The actions that beings had accumulated in previous creations followed them, so that with each new creation, they took up those very same actions once again. According to their dispositions—whether inclined to violence or nonviolence, gentleness or cruelty, righteousness or unrighteousness, truth or falsehood—they attain their appropriate states, and find satisfaction in them. Within the world of sense objects, among beings and their bodies, Brahmā himself assigned various forms and functions, distributing them according to their nature. The names and forms of all beings, and the diversity of their duties—he established all these, for gods and others, from the very words of the Veda at the beginning. The names of the seers, as heard in the Veda, he allotted to them as appropriate, and likewise to others, according to their proper function. Just as, in the natural cycles of the year, various forms and signs arise in succession, so too do these states and conditions manifest at the beginning of each age, following the eternal order established by Brahmā.