In the unfolding of creation as described by the sages, a multitude of extraordinary beings came into existence, each with their own forms, natures, and lineages. Among these were the Piśācas, mysterious and fearsome spirits, whose groups and families were many and varied. First were named Sumbhapātra, Kumabhī, Vajradaṃṣṭra, Dundubhi, Upacāra, Upacārā, Ulūkhala, and Ulūkhalī. Alongside them came Anarka and Anarkā, Kukhaṇḍa and Kukhaṇḍikā, Pāṇipātra and Pāṇipātrī, Pāṃśu and Pāṃśumatī. Then followed Nituṇḍa and Nituṇḍī, Nipuṇa and Nipuṇā, Chalādoccheṣaṇā, Praskanda and Skandikā. These sixteen groups of Piśācas were thus described. There were also Ajāmukhā, Vakramukhā, Pūriṇas, Skandinas, Vipādāṅgārikās, Kumbhapātrās, and Prakundakās. To these were added the Upacārolūkhalikās, Anarkās, Kukhaṇḍikās, Pāṇipātrās, Naituṇḍās, Ūrṇāśās, and Nipuṇās. The Sūcīmukhās and Uccheṣaṇādās completed another set of sixteen noble lineages, known as the families of the Kūṣmāṇḍas. These Piśācas were known as well-formed yet dreadful beings, born with twisted and perverse conduct, multiplying endlessly through countless offspring. Their characteristics were many: some were covered entirely in hair, called Vṛttākhyā, with fangs and claws, their bodies askew and faces turned downward, ever craving flesh. Others were hairless, clothed only in skin and sinew—these Kūṣmāṇḍika Piśācas subsisted on sesame seeds and meat. Some Piśācas had crooked limbs, hands, and feet, and behaved in crooked, twisted ways, able to assume forms at will. The Nitundaka Piśācas were short, with hanging bellies and beak-like noses, their heads and arms also short, and they especially relished sesame seeds. The Anarka and Marka Piśācas were dwarfish, talkative, and moved by leaping; they dwelled in trees and disliked food. The Pāṃśava Piśācas lived where arms, hair, and even the trees pointed upward, and their bodies released dust. The Upavīra Piśācas, dry and bearded, clothed in bark garments with visible veins, made cremation grounds their home. Others had fixed eyes and large tongues, licking with mortar-shaped bodies and heads as big as elephants or camels, withdrawn with bound lumps. Sumbhapātra Piśācas ate food unseen by others; the subtle ones were hairy and tawny, moving both visibly and invisibly. Among them were skillful, unrestrained goblins with mouths torn open to the ears, drooping lips, and thick noses. Some groups were trampled by hands and feet, dwarfish and gazing at the ground; these seized children and haunted the houses of women in childbirth. There were goblins with hands and feet set backward, dwarfish yet swift as the wind, who ate flesh and drank blood in battle. Some were naked and homeless, with hair hanging loose and lump-like bodies—these were called Skandins, while others feasted on the remains of offerings. Thus, sixteen kinds of goblins were described. Witnessing the pitiable state of these beings, Brahma, moved by compassion for their limited minds, granted them a boon: the power to become invisible and to assume any form at will. Their dwellings were the junctions of day and night, and places of ruin—broken, deserted, or sparsely inhabited houses; dwellings unclean, untouched, or smeared with filth, and those where proper rites were neglected. They were also found along royal roads and side streets, at unclean crossroads, doorways, thresholds, and places where people crossed without ownership. Roads, rivers, sacred fords, trees at shrines, and highways—all these were places where goblins established themselves. Among people, they lingered where unrighteousness prevailed—among those whose livelihoods were set by the gods: mixed castes, artisans, and craftsmen. They haunted those with nectar-like vitality, thieves, betrayers of trust, and others who acquired wealth unjustly. Wherever such acts began, there the goblins and spirits dwelled. Their offerings included honey, meat, rice, curds, sesame flour, spirituous liquors, incense, turmeric rice, oil, molasses, and rice cooked with jaggery. Black garments, incense, and flowers were also offered to them, especially at the sacred junctions of days, for Brahma, as their lord, had granted them this permission. For all beings and goblins, Brahma, seeing Girisha, the wielder of the trident, produced sons who were tigers and lions, as well as leopards and flesh-eating serpents. Thus, the creation of beings continued. Brahma also had five daughters: Mina, Mata, Vrtta, Parivrtta, and Anuvrtta. Their offspring were manifold. Among their descendants were the thousand-toothed crocodiles, the Pāṭhīnas, the Tamara, and the Rohitas, forming the extensive group called the Mainas. There were four kinds of crocodiles, with both younger and elder ones; the Nishkas and the Shishumaras also produced offspring. Various forms of turtles and many aquatic creatures arose, as did different forms of conches. Frogs appeared in succession, followed by fish and snails, then oysters and crabs, and many varieties of conches. Poisonous creatures and those produced by leeches also appeared. Thus, the fivefold lineage of the sage was described. The expansion of the lineage of animals born from sweat was vast, arising from various causes, especially among the lower creatures. From the bodies of lizards were born twice-born creatures; humans arose from sweat and dirt, as did beings called Uśanā, and various kinds of ants, insects, and those with fixed feet. Thus, the wondrous diversity of living beings came forth, each with their own forms, natures, and dwellings, as ordained in the ancient order of creation.