The sages, witnessing the earth submerged and longing for its restoration, turned to the all-pervading Soul, the lotus-eyed Lord concealed in a wondrous form. With reverence, they pleaded, “Be gracious, O Soul of all, for the sake of these worlds; uplift the earth, O lotus-eyed one, who are hidden in this form.” They praised Govinda, filled with pure Sattva, and begged, “O blessed Lord of beings, raise up the earth for our sake; grant us your favor, O lotus-eyed one.” With heartfelt prayers, they invoked him, “May this act of creation, which benefits all worlds, proceed from you; salutations to you—grant us your favor, O lotus-eyed one.” Moved by their praise, the Supreme Soul, who bears the earth, swiftly lifted her up and placed her upon the vast waters. Amidst the flood, the earth stood upon him like a great ship, supported by the expanse of his body so that she would not sink. Then, the primeval, beginningless Lord leveled the earth and arranged the mountains upon her, restoring them to their proper divisions. By his unfailing power, desiring nothing in vain, he recreated all the mountains that had been destroyed in the previous creation. He divided the earth and formed the seven continents as before, establishing the four worlds, beginning with Bhū, just as previously. Then, assuming the form of Brahmā and enveloped in the quality of rajas, the blessed Hari with four faces performed the act of creation. In this work of creation, he is only the instrumental cause; for the powers of creation themselves become the primary causes. Apart from being the instrument, he requires nothing else—by his own power, each thing attains its own reality. At this point, Maitreya, the earnest sage, asked Parāśara, “You have described the human creation, which flows downward. O Brāhmaṇa, tell in detail how Brahmā created it. And how did the Lord of creatures create the castes and their qualities? Tell also what duties are prescribed for Brāhmaṇas and the others.” Parāśara replied, “At first, from Brahmā’s desire to create the world, beings devoted to truth were born from his mouth, O best of twice-born, endowed with predominance of Sattva. Those born from his chest were endowed with Rajas; those from his thighs were filled with both Rajas and Tamas. From his feet, O best of twice-born, Brahmā created other beings, all dominated by Tamas. Thus arose the fourfold caste system: Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras, O best of twice-born, emerged from his mouth, chest, thighs, and feet, respectively. For the accomplishment of sacrifice, Brahmā created this entire fourfold caste system as the supreme means for sacrifice, O greatly fortunate one. The gods, nourished by sacrifices, indeed cause rain to fall, and thus the people are sustained. Sacrifices, which are the cause of welfare, bring prosperity. Those sacrifices are always performed by men devoted to their own duties, by the virtuous who are pure in conduct and who walk the noble path. From among humans, O sage, people attain heaven, liberation, or whatever state they desire, O twice-born one. Those beings created by Brahmā, established in the fourfold order, are endowed with proper faith and inclined toward righteous conduct, O best of sages. They dwell as they wish, free from all afflictions, with pure minds and pure actions, performing deeds without stain. When their minds are pure, and their inner being is established in the pure Lord, they perceive pure knowledge, by which that supreme state called Bilva is attained. Then, that entity called Time, which is said to be a portion of Hari, causes the fall of terrible sin, even if it is small and of little substance. O Maitreya, in those beings arises the seed of unrighteousness, born of darkness and greed, such as passion and the like, which are unfit. Then, that innate accomplishment among them does not arise excessively; and the other eight accomplishments, such as delight in taste, come into being. When those accomplishments are diminished and only a remnant remains, and sin increases, then those beings become afflicted by the suffering that arises from the dominance of dualities. To alleviate their suffering, they made fortresses: forest, mountain, and water fortresses, as well as artificial strongholds, cities, and small towns. They established houses in those cities and the like, according to proper order, O wise one, for the alleviation of afflictions such as cold and heat. Having devised this means of protection against cold and the rest, those beings then created means of livelihood and manual skills arising from work. Rice, barley, wheat, chickpeas, sesame, priyangu, udāra, koradūṣa, and satīnakā are remembered. Black gram, green gram, lentils, niṣpāva, kulattha, āḍhakya, chickpeas, and hemp—these seventeen are remembered. These, O sage, are the types of cultivated plants; and there are fourteen kinds of cultivated and wild plants suitable for sacrifice: rice, barley, black gram, wheat, chickpeas, sesame, priyangu as the seventh, and kulattha as the eighth. Śyāmāka, nīvāra, jartila with gavedhukā, veṇuyava, and markaṭaka are also mentioned, O sage. These fourteen herbs, both domestic and wild, exist for the accomplishment of sacrifice; and sacrifice is their highest purpose. Together with sacrifice, these are the supreme cause of living beings; therefore, those who know the higher and lower truths should always perform sacrifices. The daily performance of sacrifices, when undertaken by people, brings benefit and grants relief from suffering. But for those whose minds were overtaken by the evil companion born of the age of Kali, O great sage, they did not set their thoughts upon sacrifices.