rocks, and _siddhas_,
gods, and celestial sages conform to Time, in harmony with the state of
things in the different yugas. Therefore, do not desire to see my former
shape, O perpetuator of the Kuru race. I am conforming to the tendency
of the age. Verily, Time is irresistible.' Bhimasena said, 'Tell me of
the duration of the different yugas, and of the different manners and
customs and of virtue, pleasure and profit, and of acts, and energy, and
of life and death in the different yugas.' Thereupon Hanuman said, 'O
child, that yuga is called Krita when the one eternal religion was
extant. And in that best of yugas, every one had religious perfection,
and, therefore, there was no need of religious acts. And then virtue
knew no deterioration; nor did people decrease. It is for this that this
age is called Krita (perfect). But in time the yuga had come to be
considered as an inferior one. And, O child, in the Krita age, there
were neither gods, nor demons, nor Gandharvas, nor Yakshas, nor
Rakshasas, nor Nagas. And there was no buying and selling. And the Sama,
the Rich, and the Yajus did not exist. And there was no manual labour.
And then the necessaries of life were obtained only by being thought of.
And the only merit was in renouncing the world. And during that yuga,
there was neither disease, nor decay of the senses. And there was
neither malice, nor pride, nor hypocrisy, nor discord, nor ill-will, nor
cunning, nor fear, nor misery, nor envy, nor covetousness. And for this,
that prime refuge of Yogis, even the Supreme Brahma, was attainable to
all. And Narayana wearing a white hue was the soul of all creatures. And
in the Krita Yuga, the distinctive characteristics of Brahmanas,
Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras were natural and these ever stuck to
their respective duties. And then Brahma was the sole refuge, and their
manners and customs were naturally adapted to the attainment of Brahma
and the objects of their knowledge was the sole Brahma, and all their
acts also had reference to Brahma. In this way all the orders attained
merit. And one uniform Soul was the object of their meditation; and
there was only one _mantra_ (the _Om_), and there was one ordinance. And
although of different characteristics, all of them followed a single
Veda; and they had one religion. And according to the divisions of time,
they led the four modes of life, without aiming at any object, and so
they attained emancipation. The religion consisti