d ordain
it duly." Thus addressed, Brahma bowed his head unto the illustrious Hari,
the god of the gods and received from him that foremost of all cults with
all its mysteries and its abstract of details, together with the
Aranyakas,--viz., that cult, which sprang from the mouth of Narayana.
Narayana then instructed Brahma of immeasurable energy in that cult, and
addressing him, said,--"Thou art the creator of the duties that are to be
observed in the respective Yugas." Having said this unto Brahma, Narayana
disappeared and proceeded to that spot which is beyond the reach of
Tamas, where the Unmanifest resides, and which is known by the men of
acts without desire of fruits. After this, the boon-giving Brahma, the
Grandsire of the worlds, created the different worlds with their mobile
and immobile creatures. The age that first commenced was highly
auspicious and came to be called by the name of Krita. In that age, the
religion of Sattwa existed, pervading the entire universe.[1902] With the
aid of that primeval religion of righteousness, Brahma, the Creator of
all the worlds, worshipped the Lord of all the deities, viz., the
puissant Narayana, otherwise called Hari. Then for the spread of that
religion and desirous of benefiting the worlds, Brahman instructed that
Manu who is known by the name of Swarochish in that cult.
Swarochish-Manu, that Lord of all the worlds, that foremost of all
persons endued with puissance, then cheerfully imparted the knowledge of
that cult to his own son, O king, who was known by the name of
Sankhapada. The son of Manu, viz., Sankhapada, communicated the knowledge
of that to his own son Suvarnabha who was the Regent of the cardinal and
subsidiary points of the compass. When, upon the expiration of the Kriti
Yuga, the Treta came, that cult once more disappeared from the world. In
a subsequent birth of Brahman, O best of kings, viz., that which was
derived from the nose of Narayana, O Bharata, the illustrious and
puissant Narayana or Hari with eyes like lotus petals, himself sang this
religion in the presence of Brahma. Then the son of Brahma, created by a
fiat of his will, viz., Sanatkumara, studied this cult. From Sanatkumara,
the Prajapati Virana, in the beginning of the Krita age, O tiger among
Kurus, obtained this cult. Virana having studied it in this way, taught
it to the ascetic Raivya. Raivya, in his turn, imparted it to his son of
pure soul, good vows, and great intelligence, viz., Kuks