father—­Oh, mother!—­O son!” and the like, and O Bharata, when sin will thus have been rooted out and virtue will flourish on arrival of the Krita age, men will once more betake themselves to the practice of religious rites.  And in the age that will set in, viz., the Krita, well-planted gardens and sacrificial compounds and large tanks and educational centres for the cultivation of Brahmanic lore and ponds and temples will re-appear everywhere.  And the ceremonies and rites of sacrifices will also begin to be performed.  And the Brahmanas will become good and honest, and the regenerate ones, devoted to ascetic austerities, will become Munis and the asylums of ascetics, which had before been filled with wretches will once more be homes of men devoted to truth, and men in general will begin to honour and practise truth.  And all seeds, sown on earth, will grow, and, O monarch, every kind of crop will grow in every season.  And men will devotedly practise charity and vows and observances, and the Brahmanas devoted to meditation and sacrifices will be of virtuous soul and always cheerful, and the rulers of the earth will govern their kingdoms virtuously, and in the Krita age, the Vaisyas will be devoted to the practices of their order.  And the Brahmanas will be devoted to their six-fold duties (of study, teaching, performance of sacrifices on their own account, officiating at sacrifices performed by others, charity and acceptance of gifts), and the Kshatriyas will be devoted to feats of prowess.  And Sudras will be devoted to service of the three (high) orders.

“’These, O Yudhishthira, are the courses of the Krita, the Treta, the Dwapara and the succeeding age.  I have now narrated to thee everything.  I have also told thee, O son of Pandu, the periods embraced by the several Yugas as generally known.  I have now told thee everything appertaining to both the past and the future as narrated by Vayu in the Parana (which goes by his name and) which is adored by the Rishis.  Being immortal I have many a time beheld and otherwise ascertained the courses of the world.  Indeed, all I have seen and felt I have now told thee.  And, O thou of unfading glory, listen now with thy brothers to something else I will presently tell thee for clearing thy doubts about religion!  O thou foremost of virtuous men, thou shouldst always fix thy soul on virtue, for, O monarch, a person of virtuous soul obtaineth bliss both here and hereafter.  And, O sinless one, listen to the auspicious words that I will now speak to thee. Never do thou humiliate a Brahmana, for a Brahmana, if angry, may by his vow destroy the three worlds.’”

Vaisampayana continued, “Hearing these words of Markandeya, the royal head of the Kurus, endued with intelligence and possessed of great lustre, spoke these words of great wisdom, ’O muni, if I am to protect my subjects, to what course of conduct should I adhere?  And how should I behave so that I may not fall away from the duties of my order?’