At the beginning of a Kalpa cycle, which is measured by one thousand Divine cycles or a little over 14 Manwantaras, the Manoos, Rishis and gods of all the 14 Manwantaras are selected beforehand. We are now lining in the Seventh Manwantara. Shrāddhadeva, called also Vaivaswata, is our Manoo. The Saints Kāsyapa, Atri, Vasistha, Viswāmitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Bharadwāja are the seven Rishis; Purandar is the present Indra. The Manoos, the Rishis, the Indras are all named for the coming seven Manwantaras of the present Kalpa in the Shāstras. The prevalent belief among Western Orientalists is that Manoo was a man who was born a few hundred years ago and died a natural death after writing his law institutes for The Hindoos. A more erroneous idea could not exist from the Hindoo point of view. Manoo, being the spiritual administrator of the three worlds, has to live all through his term of office, which extends through 71 Divine cycles of which we are living in the 28th. Every Manoo incarnates himself as a Rishi towards the end of every Golden Age and compiles his law, and institutes for the benefit of humanity, while the seven Rishis incarnate among men at the end of each Kali Yuga to reveal the truths of the Vedas which are forgotten and lost before that time. SECTION XII. THE KALPA CYCLE. When the Golden. Silver, Copper and Iron Ages, forming the Divine Cycle, have revolved for 1,000 times they complete a still larger cycle than the Manwantara, called the Kalpa. As each Manwantara is wound up with a Deluge, each Kalpa brings about a still greater disastrous event, that of the destruction of the lower three spheres of the universe, the Bhur, Bhuba and Swar. The description given of this great cyclic event in the Purānas as well as in the Mahābhārata, especialy by the Immortal Mārkandeya who has seen it many times, are simply appalling to the imagination of puny man. As I have already said it is only the excessive accumulation of human sins (Tama-life) that causes these natural catastrophies. The sum of sins which causes the Kalpa dissolution is many times greater than that which is the cause of the Flood. Human sins, however, are the immediate cause. The real or latent cause is to be found in the operations of the Cardinal Attributes of Nature. Sattwa and Rāja are absolutely subdued by Tama, which then growing more and more intense bursts into a flame out of the friction of its own forces. This conflagration first manifests itself through etheric matter in the shape of seven suns suddenly appearing in the heavens and with their combined heat burning down the three spheres into ashes. This is followed by the appearance of strange clouds which then burst and deluge the ash-turned earth. The ash, in process of time, is absorbed by the water; then the air, turned into violent winds, absorbs the water; and then, when the air has been absorbed by ether (Akāsh), the destruction of the three spheres is completed.