The end of the Three Realms of the Old Kalpa had begun once again.
Six Sun Gods emerged from their respective celestial palaces and gathered together with their youngest brother—the Sun God Vivasvat.
All seven stood together.
Then, the seven Sun Gods released an immense radiance, their blazing light scorching the lands of the human world.
This was the end of the human world following the Sādāandara Kalpa.
A filthy world, a world in which only evil people remained.
The power of the seven Sun Gods was terrifying beyond measure.
Even the seas and the boundless oceans gradually dried up beneath their divine might.
Their scorching radiance spread all the way to the Himmapan Forest.
Even the vast celestial sea between the worlds of Mount Sumeru—the great Sea of Sītandara—could not escape the power of the seven Sun Gods.
That immense divine sea, so vast that even a Garuda had to expend enormous strength merely to cross it, finally dried up completely.
When the seven great rivers and the entire sea of Sītandara had vanished, the seven great Ananta fish dwelling within them lost their lives as well.
They struggled desperately upon the burning, waterless earth, rolling and thrashing their enormous bodies in agony.
But it was not long before...
The seven blazing suns claimed the last of their lives.
As their lives faded away, the four great elements within their bodies—earth, water, wind, and fire—separated from one another according to the laws of nature.
The fat and corpse oil within the fish began to seep slowly from the nine openings of their bodies.
And when that corpse oil was bathed in the brilliant divine light of the seven Sun Gods—
It suddenly burst into flames.
The end of the Three Realms had arrived.
The kalpa-fire, born from the combined radiance of the seven Sun Gods and the corpse oil of the seven Ananta fish, spread with a speed and ferocity far beyond any ordinary fire in the mortal world.
This was a fire that water itself could not extinguish.
It devoured the entire Desire Realm.
The human world, the Himmapan Forest, the city of Trisannakorn—
Everything was reduced to ash beneath the flames.
Then the fire continued upward, consuming the Asura Realm.
It also burned downward through the earth, destroying the subterranean worlds, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the seven great hells.
In the end, only the Avīci Great Hell and Lokananta Hell—the realm of punishment without limit—remained amid the destruction.
Once the lower realms of the Desire Realm had been completely destroyed, the kalpa-fire continued rising into the heavens.
The six heavens of the Desire Realm were not spared.
Even Indra's palace, Vaijayanta, and the celestial palace of the demon king Vasavāti were reduced to nothing by the flames, without leaving even a trace of ash.
When all six heavens of the Desire Realm had been destroyed—
The kalpa-fire continued upward.
At last, it reached the three Brahma heavens of the First Jhana:
Brahmapārisajja, Brahmapurohita, and Mahā Brahmā.
Countless Brahma palaces and countless Brahma beings perished together within the flames.
Until finally...
The fire went out.
And yet—
The destruction of the world was not over.
After fire came water.
Torrential rain began falling from the heavens.
Without pause.
Without interruption.
At first, it was nothing more than ordinary rain.
But soon...
The raindrops grew larger and larger.
Until each drop became as enormous as a giant winter melon.
The torrential rain eventually became the greatest flood in the history of the Three Realms.
Later generations would call it—
Kalpa-Water.
The raging flood was more violent than any natural disaster that had ever existed.
It swept across the entire Three Realms, beginning with the Desire Realm that had only just been consumed by fire, and continued upward until it submerged the three Brahma heavens of the Second Jhana:
Ābhassara, Appamāṇa-Ābha, and Ābhā.
The heavens and all the Brahma beings within them were completely destroyed beneath the overwhelming flood.
Then—
A violent wind suddenly descended, surpassing even the winds of any cosmic rotation.
Kalpa-Wind.
The furious wind lifted the waters that had only just settled and forcibly fused water and wind together.
The result was a terrifying storm, like a gigantic dragon churning and playing within an endless ocean.
It was the greatest, most dangerous, and most violent kalpa-wind in the infinite universe.
It continued upward.
Until it reached the three Brahma heavens of the Third Jhana:
Subhakiṇha, Appamāṇa-Subha, and Subhakiṇha.
Even the highest heaven of the Third Jhana, which should have been spared destruction by wind, was swept away.
Until finally—
The wind gradually lost its strength.
The kalpa-wind dissipated.
Yet a vast, boundless body of water still remained suspended there.
From the lowest reaches of the Desire Realm all the way to Subhakiṇha.
The water did not recede.
Then—
A gentle rain began falling once more from the heavens.
Soft.
Tender.
As though it were a message sent by the universe itself.
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It seemed to tell every Brahma and great deity who had survived the end of the kalpa:
The destruction of the world is over.
A new kalpa has begun.
Some of the gods and Brahmas who survived the end of the kalpa had done so because they had attained states of existence higher than the Third-Jhana Brahma realms in time.
Others had survived because they carried irreplaceable duties within the Three Realms and therefore had to remain in existence to fulfill their missions.
Thus, they emerged from their respective domains.
And began surveying the various realms left behind by the great destruction.
When the celestial rain finally ceased—
Mahā Brahmā Sahampati descended into the realm of the Asaññasatta Brahmas.
It was a very unusual world.
The Brahmas who lived there possessed bodies, yet had no consciousness.
For this reason, humans would later call them—
The Mindless Brahmas.
The Asaññasatta realm was only one level above Subhakiṇha.
It was therefore also the ideal place for Mahā Brahmā to fulfill an important duty whenever a new kalpa was born.
He had come to determine one thing:
How many sacred lotuses would bloom upon the primordial waters?
“If there is only one lotus, then this new kalpa will be a Sāra Kalpa, and its lifespan will be extremely short, because only one Great Man, one Buddha, will be born within it...”
“If there are two lotuses, then this kalpa will be a Mandanta Kalpa. Its lifespan will be twice as long, and two Great Men will be born and attain enlightenment...”
“If there are three, it will be a Bhāra Kalpa. Its lifespan will be of moderate length, and three Great Men possessing perfect wisdom will descend into the world to liberate sentient beings...”
“If there are four, it will be a Sāramandanta Kalpa, a tremendously long age in which four Great Men will be born...”
“But if there are five lotuses...”
“Then the new kalpa will be the Bhadrakalpa.”
“An age of unimaginable length.”
“For within this kalpa, five Great Men will be born into the world to teach the Dharma to all sentient beings...”
A woman's voice slowly echoed through the empty sky of the Asaññasatta realm.
She spoke softly of the destiny of the new kalpa.
And the destiny of the new kalpa—
would be determined by the number of sacred lotuses blooming upon the primordial waters.
Her voice reached the ears of Mahā Brahmā Sahampati.
The supreme Brahma ruler turned his head slightly.
He followed the sound.
There, standing in the sky, was a long-haired woman.
She wore a pure white Brahmin woman's dress that shimmered like moonlight.
Her smooth black hair fell over her shoulders, adorned with a white hairpin shaped like a crescent moon.
Mahā Brahmā spoke calmly.
“Rohini... is that you?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Rohini answered softly.
“I have been here for some time.”
“At the end of every kalpa, I lead my attendants here to the Asaññasatta realm to seek refuge.”
“But this time...”
Her voice trembled slightly.
“This time, the end of the kalpa took all twenty-eight of my lunar-mansion attendants...”
“Even the Moon God whom I love dearly has not yet reached the time of his rebirth.”
“That is why I came here.”
“I wished to observe these sacred lotuses together with Your Majesty.”
“Perhaps... Your Dharma may help drive away the sorrow within my heart...”
Her voice was filled with deep grief.
Those eyes, once sharp and commanding enough to inspire fear even among the gods, now appeared weary with longing for someone she had lost.
“You are suffering now,”
the Great Brahma King said calmly.
He flew toward a great rift in the celestial realm.
It was a naturally formed chasm, a vast opening through which one could look down from the Asaññasatta realm and observe the changes taking place below in Subhakiṇha.
Rohini followed him.
Only then did the Great Brahma King continue.
“But suffering itself is not eternal.”
“It too has an ending.”
“Just like these kalpa-waters, which spread from the Great Hell of Avīci all the way upward to Subhakiṇha.”
“Before long, they too will completely dry away.”
“Your suffering is the same.”
“When the Moon God you love so dearly returns...”
“your suffering will die with him.”
Rohini remained silent for a moment.
“But I fear that I will continue to miss my former attendants for a very long time.”
“And once the Three Realms have fully recovered, I must quickly find new attendants.”
“For if the twenty-eight lunar mansions lose the deities who guard their stars, the stars themselves will lose their power.”
“They will no longer be able, as they once did, to project divine influence upon nature and sentient beings, or affect their destinies...”
The Great Brahma King suddenly asked:
“Then did the twenty-eight lunar-mansion gods die when their lifespans ended?”
“Or did they attain the path of liberation and leave the divine realm?”
“Or perhaps...”
“Did they perish in the kalpa-wind?”
For the first time, a trace of relief appeared on Rohini's face.
“That is the one thing that still gives me comfort.”
“They did not die in the kalpa-wind.”
“I brought them to the Asaññasatta realm in time.”
“But this time...”
“During the long ages of waiting for the new kalpa to arise, they observed those Brahmas who possessed bodies but no consciousness.”
“They witnessed the impermanence of the Three Realms with their own eyes.”
“In the end, they relinquished their identities as the gods of the twenty-eight lunar mansions.”
“They attained the fruit of Non-Return.”
“And all of them were reborn in the Pure Abodes.”
The Great Brahma King nodded.
“That is something worthy of sympathetic joy.”
“You should rejoice for them.”
“Yes...”
Rohini answered softly.
She lowered her gaze through the depths of the Asaññasatta realm and looked toward the vast waters below.
She too began searching for the sacred lotus that would symbolize the destiny of the new kalpa.
But the wisdom-eye of the Great Brahma King was far keener than hers.
He quickly discovered the location of the lotuses.
And flew toward them first.
Yet—
when they finally arrived above that vast body of water...
There were only two sacred lotuses blooming upon its surface.
The Great Brahma King said without expression:
“Mandanta Kalpa...”
Grief once again appeared in Rohini's eyes.
“How sorrowful...”
“The previous kalpa was a Sāramandanta Kalpa, in which four Great Men were born into the world.”
“But this kalpa...”
“is merely a Mandanta age.”
“Only two Great Men will be born...”
The Great Brahma King looked calmly at her.
“Rohini.”
“Try to look upon it through the eyes of nature.”
“Only then will you understand—”
“This is samsara.”
“Light and darkness have always been intertwined in struggle.”
“One rises as the other falls.”
“And that too is impermanence.”
Rohini nodded.
“I understand.”
“Although humans and other sentient beings whose wisdom remains shallow often believe that the True Dharma must inevitably triumph over evil forever...”
“I have lived long enough.”
“So I know...”
“That there are many times when light itself grows weak.”
“Sometimes it is even surrounded and oppressed by darkness.”
“And that tiny flame of light...”
“often has to wait through countless ages before gathering enough strength.”
“Until one day—”
“it finally erupts and completely drives away the darkness that has invaded it...”
Before she could finish—
a man's voice suddenly interrupted them.
“When the previous Sāramandanta Kalpa was drawing to its end, that was probably one of the few times when darkness could openly overpower the light...!”
“But in my eyes...”
“It is nothing more than—”
“what goes around comes around.”
“Itihasa!?”
The Great Brahma King and Rohini turned around almost simultaneously.
At some unknown moment, a man had appeared in the void.
His arms were folded across his chest.
A proud smile rested upon his face.
His fair and handsome features were framed by a pair of sharp, slightly upturned eyes, their corners resembling those of the legendary king of beasts.
His thick black eyebrows curved like drawn bowstrings.
His face carried both a rebellious arrogance and a profound, unmistakable intelligence.
His tall, powerful body was perfectly proportioned, covered in smooth golden skin.
He wore a white sage's robe embroidered with golden thread, paired with black lower garments.
The pressure emanating from him—
clearly surpassed that of the two deities before him.
“Good and evil...”
“How different are they, really?”
the deity known as Itihasa said lazily.
“In the end...”
“they both fall under my control.”
His voice was proud and arrogant.
Yet his eyes glittered with a sly, mischievous light, like that of a griffin.
Rohini replied calmly:
“You can speak that way because you are yourself one of the most powerful beings in the infinite universe.”
“But regardless...”
“You must still continue wandering through samsara.”
“Just like the rest of us.”
Itihasa smiled.
“But I am freer than anyone.”
“At the very least, I can choose whether to live or die.”
“And most importantly—”
“even the darkness of the kalpa's end, Vihasvaradhali, cannot kill me.”
“So I have no need to hide from the kalpa-fire, kalpa-water, or kalpa-wind as other gods must.”
Rohini frowned slightly.
“If you have merely come here to provoke us...”
“Then please go somewhere else.”
“Do not make a spectacle of yourself at such an important moment in the Three Realms.”
“Otherwise, even you...”
“may suffer Brahmic punishment.”
Itihasa showed no fear.
Instead, he deliberately drew out his words.
“I did not come here looking for a fight. I merely...”
He gave Rohini a meaningful glance.
“noticed that someone here, someone who possesses immense authority over the universe, seems to be suffering far too much.”
“Your state of mind is almost falling apart.”
“Your temper is rather intense. Hardly pleasant...”
“I only came to tell you something interesting. But it seems... no one wants to listen.”
Rohini was about to answer.
But the Great Brahma King spoke first.
“What interesting thing?”
Itihasa replied calmly:
“As you have just witnessed with your own eyes, the end of the previous kalpa... was more devastating than any before it.”
Rohini answered coldly:
“Yes. But that is neither something to celebrate nor something worthy of attention.”
Itihasa ignored her completely.
He kept his arms folded and slowly lowered his eyes.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
After a moment, he opened his eyes again.
His low voice rang out.
“Then where do demons come from... Rohini?”
Although he was asking Rohini,
his peripheral vision secretly examined the Great Brahma King.
He continued:
“I mean the Demon Kings and the higher Demon Gods. Not the lesser demons. Such as the Five Aggregates Mara, or those insignificant celestial demons.”
The Great Brahma King understood perfectly.
He was being challenged by Itihasa.
He repeated the question.
“Demons...”
“Where do they truly come from?”
Then he answered on Rohini's behalf.
“Most of the truly powerful Demon Kings were once Brahmas, or beings who had attained extraordinarily high states of meditation.”
“For one reason or another, they allowed their minds to fall.”
“Eventually, they transformed from Brahmas into demons, Asuras, and other evil beings.”
“Just like Ananda Brahma and Yangantada Brahma.”
“They fell simply because they became jealous of other Brahmas, allowing their minds to gradually descend.”
“In the end, they entered the path of demons.”
“From Brahmas, they became Demon Kings far more terrifying than ordinary demons and Asuras.”
Itihasa nodded.
“Exactly.”
“And now...”
“we stand at the very first step of a new kalpa, a new age.”
“Those who have survived the end of the kalpa are, if they are not great gods like Rohini and myself—beings who cannot die because we carry essential duties throughout the universe—”
“either advanced Brahmas such as yourself, or the formless-realm Brahmas.”
“And these Brahmas who survived the end of the kalpa...”
“are all striving toward liberation.”
“But...”