Of all the many gods of India, three reign supreme above all the rest. They are known as the triad, and they are Brahma- the Creator, Shiva- the Destroyer and Vishnu- the Preserver. Vishnu acts as the moderating voice between creation and destruction, and together, the triad lives in a different plane of time from humans.

Indian mythology is built upon the core idea of the four Ages of Man. The myth tells of the four Yugas, or ages. These four ages are named after four throws of a dice, namely Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali. These four ages also lay the foundations for the cyclic perception of time, and the transfer of souls between bodies after death.

The first age, Kitra Yuga, was the perfect age of man. During that time, no gods were in existence, neither were there demons. All men were good and were free from sin. There were no illnesses or diseases. However, soon came the second age. The Treta Yuga was the time when man's virtue decreased by about one quarter. In this age, sacrifices began and humans were no longer pure as they used to be. The third age was the Dwapara Yuga in which people in the world were inflicted with desire, disease and calamity. Human virtue was half of what it was during the Kitra Yuga. Lastly, it is the Kali Yuga, which is the age we are living in. In this age, only one quarter of virtue has remained, and people have become evil.

Four ages lasts over four hundred million years, and one thousand of these periods translate to one day in the life of the creator, Brahma. After one day, the creator sleeps for a night which lasts just as long. Just before his slumber, the universe is ravaged by fire and flood, to be recreated when he wakes up in the morning. Three hundred and sixty days make up a year in the life of Brahma, and after one hundred years, Brahma would die, and for the next hundred years, there would be nothing but chaos, as it was before creation. After this, a new Brahma would arise, and the universe would be created again.

So goes the never ending cycle of creation and destruction, in the same fashion of the cycles of birth and death in the idea of reincarnation.

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