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According to the Brahmanical traditions, the human history proceeds in cycle, dependent on the evolutions and dissolutions of the world.

Time is divided into four ages – Krtayuga, Tretayuga, Dvaparayuga and Kaliyuga – collectively forming one Mahayuga.

Seventy-one Mahayugas form a Manvantara, a period of time over which a Manu resides.

In each cycle, this Manu is the first man and also the first king and lawgiver.

Every Manvantara has its own set of Indra, gods and seven sages.

Fourteen Manvantara create a Kalpa, after which the creation comes to a close in a periodical destruction called Pralaya.

After that, the creation starts all over again in an endless cycle of evolutions and dissolutions.