example, in the twenty-eighth cycle of four ages, one saw the third preceding the second. In this age, Sri Krishna also chooses to appear, and for this reason, the usual course of time has known some alterations.
The great sage Vyasadeva had as mother Satyavati, the daughter of Vasu, the fisherman, and as father the great sage Parasara Muni. So much for the appearance of Vyasadeva. Each age is divided into three periods, and Vyasadeva appeared in the third period of this third age, or copper age, rather peculiar.
Noting the decline of the intelligence of men in their mass, He divided the original Veda into several branches and sub-branches.
Originally, there was only one Veda. But Srila Vyasadeva divided this original Veda into four parts - the Sama, the Yajus, the Rk, and the Atharva - into various explanatory branches, such as the Puranas and the Mahabharata. The Vedas, by their language and their content, are very difficult to reach the common man. In truth, only intellectuals who are accomplished and endowed with remarkable intelligence can seize them. But in the age of Kali, the ignorant abound. Even those whose father is intellectual are no better today than women and workers. The two-borns, the wise intellectuals, the administrators and the tradesmen or farmers, must submit themselves to various purificatory rites, but under the degrading influence of the present era, the representatives of the families supposedly belonging to the layers Higher levels of society have abandoned these principles of high culture.
Sri Vyasadeva is a plenary emanation of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, an emanation with specific powers. He descended into the material universe by his infinite grace, for the sole purpose of delivering fallen souls. The separate souls are an integral part of the Lord, of which they are fragments, destined to serve Him eternally, but as soon as they forget their nature, they derogate, and deviate from the service of sublime love offered to the Lord. Now, all Vedic writings are ordered so as to serve the good of fallen souls, to whom falls the duty of taking advantage of these texts to free themselves from the chains of material existence.
The Lord then appeared in the form of King Rama. In order to accomplish some task that pleases celestial beings, He showed superhuman powers by which He dominated the Indian Ocean, then destroyed Ravana, the demonic king living beyond these waters.
The Supreme Lord appeared on Earth, among men, in the form of Sri Rama, with the aim of accomplishing a feat that would delight celestial beings, masters of the cosmic order. At times, great demonic and atheistic beings, such as Ravana and Hiranyakasipu, gain particular renown for material achievements, which they obtain through scientific research and various other enterprises carried out in a spirit of defiance towards the order established by the Lord. A good example of this is the efforts to reach out to other planets through material means, because this is a challenge of the established order. Living conditions differ on every planet, and the