The earliest mentions of cosmic cycles in Sanskrit literature are found in the "Yuga Purana" ( 1st century BCE), the "Mahabharata" ( 3rd century BCE – 4th century CE), and the "Manusmriti" ( 2nd – 3rd centuries CE). In the "Mahabharata", there are inconsistent names applied to the cycle of creation and destruction, a name theorized as still being formulated, where "yuga" (generally, an age of time) and "kalpa" (a day of Brahma) are used, or a day of the Brahman or of Brahma, the creator god, or simply referred to as the process of creation and destruction, with "kalpa" and day of Brahma becoming more prominent in later writings.