In the fourteenth dvāpara (dwapara) epoch when the great sage Surakṣa (Surakhsa) would become Vyāsa (Vyasa), the compiler of the Vedas, Śiva (Shiva) would take the avatāra (avatar) of the great sage Gautama to descend into the mortal world. Over this period Gautama would have four sons, one of whom would be Atri.