Pralaya
Cessation of all activities is called Pralaya (प्रलय). The Sanskrit word Pralaya means dissolution or annihilation.
There are many types of Pralaya
During all these pralaya only the material worlds are impacted. The divine world remains totally unimpaired by all forms of pralaya.
There are many types of Pralaya
- naityik pralaya (नैत्यिक प्रलय): Vedas say when God embraces the jeev. That embrace is so full of bliss that the mind falls unconscious and this is when dreamless sound sleep happens. This state is known as Sushupti (सुषुप्ति) and that period of time is known as naityik pralaya.
- dainandin pralaya (दैनंदिन प्रलय): At the end of uttaranyan (day of Creator Brahma) he sleeps for dakshinayan (night of Creator Brahma). At this time the Brahmand stays but everything inside the Brahmand is annihilated.
- prakrit palaya (प्राकृत प्रलय): At the end of Brahma's life (see article Kaal-Time), Brahmand totally dissipates. All the living beings in the brahmand merge into Brahma-Supreme God. The water permeates three-fourths of the land and creator Brahma also merges in the infinite belly of Brahma-Supreme God.
- atyantik pralaya (आत्यन्तिक प्रलय): atyantik means forever. From the moment a jeev attains mukti (liberation) the jeev is liberated from the crutches of Maya. After death he gets no body or mind, the soul remains absorbed in Brahma-Supreme God. This is atyantik pralaya.
- maha pralaya (महा प्रलय): When Brahma-Supreme God sleeps in shupti (सुप्ति) state, everything which is material merges into Maya or Prakriti and all the souls merge into the infinite belly of Brahma-Supreme God. Creator Brahma creates a cosmic-egg called brahmand. There are innumerable Brahma thus there are innumerable brahmands. Creators or all brahmands merge in Brahma-Supreme God.
- khand pralaya (खन्ड प्रलय) or ansh pralaya (अंश प्रलय): Parts of the creation are destroyed due to natural disasters like tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes, meteor hits, tsunamis, cyclones, hurricanes etc. This does not have any fixed time of occurrence.
During all these pralaya only the material worlds are impacted. The divine world remains totally unimpaired by all forms of pralaya.
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