pralaya

Pralaya is a term in Hindu cosmology referring to the dissolution or destruction of the material universe. It denotes cycles of creation and destruction that recur over vast stretches of time. The word comes from Sanskrit, literally meaning a laying bare or dissolution of the world of form, while the underlying reality remains.

There are several traditional classifications of pralaya. Nitya pralaya, or daily dissolution, occurs at the end of Brahma’s day and night, when the created world temporarily dissolves into a more subtle state and is re-created when the next day begins. Naimittika pralaya is an occasional or intermediate dissolution that can occur at the end of a manvantara or during other specific cosmic circumstances; it destroys the current manifestation but is followed by renewed creation. Maha pralaya is the great dissolution at the end of a kalpa, a full cycle of Brahma’s life, when the entire universe dissolves into its undifferentiated essence and later re-emerges in the next cosmic cycle.

Cosmology in Hindu thought often frames time in long cycles. A kalpa lasts 4.32 billion human years and contains fourteen manvantaras, with periods of dissolution between them. At the end of a kalpa, Maha pralaya occurs, after which Brahma’s night precedes a new day and a renewed cycle of creation. Interpretations of pralaya vary among schools, with some viewing dissolution as literal cosmic destruction and others interpreting it as a transformation of forms or a shift to a higher level of reality.