Shloka 13
कर्मविद्या-भेदः
Karma–Vidyā Distinction: Paths of Bondage and Release
आकाश स्य गुणं शब्दमभिव्यक्तात्मकं मन: । मनसो व्यक्तमव्यक्तं ब्राह्मुः सम्प्रतिसंचर:,तत्पश्चात् दृश्य प्रपंचको व्यक्त करनेवाला मन आकाशके गुण शब्दको, जो मनसे ही प्रकट हुआ था, अपनेमें लीन कर लेता है। इस तरह व्यक्त मन और अव्यक्त (महत्तत्त्व) का ब्रह्माके मनमें लय होना ब्राह्म प्रलय कहलाता है
ākāśasya guṇaṃ śabdam abhivyaktātmakaṃ manaḥ | manaso vyaktam avyaktam brāhmaḥ sampratisaṃcaraḥ || tatpaścāt dṛśya-prapañcako vyakta-karaṇevālā mana ākāśa-ke guṇa śabda-ko, jo man-se hī prakaṭ huā thā, apne-meṃ līna kara letā hai | is tarah vyakta mana aur avyakta (mahattattva) kā brahmā-ke mana-meṃ laya honā brāhma pralaya kahalātā hai ||
Vyāsa said: Mind, whose function is to make things manifest, draws back into itself sound—the quality of space—which had been expressed through mind itself. In this way, when the manifest mind and the unmanifest (the Mahat principle) dissolve into Brahmā’s mind, that withdrawal is called the “Brahmic dissolution” (brāhma pralaya).
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches involution: the manifest world is withdrawn in reverse order into subtler causes. Sound (as ākāśa’s quality) is reabsorbed into mind, and then both the manifest mind and the unmanifest principle (Mahat) dissolve into Brahmā’s mind—this is termed brāhma pralaya.
Vyāsa is explaining a cosmological account of dissolution (pralaya). He describes how the perceivable manifold is ‘taken back’ step by step: the mind that projects experience retracts sound into itself, and ultimately the levels of mind (manifest and unmanifest) merge into Brahmā’s mind.