Shloka 2
Adhyaya 46 — Cosmic Dissolution, the Emergence of Brahma, and the Measures of Time (Yugas, Manvantaras, and Brahma’s Day)
एतदिच्छाम्यहं श्रोतुं त्वत्तो भृगुकुलोद्भव ।
यदा न सृष्टिर्भूतानामस्ति किं नु न चास्ति वा ।
काले वै प्रलयस्यान्ते सर्वस्मिन्नुपसंहृते ॥
etad icchāmy ahaṃ śrotuṃ tvatto bhṛgukulodbhava |
yadā na sṛṣṭir bhūtānām asti kinnu na cāsti vā |
kāle vai pralayasyānte sarvasminn upasaṃhṛte ||
I wish to hear this from you, O one born in the Bhṛgu lineage: when there is no creation of beings, does anything exist then or not? And what is the condition at the end of pralaya, when everything has been withdrawn into dissolution?
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FAQs
The verse frames a classic Purāṇic-śāstric inquiry: whether ‘non-creation’ means absolute non-being or a latent, unmanifest condition. It encourages careful distinction between manifest forms and underlying principles that persist through cycles.
Primarily Sarga/Pratisarga-related inquiry (creation and re-creation), specifically the transition point at Pralaya (dissolution) preceding Pratisarga (re-manifestation).
The ‘end of pralaya’ points to a liminal state where names and forms are withdrawn; the question anticipates the teaching that existence may continue in subtle/seed form (avyakta), not as gross plurality.