Shloka 12
प्रलय-त्रिविध-विभागः एवं प्राकृतप्रलय-वर्णनम्
स कल्पस् तत्र मनवश् चतुर्दश महामुने तदन्ते चैव मैत्रेय ब्राह्मो नैमित्तिको लयः
sa kalpas tatra manavaś caturdaśa mahāmune tadante caiva maitreya brāhmo naimittiko layaḥ
In that Kalpa, O great sage, there are fourteen Manus. And at its end, O Maitreya, there occurs the Brahmā-dissolution—the naimittika, the occasional withdrawal of the worlds.
Sage Parāśara
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How manvantaras fit within a kalpa and what dissolution occurs at kalpa’s end
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Creation Stage: Manvantara
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas
Concept: A kalpa contains fourteen manvantaras, and at its end occurs the naimittika (occasional) dissolution associated with Brahmā’s day-cycle.
Vedantic Theme: Moksha
Application: Reflect on cycles of arising and withdrawal to reduce clinging and to anchor practice in what is enduring—devotion to the Lord.
Vishishtadvaita: Even pralaya is a mode of the Lord’s governance: the cosmos contracts into Him without negating its dependence (apṛthak-siddhi) on Nārāyaṇa as its ground.
Vishnu Form: Narayana
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
This verse states that a single Kalpa contains fourteen Manvantaras, each governed by a Manu, establishing the Purana’s canonical structure of cyclical cosmic administration.
Parāśara describes that at the end of a Kalpa there is a brāhma, naimittika laya—a periodic dissolution connected with Brahmā’s cycle, where the manifested worlds withdraw before the next cycle begins.
Even while describing Brahmā’s time-cycles, the Vishnu Purana frames cosmic order as ultimately grounded in the Supreme Reality—Vishnu—under whose sovereignty creation, governance by Manus, and dissolution proceed.