Shloka 38
प्रलय-त्रिविध-विभागः एवं प्राकृतप्रलय-वर्णनम्
नष्टे चाग्नौ शतं ते ऽपि वर्षाणाम् अधिकं घनाः प्लावयन्तो जगत् सर्वं वर्षन्ति मुनिसत्तम
naṣṭe cāgnau śataṃ te 'pi varṣāṇām adhikaṃ ghanāḥ plāvayanto jagat sarvaṃ varṣanti munisattama
When that fire has been extinguished, then for more than a hundred years the dense clouds pour down—flooding the whole world with their rains, O best of sages.
Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Duration and mechanism of the pralaya rains after the cosmic fire is quenched
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas
Concept: All manifested forms, even worlds, are subject to periodic dissolution; only the supreme cause endures beyond the cycle.
Vedantic Theme: Maya
Application: Use the contemplation of cosmic impermanence to strengthen detachment and prioritize enduring spiritual practice over transient acquisitions.
Vishishtadvaita: The world’s transformations are real modes of the Lord’s power, yet they are dependent and transient, while Nārāyaṇa remains the abiding support and cause.
Vishnu Form: Narayana
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
It marks the deluge phase of pralaya: after the consuming fire subsides, prolonged rains inundate the worlds, emphasizing the ordered, staged nature of cosmic dissolution.
Parāśara presents pralaya as a sequence: first the destructive fire is quenched, then vast clouds rain for more than a century, flooding the entire world—showing dissolution as a regulated cosmic process.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Vishnu Purana frames such cosmic cycles as operating under the sovereignty of the Supreme Reality—Vishnu—who governs creation, preservation, and dissolution.