Shloka 5
प्रलय-त्रिविध-विभागः एवं प्राकृतप्रलय-वर्णनम्
परार्धद्विगुणं यत् तु प्राकृतः स लयो द्विज तदाव्यक्ते ऽखिलं व्यक्तं स्वहेतौ लयम् एति वै
parārdhadviguṇaṃ yat tu prākṛtaḥ sa layo dvija tadāvyakte 'khilaṃ vyaktaṃ svahetau layam eti vai
O twice-born one, the dissolution that lasts for twice a parārdha is called the Prākṛta (primordial) dissolution. Then all that is manifest dissolves into the Unmanifest, returning to its own causal ground.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Definition and duration of prākṛta-pralaya and the reabsorption of the manifest into the unmanifest cause
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: revealing
Concept: In prākṛta dissolution, enduring twice a parārdha, all manifest entities withdraw into the avyakta, returning to their own causal ground.
Vedantic Theme: Moksha
Application: Meditate on impermanence of manifest forms to loosen attachment and cultivate dispassion while strengthening refuge in the unchanging cause.
Vishishtadvaita: The world’s reabsorption ‘into its cause’ aligns with satkārya-style dependence: effects persist as modes of the causal reality (the Lord’s prakṛti under His governance), not sheer negation.
Vishnu Form: Narayana
Bhakti Type: Shanta
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
It describes the deepest cosmic dissolution where the entire manifest universe is reabsorbed into the Unmanifest (avyakta), emphasizing the cyclical nature of creation and the return of effects into their primal cause.
He defines Prākṛta dissolution by its immense duration (twice a parārdha) and by its metaphysical process: everything manifest (vyakta) merges back into its own causal basis within the Unmanifest.
Even when the verse speaks in Sāṅkhya terms (vyakta/avyakta), the Vishnu Purana’s broader teaching places these processes under the supreme governance of Vishnu as the ultimate ground in whom cosmic cycles arise and subside.