Shloka 14
नैमित्तिक-प्राकृत-प्रलयवर्णनम्
Periodic and Elemental Dissolution; Reabsorption into Paramātman
आपो ग्रसन्ति वै पूर्वं भूमेर् गन्धात्मकं गुणम् आत्तगन्धा ततो भूमिः प्रलयत्वाय कल्पते
āpo grasanti vai pūrvaṃ bhūmer gandhātmakaṃ guṇam āttagandhā tato bhūmiḥ pralayatvāya kalpate
First, the waters swallow up the earth’s fragrance-essence—its defining quality. When that scent is withdrawn, the earth, bereft of its own nature, becomes fit to pass into dissolution.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Order of elemental reabsorption: water absorbs earth’s defining quality (gandha)
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Creation Stage: Secondary
Concept: In prākṛta pralaya, the gross elements dissolve by loss of their defining qualities: water first absorbs earth’s fragrance-quality, rendering earth fit for dissolution.
Vedantic Theme: Maya
Application: Reflect that identities persist only so long as their defining ‘qualities’ remain—use this to reduce rigid self-concepts.
Vishishtadvaita: The cosmos is a real, ordered transformation of prakṛti under divine rule; its dissolution proceeds lawfully through guṇa/tanmātra withdrawal.
FAQs
Fragrance is presented as the defining quality of earth; its withdrawal signals earth’s loss of stability and the beginning of elemental re-absorption during pralaya.
He describes it as a stepwise process where each element’s characteristic quality is absorbed by the next subtler element—here, water absorbs earth’s gandha—making the grosser element ready for dissolution.
Even when elements dissolve, the Purana frames the process as occurring within a lawful cosmic order ultimately grounded in Vishnu as the supreme sustaining reality behind creation and re-absorption.