Shloka 12
स कल्पस् तत्र मनवश् चतुर्दश महामुने तदन्ते चैव मैत्रेय ब्राह्मो नैमित्तिको लयः
sa kalpas tatra manavaś caturdaśa mahāmune tadante caiva maitreya brāhmo naimittiko layaḥ
हे महामुने! उस कल्प में चौदह मनु होते हैं। और हे मैत्रेय! उसके अंत में ब्राह्म (नैमित्तिक) प्रलय—लोकों का अवसरिक संहार—होता है।
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.