Shloka 25
Naimittika-pralaya and the Theology of Kāla: Seven Suns, Saṃvartaka Fire, Flood, and Varāha Kalpa
पाताले यानि सत्त्वानि महोदधिगतानि च / ततस्तानि प्रलीयन्ते भूमित्वमुपयान्ति च
pātāle yāni sattvāni mahodadhigatāni ca / tatastāni pralīyante bhūmitvamupayānti ca
ಪಾತಾಳದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಹಾಗೂ ಮಹಾಸಮುದ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರವೇಶಿಸಿದ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಸತ್ತ್ವಗಳು ಆಗ ಲೀನವಾಗಿ, ಭೂಮಿತತ್ತ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಲೀನಗೊಂಡು ಭೂಮಿತ್ವವನ್ನು ಪಡೆಯುತ್ತವೆ.
Sūta (narrator) describing the course of pralaya within the Kurma Purana’s cosmology
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
By depicting all embodied beings dissolving into elemental earth during pralaya, the verse implies that formed existence is transient; the witnessing Self is not this perishable aggregation and is to be known as distinct from elemental transformations.
The verse supports vairāgya (dispassion) and tattva-viveka (discernment of principles): meditation is strengthened by contemplating pralaya—how beings dissolve into elements—thus turning the mind from the mutable world toward Īśvara and the inner Self.
Though not naming them directly, the pralaya framework aligns with the Kurma Purana’s synthesis: cosmic dissolution is governed by the one supreme Īśvara revered as both Hari and Hara, beyond the shifting states of beings and elements.