Adhyaya 46 — Cosmic Dissolution, the Emergence of Brahma, and the Measures of Time (Yugas, Manvantaras, and Brahma’s Day)
तद्वासिनोऽपि तापेन जनलोकं प्रयान्ति वै ।
एकार्णवे च त्रैलोक्ये ब्रह्मा स्वपिति वै निशि ॥
tad-vāsino 'pi tāpena janalokaṃ prayānti vai | ekārṇave ca trailokye brahmā svapiti vai niśi ||
तेथील निवासीही उष्णतेने संतप्त होऊन जनलोकास जातात; आणि जेव्हा तीनही लोक एकच महासागर होतात, तेव्हा ब्रह्मा रात्रौ निद्रिस्त होतो।
Safety based on location or attainment is conditional within cyclic time; refuge is ultimately in right knowledge and dharma rather than any perishable realm.
Pratisarga/saṃhāra: concrete description of periodic dissolution and the cosmic ‘night’ of Brahmā.
Brahmā’s ‘sleep’ parallels pralaya as cosmic latency; inwardly, it maps to deep absorption where differentiated experience collapses into undivided potential.