Shloka 38
Adhyaya 46 — Cosmic Dissolution, the Emergence of Brahma, and the Measures of Time (Yugas, Manvantaras, and Brahma’s Day)
चतुर्दशगुणो ह्येष कालो ब्रह्म्यमहः स्मृतम् ।
तस्यान्ते प्रलयः प्रोक्तो ब्रह्मन् नैमित्तिको बुधैः ॥
caturdaśa-guṇo hyeṣa kālo brahmyam ahaḥ smṛtam | tasyānte pralayaḥ prokto brahman naimittiko budhaiḥ ||
एष कालश्चतुर्दशगुणितः ब्रह्मणोऽहः स्मृतः; तस्यान्ते हे ब्राह्मण, नैमित्तिकं प्रलयं बुधाः प्रचक्षते।
FAQs
All manifested order is periodic; recognizing naimittika pralaya fosters detachment (vairāgya) and steadiness in dharma amid inevitable cycles of ending and renewal.
Pratisarga/saṃhāra (periodic dissolution) is explicit; Manvantara is the basis for the fourteenfold computation.
Naimittika pralaya points to ‘functional dissolution’: not absolute annihilation, but withdrawal into causal latency—analogous to deep sleep where forms cease yet potential remains.