Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 46, 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 ||
Ang panahong ito, kapag pinarami nang labing-apat na ulit, ay inaalala bilang isang araw ni Brahmā. Sa wakas nito, O brāhmaṇa, ipinahahayag ng marurunong ang naimittika (paminsan-minsang) pagkalusaw.
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.