Pralaya-Dissolution
Cessation of all activities is called pralaya (Devanagari: प्रलय ISO15919: pralaya). The Sanskrit word pralay means dissolution or annihilation.
There are many types of pralay.
Naityik Pralay
Vedas say when God embraces the jeev. That embrace is so full of bliss that it overwhelms the mind. Mind cannot bear that much bliss and falls unconscious. This is when dreamless sound sleep happens. This state is known as sushupti (Devanagari: सुषुप्ति ISO15919: suṣupti) and that period of time is known as naityik pralay (Devanagari: नैत्यिक प्रलय ISO15919: naityika pralaya).
Dainandin Pralay
At the end of uttaranyan (day of Creator Brahma) he sleeps for dakshinayan (night of Creator Brahma). This is called dainandin pralay (Devanagari: दैनंदिन प्रलय ISO15919: dainaṁdina pralaya). At this time the brahmand stays but everything inside the brahmand is annihilated.
Prakrit Pralay
At the end of creator Brahma's life (see article Vedic Time), the brahmand totally annihilated. All the living beings in the brahmand merge into The Supreme God. The water permeates three-fourths of the brahmand and creator Brahma also merges in the infinite belly of The Supreme God. This pralaya is called prakrit pralay (Devanagari: प्राकृत प्रलय ISO15919: prākr̥ta pralaya).
Atyantik Pralay
Atyantik means forever. From the moment a jeev attains mukti the jeev is liberated from the crutches of Maya it is called atyantik pralay (Devanagari: आत्यन्तिक प्रलय ISO15919: ātyantika pralaya ISO15919: ātyantika pralaya). After death he gets no body or mind, the soul remains absorbed in The Supreme God.
Maha Pralay
When The Supreme God sleeps in sushupti (Devanagari: सुषुप्ति ISO15919: suṣupti) state, everything which is material merges into Maya and all the souls merge into karnarnav, the infinite belly of The Supreme God. This is called maha pralay (Devanagari: महाप्रलय ISO15919: mahāpralaya).
There are innumerable creator Brahma one for each of the innumerable brahmands. During this time all brahmands along with their Creators merge in The Supreme God.
Khand Pralay
In khand pralay (Devanagari: खन्ड प्रलय ISO15919: khanḍa pralaya) parts of the creation are destroyed due to natural disasters like tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes, meteor hits, tsunamis, cyclones, hurricanes etc. This does not have any fixed time of occurrence.
It is also called ansh pralay (Devanagari: अंश प्रलय ISO15919: aṁśa pralaya).
During all these pralay only the material worlds are impacted. The divine world remains totally unimpaired by all forms of pralay.
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