---
type: Concept
bundle: cosmology-creation
bundle_version: "0.7.2"
id: samhara
title: "Saṃhāra / Laya — संहार / लय"
iast: "Saṃhāra"
devanagari: "संहार"
description: "Cosmic withdrawal or reabsorption: the drawing-back of the manifest cosmos into its unmanifest source at the end of a cosmic cycle; Śiva's function in the Trimūrti schema; NOT destruction or annihilation — nothing is lost, everything is reabsorbed; distinguished from Pralaya, which is the resulting state after Saṃhāra."
darshana:
  - Purāṇic
  - Śaiva
  - Vedānta
school_scope: "Pan-Purāṇic as part of Sṛṣṭi-Sthiti-Saṃhāra triad; Śaiva Siddhānta and Kashmir Shaivism expand Saṃhāra into one of five cosmic acts (pañcakṛtya); Advaita reads Saṃhāra as the manifest returning to Brahman-as-substratum"
text_source: "BhP 12.4; Śiva Purāṇa; Liṅga Purāṇa 1.1-2; Bhagavad Gītā 9.7"
tags: [cosmology, samhara, laya, shiva, pralaya, trimurti, puranic, shaiva]
not:
  - term: "destruction / annihilation"
    why: "Saṃhāra (sam + hṛ = to draw together, to take back) implies reabsorption, not destruction. The content of the manifest world is not annihilated in Saṃhāra; it is withdrawn back into Avyakta (the Unmanifest) where it rests until the next Sṛṣṭi. Nothing is lost — the analogy is a wave dissolving back into the ocean, not a wave being destroyed."
    instead: "Translate as 'withdrawal,' 'reabsorption,' or 'dissolution into source'; never 'destruction.'"
  - term: "Śiva as destroyer / evil deity"
    why: "Śiva's Saṃhāra function makes him necessary and auspicious, not evil. The cycle requires Saṃhāra for renewal; without it, the cosmos would stagnate. Nṛtya (Śiva's dance = Naṭarāja) encodes this: the dance is joy, not violence. The 'destroyer' framing imposes a value-judgment from outside the cosmological framework."
  - term: "Pralaya (the same as Saṃhāra)"
    why: "Saṃhāra is the act / function (the withdrawal); Pralaya is the resulting state (the dissolution). They are cause and effect within the same cosmic moment. Distinguishing them matters because Pralaya has four types (Nitya, Naimittika, Mahā, Ātyantika), while Saṃhāra names the agency. See pralaya.md."
related:
  - /concepts/srishti.md
  - /concepts/sthiti.md
  - /concepts/pralaya.md
  - /concepts/trimurti.md
  - /concepts/avyakta.md
timestamp: "2026-07-01"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Saṃhāra / Laya — संहार / लय

**Not:** destruction / annihilation, Śiva as destroyer / evil deity, Pralaya (the same as Saṃhāra)

## Two Terms, One Function

**Saṃhāra** (sam + hṛ = to gather together, to withdraw, to take back) and **Laya** (from lī = to dissolve, to merge) are used interchangeably in most Purāṇic contexts, though Laya emphasizes the quality of merging back into source while Saṃhāra emphasizes the agency of withdrawal. Both refer to the third cosmic function in the Sṛṣṭi-Sthiti-Saṃhāra triad — the reabsorption of the manifest cosmos.

## Saṃhāra as Śiva's Function

In the Trimūrti framework, Saṃhāra is assigned to Śiva. This assignment has generated persistent misreadings in Western contexts where "destroyer" carries negative moral weight. In the Purāṇic cosmological frame:

- Saṃhāra is as necessary as Sṛṣṭi; neither is morally superior
- Without Saṃhāra, there is no Pralaya; without Pralaya, there is no new Sṛṣṭi
- Śiva as Saṃhāra-agent is performing a service to the cosmos, not an act of violence

The Naṭarāja iconography encodes the full cosmological meaning: Śiva's right hand beats the ḍamaru (the drum of creation, Sṛṣṭi), his second right hand shows abhaya mudrā (protection, Sthiti), his upper left hand holds fire (dissolution, Saṃhāra), his lower left hand points to the raised foot (liberation, Anugraha), and his right foot stands on the demon of ignorance (Tirodhāna overcome). All five acts in one image.

## In the Pañcakṛtya Framework

Kashmir Shaivism and Śaiva Siddhānta expand the three Trimūrti functions into five (pañcakṛtya):
1. Sṛṣṭi (emission)
2. Sthiti (maintenance)
3. Saṃhāra (withdrawal)
4. Tirodhāna (veiling, concealment of Śiva's true nature within Māyā)
5. Anugraha (grace, the revelation that removes the veil)

In this framework, Saṃhāra is the third of five acts, all performed by Śiva. The Trimūrti model and the pañcakṛtya model are both valid; they operate at different levels of resolution.

## Saṃhāra and BG 9.7

Bhagavad Gītā 9.7 states: "All beings, O Arjuna, go into My Prakṛti at the end of a Kalpa; I emit them again at the beginning of another Kalpa." This is Saṃhāra-and-Sṛṣṭi in one verse — the beings dissolve back into Brahman's Prakṛti (Avyakta) at Saṃhāra, and are re-emitted in Sṛṣṭi.

## Audience Metaphor

Saṃhāra is like a breath being exhaled. The in-breath (Sṛṣṭi) draws in; the sustained breath (Sthiti) holds; the out-breath (Saṃhāra) releases back to the stillness (Pralaya) before the next in-breath. The breath does not destroy the air; it returns it to the atmosphere. The cosmic cycle is the breathing of Brahman.

## Citations

1. Bhagavad Gītā 9.7 — cosmic withdrawal and re-emission; "sarvabhūtāni... yānti māṃ kalpa-kṣaye"
2. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.4 — description of Pralaya as the result of Saṃhāra; see references/bhagavata-purana.md
3. Liṅga Purāṇa 1.1-2 — Śiva as Saṃhāra-agent and Naṭarāja cosmological significance
4. Śiva Purāṇa — Saṃhāra in the Śaiva pañcakṛtya framework
