---
type: Concept
bundle: cosmology-creation
bundle_version: "0.7.0"
id: pralaya
title: "Pralaya — प्रलय"
iast: "Pralaya"
devanagari: "प्रलय"
description: "Cosmic dissolution: the state of non-manifestation that follows Saṃhāra; four types at different scales (Nitya, Naimittika, Mahā, Ātyantika); NOT universal annihilation -- the causal seeds of beings persist through all but the final type; the most critically misrepresented concept in Purāṇic cosmology because all four types are routinely collapsed into one."
darshana:
  - Purāṇic
  - Vedānta
school_scope: "Pan-Purāṇic; the fourfold classification (Nitya, Naimittika, Mahā, Ātyantika) is standard across Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Viṣṇu Purāṇa, and Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa; Advaita reads Ātyantika Pralaya as individual liberation merging into Brahman"
text_source: "BhP 12.4.3-6; Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.3-4; Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 81-93"
tags: [cosmology, pralaya, dissolution, kalpa, yuga, moksha, puranic]
not:
  - term: "universal annihilation / end of everything"
    why: "Only Ātyantika Pralaya (individual liberation) involves a permanent end -- and only for the individual jīva; and even that end is entry into Brahman, not annihilation. Nitya Pralaya occurs every moment; Naimittika Pralaya dissolves the three lower worlds but Brahmā and higher lokas persist; Mahā Pralaya ends Brahmā's lifespan but Brahman remains. Nothing is ever annihilated in the sense of ceasing to exist absolutely."
    instead: "Specify which Pralaya: 'daily dissolution' (Nitya), 'Kalpa-end dissolution' (Naimittika), 'Brahmā's-life-end dissolution' (Mahā), or 'individual liberation' (Ātyantika). Never use 'Pralaya' alone for a dramatic 'end of everything.'"
  - term: "the same as Saṃhāra"
    why: "Saṃhāra is the act of withdrawal (Śiva's function, the agency); Pralaya is the resulting state of non-manifestation. This is a cause-and-effect distinction, not synonymy. A Naimittika Pralaya follows the Saṃhāra at the end of each Kalpa; they are sequential, not identical. See samhara.md."
  - term: "one single event (Doomsday model)"
    why: "The Purāṇic framework posits four different Pralayas operating at four different scales. Treating Pralaya as a singular apocalyptic event imposes the Abrahamic Judgment / Doomsday framework. In Purāṇic cosmology, Pralayas are as recurring and structural as Sṛṣṭis."
related:
  - /concepts/samhara.md
  - /concepts/srishti.md
  - /concepts/kalpa.md
  - /concepts/kala.md
  - /concepts/avyakta.md
  - /concepts/trimurti.md
timestamp: "2026-07-01"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Pralaya — प्रलय

**Not:** universal annihilation, synonymous with Saṃhāra, a singular apocalyptic event

## The Four Types of Pralaya

This is the most critically misrepresented structure in Purāṇic cosmology. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa (12.4.3-6) enumerates four distinct Pralayas. Conflating them is the single most common AI error in this domain.

### 1. Nitya Pralaya (नित्य प्रलय) -- Daily / Constant Dissolution

**Scale:** Individual, momentary.

Nitya Pralaya is the dissolution of every momentary state of experience into the next moment. Sleep is the most accessible example: the waking consciousness dissolves every night; the dreaming consciousness dissolves at waking. At the finest level, every moment of perception dissolves as the next arises. Death is a larger Nitya Pralaya for an individual being.

**What persists:** The subtle body (sūkṣma-śarīra) and causal body (kāraṇa-śarīra) carry forward; the accumulated karma (saṃskāras) are not lost.

### 2. Naimittika Pralaya (नैमित्तिक प्रलय) -- Occasional / Kalpa-End Dissolution

**Scale:** The three lower worlds (Bhūr, Bhuvar, Svar).

Naimittika ("occasional" or "appointed") Pralaya occurs at the end of each Kalpa -- at the end of Brahmā's day (after 4.32 billion years), when Brahmā "sleeps." The three lower worlds dissolve into water; higher lokas (Mahar, Jana, Tapa, Satya) persist; Brahmā himself persists. When Brahmā's day restarts (the next Kalpa begins), Sṛṣṭi resumes.

**What persists:** Brahmā, the higher lokas, the subtle bodies of beings from the three lower worlds (carrying karma), and the saptarṣis who preserve the Vedas across Kalpas.

This is the Pralaya the Matsya Avatāra story (the great flood narrative) refers to: the waters of the Naimittika Pralaya, and Manu's boat preserving the Vedic seed-knowledge.

### 3. Mahā Pralaya (महा प्रलय) -- Great Dissolution

**Scale:** The entire manifest cosmos including all 14 Lokas, Brahmā himself, and all beings except those who have attained liberation.

Mahā Pralaya occurs at the end of Brahmā's full lifespan (100 Brahmā-years = approximately 311 trillion human years). The entire manifest cosmos -- all 14 Lokas, all beings in any loka, Brahmā himself, the subtle and causal bodies, the Avyakta/Prakṛti level -- dissolves back into Brahman. Brahman alone remains, as pure Sat-Cit-Ānanda without manifestation.

**What persists:** Only Brahman. All individual distinctions, all karmic seeds, all subtle bodies dissolve into Avyakta and ultimately into Brahman. The next Brahmā and the next cycle will begin fresh -- but "fresh" here means a new Sṛṣṭi, not that prior karma is tracked (the framework varies by school on this point).

### 4. Ātyantika Pralaya (आत्यन्तिक प्रलय) -- Absolute / Individual Liberation

**Scale:** Individual liberation; dissolution of the individual's apparent separateness into Brahman.

Ātyantika ("absolute" or "without return") Pralaya is Mokṣa itself -- the permanent dissolution of individual ignorance and the recognition of the jīva's identity with Brahman. Unlike the other three types, Ātyantika Pralaya is not cosmic in scale; it applies to one jīva at the moment of liberation.

In Advaita: Ātyantika Pralaya is the recognition that the jīva was never separate -- the apparent dissolution is the lifting of Māyā's veil.

In Viśiṣṭādvaita: liberated jīvas persist as distinct but enter Brahman's body in the liberated state (Sālokya, Sāmīpya, Sārūpya, Sāyujya stages).

**What persists:** Brahman. For the liberated jīva: all ignorance, all karma, all rebirth cycles permanently cease.

## The Critical Summary Table

| Type | Scale | Trigger | What Dissolves | What Persists |
|------|-------|---------|----------------|---------------|
| Nitya | Individual moment | Each moment / sleep / death | Momentary state / current body | Subtle body, karma |
| Naimittika | Three lower worlds | End of each Kalpa | Bhūr/Bhuvar/Svar | Brahmā, higher lokas, subtle bodies |
| Mahā | All 14 Lokas | End of Brahmā's lifespan | Entire manifest cosmos | Brahman alone |
| Ātyantika | Individual liberation | Mokṣa (varies by school) | Individual ignorance and karma | Brahman / liberated awareness |

## Audience Metaphor

The four Pralayas are like four different things that can be called "closing":

- Nitya Pralaya: closing your eyes briefly (moments pass, the world seems to rest).
- Naimittika Pralaya: closing a browser tab at the end of a work session (the session ends; the browser remains; tomorrow you reopen).
- Mahā Pralaya: closing the computer entirely and returning it to the factory (all current sessions, all applications, all data cleared; the hardware alone persists ready for a fresh install).
- Ātyantika Pralaya: the user themselves understanding that they were always the screen -- not the applications -- and that all the "sessions" were movements on their own awareness.

## Citations

1. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.4.3-6 -- canonical fourfold classification of Pralaya; the most precise Purāṇic source
2. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.3-4 -- Mahā Pralaya and the dissolution of the manifest cosmos; see references/vishnu-purana.md
3. Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 81-93 -- Naimittika Pralaya and the cosmic ocean narrative; see references/markandeya-purana.md
4. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.11 -- time-scale of Naimittika Pralaya within Brahmā's day-night cycle
