What is mahapralaya and when and why will it come?

[This question is part of a Mahā Satsaṅga (grand spiritual discussion) between Swami, Shri Parikshit, Smt. Bindiya and Dr. J. S. R. Prasad.]

Swami replied: This question is not important for your spiritual development. I have told a lot about this topic in My earlier messages. Briefly, I can say that in the mahāpralaya, the five elements get converted into their root cause, which is called mūla prakṛti. Mūla prakṛti is very subtle inert energy and is the root material-cause of creation. Even this root material-cause was created by the unimaginable God due to His unimaginable power and hence, this root inert energy cannot be claimed to be beginningless (anādi). After its initial creation by God, it will remain in existence forever, due to the will of God. During the dissolution (mahā pralaya), this root energy preserves the blueprint of all the souls and the entire world in a very subtle state (avyaktam). It is similar to the entire movie remaining in an unexpressed state in the film-reel, even after the movie-show is over. Hence, the dissolution of world means the end of the movie-show. Only the display on the screen is stopped, while the entire movie is preserved, intact, in the film-reel, until the next show. When the film-reel is projected again during the next show, the entire creation is recreated as told in the Veda (Dhātā yathā pūrvamakalpayat). The first Energetic Incarnation is this Dhātā (Īśvara), who projects this world-movie again on the screen, as it is. The interval between the two parts of the same movie is simply called the dissolution (pralaya) while the interval between two movie-shows is called the final dissolution (mahā pralaya). In any case, the movie shown in each show is the same. The film-reel, the electricity, the technology, the screen etc., are the resulting product-components of God’s unimaginable power, which is called mahā māyā or simply māyā.

| Shri Dattaswami | avyaktam Dhaataa yathaapuurvamakalpayat Pralaya Mahaapralaya anaadi Mahapralaya Maayaa Maya mahamaya

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