"Awaking at the end of his night, the unborn .
.
.
creates the Universe anew.
.
.
.
" ( Vishnu Purana.
) This is "incidental" pralaya; what is the Elemental Dissolution?
"When by dearth and fire," says Parasara to Maitreya, "all the worlds and Patalas (hells) are withered up .
.
.*** the progress of elemental dissolution is begun.
Then, first the waters swallow up the property of Earth (which is the rudiment of smell), and earth deprived of this property proceeds to destruction -- and becomes one with water .
.
.
.
when the Universe is thus pervaded by the waves of the watery Element, its rudimentary flavour is locked up by the elements of fire .
.
.
on account of which the waters themselves are destroyed .
.
.
and become one with fire; and the Universe is therefore, entirely filled with flame (ethereal) which gradually overspreads the whole world.
While Space is one flame, the element of wind seizes upon the rudimental property or form, which is the cause of light, and that being withdrawn ( pralina ) all becomes of the nature of air.
The rudiment of form being destroyed, and Vibhavasu (fire?) deprived of its rudiment, air extinguishes fire and spreads over space, which is deprived of light when fire merges into air.
Air, then, accompanied by sound, which is the source of Ether, extends everywhere throughout the ten regions .
.
.
.
until Ether seizes upon cohesion ( Sparsa -- Touch?) its rudimental property, by the loss of which, air is destroyed, and KHA remains unmodified; devoid of form, flavour, touch ( Sparsa ), and smell, it exists, embodied ( murttimat ) and vast, and pervades the whole Space.
Akasa, whose characteristic property and rudiment is sound (the "Word"), occupies the whole containment of Space.
Then the origin (Noumenon?) of the Elements ( Bhutadi ), devours sound (collective Demiurgos ); and the hosts of Dhyan Chohans, and all the existing [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * The chief Kumara or Virgin-god (a Dhyan Chohan) who refuses to create.
A prototype of St.
Michael, who refuses to do the same.
** See concluding lines in Section, "Chaos, Theos, Kosmos." *** This prospect would hardly suit Christian theology, which prefers an eternal, everlasting hell for its followers.
[[Vol.
1, Page]] 373 THE DISSOLUTION OF THE EGG.
Elements* are at once merged into their original.
The primary Element, Consciousness, combined with tamasa (spiritual darkness) is itself disintegrated by MAHAT (the Universal Intellect), whose characteristic property is Buddhi , and earth and Mahat are the inner and outer boundaries of the Universe." Thus as (in the beginning) "were the seven forms of Prakriti (nature) reckoned from Mahat to earth, so these seven successively re-enter into each other."** "The Egg of Brahma ( Sarva - mandala ) is dissolved in the waters that surround it, with its seven zones ( dwipas ) seven oceans, seven regions, and their mountains; the investure of water is drunk by the fire; the ( stratum of) fire is absorbed by (that of) air; air blends itself with ether (Akasa); the Bhutadi (the origin, or rather the cause , of the primary element) devours the ether and is (itself) destroyed by Mahat (the Great, the Universal mind), which along with all these is seized upon by Prakriti and disappears.
The Prakriti is essentially the same, whether discrete or indiscrete; only that which is discrete is finally absorbed by and lost in the indiscrete.
P UMS ( Spirit ) also, which is one, pure, imperishable, eternal, all-pervading, is a portion of that Supreme spirit which is all things.
That Spirit ( Sarvesa ) which is other than (embodied) Spirit, and in which there are no attributes of name, species ( naman and jati , or rupa , hence body rather than species), or the like -- remains as the sole existence ( S ATTA).
.
.
Prakriti and Purusha both resolving finally into S UPREME S PIRIT.
.
.
." ( From Vishnu Purana , Wilson's mistakes being here corrected, and original words put in brackets).
This is the final P RALAYA*** -- the Death of Kosmos -- after which its Spirit rests in Nirvana, or in T HAT for which there is neither Day nor Night.
All the other pralayas are periodical and follow, in regular succession, the Manvantaras, as the night follows the day of every human creature, animal, and plant.
The cycle of creation of the lives of Kosmos is run down, the energy of the manifested "Word" having [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * The term "Elements" must be understood here to mean not only the visible and physical Elements, but also that which St.
Paul calls Elements -- the spiritual, intelligent Potencies -- Angels and Demons in their Manvantaric form.
** When this description is correctly understood by Orientalists in its esoteric significance then it will be found that this Cosmic correlation of World-Elements may explain the correlation of physical forces better than those now known.
At any rate, theosophists will perceive that Prakriti has seven forms , or principles, "reckoned from Mahat to Earth." The "Waters" mean here the Mystic "mother"; the Womb of abstract nature, in which the manifested Universe is conceived.
The Seven "zones" have reference to the Seven Divisions of that Universe, or the Noumena of the Forces that bring it into being.
It is all allegorical.
*** As it is the Maha , the Great, or so-called final P RALAYA which is here described, every thing is re-absorbed into its original ONE Element -- the "Gods themselves, Brahma and the rest" being said to die and disappear during that long NIGHT.
[[Vol.
1, Page]] 374 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
its growth, culmination, and decrease, as have all things temporary, however long their duration.
The Creative Force is Eternal as Noumenon; as a phenomenal manifestation in its aspects, it has a beginning and must, therefore, have an end.
During that interval it has its periods of activity and its periods of rest.
And these are the "Days and the nights of Brahma." But Brahma, the Noumenon, never rests, as IT never changes and ever IS, though IT cannot be said to be anywhere.
.
.
.
.
The Jewish Kabalists felt this necessity of immutability in an eternal, infinite Deity, and therefore applied the same thought to the anthropomorphic god.
The idea is poetical and very appropriate in its application.
Divine archetypal beings or eternal attributes dwelling within the Pleroma, often arranged in male-female syzygies.
The 'hosts of Dhyan Chohans' are explicitly named as divine archetypal beings that merge into their original during the final Pralaya, functioning as the structured population of the divine realm.
The doctrine of the periodic restoration or recurrence of all things to their original state after vast cycles.
The passage describes 'periodical' pralayas following 'in regular succession' the Manvantaras, with the Creative Force as eternal Noumenon cycling through manifestation and rest — a periodic restoration of all things to their original state after vast cycles.
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The final state is described as 'THAT for which there is neither Day nor Night' and the Noumenon 'cannot be said to be anywhere,' employing negation to describe the ultimate divine reality.
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The Supreme Spirit is characterized as that 'for which there is neither Day nor Night' and which 'cannot be said to be anywhere,' indicating radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception.
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
The Supreme Spirit is described as 'one, pure, imperishable, eternal, all-pervading' with 'no attributes of name, species, or the like,' and the Noumenon 'never changes and ever IS' — pure undivided being without composite attributes.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
The passage describes the seven forms of Prakriti 'reckoned from Mahat to earth' as a cascading hierarchy, with each element successively re-entering into the one above it during dissolution.
The doctrine that the cosmos unfolds as a structured descent of spirit into matter — a directional process traced stage by stage from an unconditioned principle down through successive planes to full materialization — complemented by its own eventual return ('evolution'). Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (the static structure of the resulting levels of the cascade) and cosmogony (a single originating event rather than an ongoing staged process) in naming the directional cosmic PROCESS of descent itself, paired with its own complementary ascent.
The entire passage traces the structured, staged process of cosmic dissolution — earth into water into fire into air into ether into sound into Mahat into Prakriti into Supreme Spirit — which is the complementary 'evolution' phase of the involution-evolution cycle, described step by step.
The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.
The 'manifested Word' is identified as the creative force with a cycle of growth, culmination, and decrease, and Akasa's rudiment is explicitly called 'sound (the Word)'.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The 'Supreme Spirit (Sarvesa) which is other than embodied Spirit... remains as the sole existence (SATTA)' functions as the absolutely simple, undivided first principle into which all multiplicity is finally absorbed.
The doctrine that reality has two registers — an Absolute truth as the divine or ultimate mind knows it, and a Relative truth as finite human reason perceives and must act on — with both held as legitimate on their own plane rather than the second being simply an error to correct. Distinct from apophatic_theology (a claim about how the divine may be described, by negation) and unity_of_being (a claim that being is ultimately one) in being a claim about two coexisting registers of truth-claim itself.
The passage distinguishes between the eternal Noumenon ('Creative Force is Eternal as Noumenon') and its phenomenal manifestation which 'has a beginning and must, therefore, have an end,' holding both as legitimate registers of the same reality.
The Hermetic doctrine of a measured swing or pendulum motion between poles — action and reaction, flow and outflow, rise and fall — operating in mental, physical, and cosmic-historical registers alike. Distinct from apocatastasis (cosmic-scale eschatological restoration after vast cycles) in naming a constant, ever-present oscillation rather than a singular restorative event.
The 'Days and nights of Brahma,' the 'periods of activity and its periods of rest,' and the comparison 'as the night follows the day of every human creature, animal, and plant' express a cosmic-scale pendulum motion between manifestation and dissolution.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The passage culminates in 'Prakriti and Purusha both resolving finally into SUPREME SPIRIT' and the absorption of all elements into 'their original ONE Element,' asserting that all existence is ultimately one divine reality.