Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.10.46

ayam tu brahmanah kalpah

savikalpa udāhritah

vidhih sādhārano yatra

sargāh prākrita-vaikritāh

SYNONYMS

ayam — this process of creation and annihilation; tu — but; brahmanah — of Brahmā; kalpah — his one day; sa-vikalpah — along with the duration of the universes; udāhritah — exemplified; vidhih — regulative principles; sādhāranah — in summary; yatra — wherein; sargāh — creation; prākrita — in the matter of material nature; vaikritāh — disbursement.

TRANSLATION

This process of creation and annihilation described in summary herein is the regulative principle during the duration of Brahmā's one day. It is also the regulative principle in the creation of mahat, in which the material nature is dispersed.

PURPORT

There are three different types of creation, called mahā-kalpa, vikalpa and kalpa. In the mahā-kalpa the Lord assumes the first purusha incarnation as Kāranodakaśāyī Vishnu with all the potencies of the mahat-tattva and the sixteen principles of creative matter and instruments. The creative instruments are eleven, the ingredients are five, and all of them are products of mahat, or materialistic ego. These creations by the Lord in His feature of Kāranodakaśāyī Vishnu are called mahā-kalpa. The creation of Brahmā and dispersion of the material ingredients are called vikalpa, and the creation by Brahmā in each day of his life is called kalpa. Therefore each day of Brahmā is called a kalpa, and there are thirty kalpas in terms of Brahmā's days. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.17) as follows:

sahasra-yuga-paryantam

ahar yad brahmano viduh

rātim yuga-sahasrāntām

te 'ho-rātra-vido janāh

In the upper planetary system the duration of one complete day and night is equal to one complete year of this earth. This is accepted even by the modern scientist and attested by the astronauts. Similarly, in the region of still higher planetary systems the duration of day and night is still greater than in the heavenly planets. The four yugas are calculated in terms of the heavenly calendars and accordingly are twelve thousand years in terms of the heavenly planets. This is called a divya-yuga, and one thousand divya-yugas make one day of Brahmā. The creation during the day of Brahmā is called kalpa, and the creation of Brahmā is called vikalpa. When vikalpas are made possible by the breathing of Mahā-Vishnu, this is called a mahā-kalpa. There are regular and systematic cycles of these mahā-kalpas, vikalpas and kalpas. In answer to Mahārāja Parīkshit's question about them, Śukadeva Gosvāmī answered in the Prabhāsa-khanda of the Skanda Purāna. They are as follows:

prathamah śveta-kalpaś ca

dvitīyo nīla-lohitah

vāmadevas tritīyas tu

tato gāthāntaro 'parah

rauravah pañcamah proktah

shashthah prāna iti smritah

saptamo 'tha brihat-kalpah

kandarpo 'shtama ucyate

sadyotha navamah kalpa

īśāno daśamah smritah

dhyāna ekādaśah proktas

tathā sārasvato 'parah

trayodaśa udānas tu

garudo 'tha caturdaśah

kaurmah pañcadaśo jñeyah

paurnamāsī prajāpateh

shodaśo nārasimhas tu

samādhis tu tato 'parah

āgneyo vishnujah saurah

soma-kalpas tato 'parah

dvāvimśo bhāvanah proktah

supumān iti cāparah

vaikunthaś cārshtishas tadvad

valī-kalpas tato 'parah

saptavimśo 'tha vairājo

gaurī-kalpas tathāparah

māheśvaras tathā proktas

tripuro yatra ghātitah

pitri-kalpas tathā cānte

yah kuhūr brahmanah smritā

Therefore the thirty kalpas of Brahmā are: (1) Śveta-kalpa, (2) Nīlalohita, (3) Vāmadeva, (4) Gāthāntara, (5) Raurava, (6) Prāna, (7) Brihat-kalpa, (8) Kandarpa, (9) Sadyotha, (10) Īśāna, (11) Dhyāna, (12) Sārasvata, (13) Udāna, (14) Garuda, (15) Kaurma, (16) Nārasimha, (17) Samādhi, (18) Āgneya, (19) Vishnuja, (20) Saura, (21) Soma-kalpa, (22) Bhāvana, (23) Supuma, (24) Vaikuntha, (25) Arcisha, (26) Valī-kalpa, (27) Vairāja, (28) Gaurī-kalpa, (29) Māheśvara, (30) Paitri-kalpa.

These are Brahmā's days only, and he has to live months and years up to one hundred, so we can just imagine how many creations there are in kalpas only. Then again there are vikalpas, which are generated by the breathing of Mahā-Vishnu, as stated in the Brahma-samhitā (yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagadanda-nāthāh [Bs. 5.48]). The Brahmās live only during the breathing period of Mahā-Vishnu. So the exhaling and inhaling of Vishnu are mahā-kalpas, and all these are due to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for no one else is the master of all creations.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness