आगमे विश्वासटिप्पन्यः

The Day of Brahma, or kalpa, is the
largest generally accepted measure of
time in Indian cosmology, and spans
432 million years. This time period is the
ultimate limit for the existence of the
created world, although within it the
universe undergoes periodic renewals.
At the conclusion of the Day of Brahma
comes the universal dissolution (pralaya),
in which the created universe is completely destroyed and reabsorbed into
Vishnu. The Day of Brahma is followed
by a night of equal length, during
which the only living thing is the god
Vishnu, who sleeps on the back of his
serpent couch, Shesha, and floats on
the surface of the cosmic ocean. When
the Night of Brahma is ended, a lotus
sprouts forth from Vishnu’s navel,
which opens to reveal the god Brahma,
and with the new Day of Brahma the
universe begins anew.
The Day of Brahma can be divided
into smaller units based on two different
methods. One of these divides the Day
of Brahma into fourteen equal ages, in
which each age is identified by the particular divine sovereign (Manu) who
rules during that age. Another divides
the Day of Brahma into one thousand
mahayugas, each of which has four constituent yugas (units of cosmic time),
each shorter than the last. See also
Cosmic Time.