Pralaya, also known as Mahapralaya or Caligo in Roman mythology, is said to be the physical embodiment of the Void and the "Goddess of the Void". She is older than all of Creation as a whole and claims all of reality is destined to be consumed by her.
Description[]
She is believed to be one of the aspects of the Great Darkness and moreover is stated to be the embodiment of the "void matter" that makes up the seas of chaos, meaning in a simpler term that she is the literal Sea of Chaos that was there at the beginning and will always be there at the end. Her name means "destruction" in the Hindu sanskrit.
Pralaya is even said to be the dark and negative aspect of Asherah, the consort of God and the living embodiment of all Life itself. Gabriel speculates that if that is the case then she would be the "mother" of the Outer Gods themselves, and could have actually been molded by the seas of chaos from Chaos itself.
Overview[]
Pralaya is among the most mysterious and enigmatic 'beings' in all of creation and many things could be said about what exactly Pralaya is, especially so little is even known about her. She states that she is the "original darkness" that existed before there was anything at all and the source from which all things emerged, further supporting the implication that she is the waters of chaos of which God used to make up everything that ever was and will be.
According to the poet John Milton, the "Lake of Fire" in the epic poem Paradise Lost is said to be the seas of chaos instead of it being a pre-version of Hell meaning that Pralaya's non-existent matter was molded into what is now known as Hell from Lucifer's fall alongside his fallen comrades. The poem also shows that both Chaos and Night ruled alongside Pralaya so in a sense this would make Pralaya the seas, Chaos the wind, and Night being the sky that is related to complete nothingness.
Pralaya is among the four most dangerous beings to ever appear and is among the four supreme threats to all of creation itself with the other being Chaos, Azathoth, and the Great Darkness. Pralaya's mere thoughts can manifest into creatures that can literally eat away the fabric of creation itself, while she herself will let all that exists drown into the unfathomable depths of the darkness to the point where she even appears as an incomprehensibly large tidal wave that washes away creation slowly. The humanoid female form she assumes is not her true form as well, as she states that should one gaze upon her true form would cause both a mortal and immortal mind to outright collapse.
Myths and Legends[]
According to Hindu cosmology, a Pralaya specifies different periods of time during which a non-activity situation persists, as per different formats or contexts. The word Mahapralaya stands for "Great Dissolution". During each pralaya, the lower ten realms (loka) are destroyed, while the higher four realms, including Satya-loka (the abode of Brahma, the Hindu creator god), Tapa-loka, Jana-loka, and Mahar-loka, are preserved. During each Mahapralaya, all 14 realms are destroyed.
In the Samkhya philosophy, one of the six schools of classical Indian philosophy, pralaya means "non-existence", a state of matter achieved when the three gunas (principles of matter) are in perfect balance. The word pralaya comes from Sanskrit meaning "dissolution" or by extension "reabsorption, destruction, annihilation or death".