O son of Kunti, at the end of a cycle all beings return to my Prakriti; and again, at the beginning of (another) cycle, I send them forth. ((Bhagavad Gita Chapter IX verse 7).
Animating my Prakriti, I project again and again this vast multitude of beings, powerless under the sway of Prakriti. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter IX verse 8).
We have seen that creation takes place in cycles of involution and evolution, the night and day of Brahma, the creator. The day of Brahma is called a kalpa, the period of manifestation. At the end of a kalpa comes a pralaya, or period of rest. When dissolution comes all manifestation returns to its germ state. From manifest it becomes unmanifest; from gross it becomes subtle. But there is no annihilation: it is simply a change of condition, of composition, a merging back into its original state. Neither energy nor matter can be annihilated. But it becomes active and latent in turns. From the nebula sun, moon and stars evolve; then they involve and go back to the atomic state. This process is eternal.
Who is responsible for this process? Who regulates these cycles? Who is the creator and how does he create? It is I, says the Lord. I project this vast multitude of beings. How? With the help of My Prakriti, My nature. I have nature under My control. I animate it, invigorate it, and life changes, evolution begins. Nature itself is helpless. All beings are part of nature, quite powerless, depending on Me. They are all under the sway of My mysterious power called maya. With the help of avidya, or Prakriti, which is subject to Me, which in fact constitutes My power, I cause creation and dissolution. All beings are subject to avidya, or delusion, and therefore they have to obey the law. But I am above the law. And all those who take refuge in Me are also beyond the law, beyond nature, beyond avidya, beyond delusion. ‘They have conquered death and law, whose minds are firmly fixed on Brahman.’
‘I am the great Mother. I give birth to all creatures. I bring forth the entire universe and I again withdraw it all. I exhale and creation comes forth, I inhale and it disappears.’ ‘As the spider creates and absorbs, as medicinal plants grow from the earth, as hair grows from the living person, so this universe proceeds from the Immortal,’ says the Upanishad.