Srishti, sthiti, and laya

According to Advaita Vedanta, there is a beginning-less and endless cycle of creation, maintenance and dissolution or resolution, called ‘srishti’, ‘sthiti’, and ‘laya’. This is indeed fascinating as it strongly complies with the concept of matter converting into energy and back.

energy converting into matter is called sristhi. In each srishti, or creation, the variety and pattern of objects, the attributes of the bodies and minds and the events and situations have to be fashioned to suit the energy it carries. This is also related to the concept of karma.

Matter in various modes of motion is sthiti. This is the mode of existence that human beings normally refer to. This is the stage of maintenance. The third stage of this cycle is laya or the stage of resolution. Laya is matter converting into energy. This conversion can be at any level. In-fact, on a large-scale, laya can even attain the form of ‘pralaya’. Pralaya should not be confused with doomsday. Doomsday means the end. Pralaya, on the other hand, is just a part of a never-ending cycle of creation (srishti), maintenance (sthiti) and resolution (laya), which is endless and has no beginning either.