अव्यक्ताद्व्यक्तयः सर्वाः प्रभवन्त्यहरागमे | रात्र्यागमे प्रलीयन्ते तत्रैवाव्यक्तसंज्ञके || १८ ||
avyaktād vyaktayaḥ sarvāḥ prabhavanty ahar-āgame rātry-āgame pralīyante tatraivāvyakta-saṁjñake
avyaktāt—from the unmanifest; vyaktayaḥ—all the manifested; sarvāḥ—all; prabhavanti—emerge; ahaḥ-āgame—at the coming of day; rātri-āgame—at the coming of night; pralīyante—they dissolve; tatra—there; eva—certainly; avyakta—the unmanifest; saṁjñake—called.
“At the coming of Brahma's day, all manifested beings emerge from the unmanifest. At the coming of Brahma's night, they all dissolve back into that which is called the unmanifest.”
The cosmic rhythm of manifestation and dissolution mirrors the individual cycle of waking and sleep. In waking (Brahma's day), the multiplicity of names and forms appears. In deep sleep (Brahma's night), all individuality dissolves into undifferentiated awareness. The Avyakta (unmanifest) is the ground of both, just as dreamless sleep is the ground of waking and dreaming.
Each night when you fall into deep, dreamless sleep, you experience a small version of cosmic dissolution—you dissolve into the unmanifest and re-emerge at dawn. Rather than fearing this dissolution, practise welcoming it as a return to the source. Sleep becomes a contemplative practice.