The period of the world’s existence (samvatthaya kapa)
The Buddha taught in the Abhidhamma that when the universe (world) was destroyed, only the lower Brahma realms were destroyed, while the upper realms were not destroyed, and that these Brahma realms were very long-lived.
Therefore, it is understood that the entire universe (world) was not destroyed, but only parts of it were destroyed, and that the Brahma realms that still existed continued to exist, and the destroyed parts also had a period of existence as they were destroyed.
The Buddha said that the destroyed parts of the universe remained in their destructible state for only about a quarter of a great era. This period is called the period of the world’s existence (samvatthaya kapa).
The seeds of the universe, which exist as a vast expanse, and the sky, which remain, are very diverse. The remaining elements from the fire that burned the lower rocks remain as seeds for the re-formation of rocks in the future. Similarly, the fire that burned the universe, the fire that burned the seven worlds, the fire that burned the mountain of the mountain, the sun, the moon, and the constellations remain as seeds for the re-formation of those things in those places when the world is re-established in the future.
The elements that remained in the sky from the fire that burned the gods and Brahmas gradually increased and, after a long time, they became clouds, rain, rainy weather, and rainy season.
At that time, the air did not experience any heat or steam after half of the Savanavathaya period, and became much cooler than normal.
Re-existence of the World (Vivattakapa)
In the vast expanse of the destroyed world, only the cells of the fire of the form remained. These cells of the fire of the form were so delicate that they were not called form or samkara, but only the celestial space.
The Fall of the World-Creating Rain
In this way, after the destruction of the world, the state of being as it was is called the Samvatthayikapa. This period lasts for an aśānacheya kapa.
Then, in order to re-form the universe, the upper, dark, and fire-like elements become extremely cold, and the lower, dark, and fire-like elements become extremely hot.
These hot elements rise up and encounter the cold, dark, and fire-like elements, and they condense and melt, and the world-creating rain begins.
At first, the rain begins as small raindrops the size of a dewdrop that falls between the months of Tapotwe and Tabaung.
Gradually, as time passes, the raindrops grow to the size of a sesame seed, a broken rice seed, a whole rice seed, a bean seed, a large bean seed, The raindrops grew as large as a plum, as large as a gooseberry, as large as a cucumber, as large as a pumpkin, as large as a gourd.
In this way, the raindrops were one utsab, two utsab, half a gavut, one gavut, two gavut, half a yuzana, one yuzana, two yuzana, one hundred yuzana, one thousand yuzana, one hundred thousand yuzana, and so on.
The raindrops spread throughout the vast universe of one hundred thousand crores, from the lower air to the world destroyed by fire, to the world destroyed by water, to the world destroyed by wind, to the world destroyed by water, to the world destroyed by air, to the world of Vaihaphola Brahma.
Thus, after the great rain of the world, the rain water, as usual, rose and fell, gradually thickened and subsided, and after a long time, it reached the place below the first jhana, the Brahma realm. Then, in the place where the first jhana would have been, the Brahma realm, devoid of beings (without beings), clearly appeared.
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