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  1. What will happen if all souls inhabiting Earth attain Moksha? Would new souls be created?

  2. They also say that only a human is capable of attaining Moksha (in extremely rare cases, animals too). In that case, assuming that everyone attains Moksha expect one person, what will happen to him/her? I mean will there be no plants, animals, insects or any living thing? Will Earth become a desert?

  3. Do the scriptures say anything about this?

Note: I was looking for answers on other websites. But the answers were not so convincing. I copy-pasted the question below hoping to get a satisfactory answer.

Actual source (of the question):
https://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100304080617AAdB4MJ

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  • Good question. I always wondered about this. BTW, the answer you linked here is also quite informative. According to Gita, at Brahmaa's night the whole universe gets unmanifested. Now it's an open topic, if all souls get Moksha during then or it just a halt. I feel at Brahmaa's night all souls might be getting Moksha is a strong possibility, otherwise it doesn't make sense for them to merge back half heartedly!
    – iammilind
    Commented Oct 11, 2015 at 17:34
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    Such a situation will lead to Maha-Pralaya, the end of whole manifestation.
    – Nithin Sridhar
    Commented Oct 11, 2015 at 17:47
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    The universe is eternal, it always has been and always will be. Souls that do not attain moksha in this cycle, are remanifested in the next cycle, they start off where they left off. There are an infinite number of souls. If all the souls that are alive today attain moksha instantaneously, there is still an infinite supply behind....
    – Swami Vishwananda
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 13:49
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    From an Advaita view, if one soul attains Moksha, then there is no more question of 'other souls'. This is because by getting Moksha, the soul realizes that the soul is Brahman and it is the only reality. There is none but He. The question of 'other souls' only exists for a soul that has not attained Moksha. For this soul, as swamiji has said in the previous comment, the universe will appear eternal and new souls will appear to infinitely and inexhaustibly. All the best and welcome to this beautiful site sir
    – Sai
    Commented Oct 14, 2015 at 21:37
  • @iammilind reverse duplicate. This question was asked before.
    – The Destroyer ♦
    Commented Oct 6, 2017 at 14:31

1 Answer 1

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The Srimad Bhagavatham (Canto 12, chapter 4) speaks about 4 kinds of Pralaya- Nitya, Naimittika, Prakritika, and Atyantika.

Nitya Pralaya is one which is constant. The birth and deaths we always witness.

When the day of Brahmaa ends and he lays in sleep, it is called Naimittika Pralaya. Here, the manifested cosmos or Brahmanda is absorbed into Hiranyagarba and exist in potential state during night of Brahmaa.

Now, when the 100 years of Brahmaa is over and Brahmaa dies, it is called Prakritika Pralaya. Here, Hiranyagarbha, along with all manifested universe becomes absorbed into the Unmanifested state of Prakriti (Mula Prakriti). Hence, this is called Prakritika Pralaya.

When a person overcomes Ignorance/Avidya using Vivekam and attaines Atma-Jnanam and perceives Non-duality alone, it is Atyantika or final destruction of all duality.

Now, if the question is, what will happen if all the souls inhabiting whole manifested cosmos attains Moksham, then the answer is that, there is Atyantika Pralaya is cosmic scale and the whole duality comes to end.

And, if by earth, you refer to Bhuloka-Physical realm, then there are souls in other realms as well. So, nothing will happen. In fact, it is not possible that all souls on Bhu Loka alone will attain Moksha.

If by earth, you mean planet earth, then even if all humans attain Moksha simultaneously, on a cosmic scale, the effect will be minimal. As there may be many other planets in physical universe itself with life on it.

Us this link to refer to Srimad Bhagavatham- http://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/12/4

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  • I don't think the notion of Atyantika Pralaya has any basis in Hindu scripture. Hindu scripture says the cycles will continue forever, because there will always be souls that haven't attained Moksha yet.
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 3:11
  • Upvoted for details but you need to make some changes. Nitya and Atyantika pralayas are described by you as of they are on the personal basis. @KeshavSrinivasan, do you have something to backup of continuing existence of souls? Because I feel there can be a post-pralaya time when all souls are submerged to unmanifested. I am not commenting of count of souls though. Again, new manifestation comes around with fresh part of supersouls and cycle continues...
    – iammilind
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 3:42
  • Whatever I described above is from Srimad Bhagavatham and not my opinion. @Keshav, you are wrongly understanding the term "Atyantika". It does not refer to final end of cosmos. The Bhagavatham uses the term to the attainment of Atma-Jnana and hence Moksha by a person. Please go through the Bhagavatham verses. Atyantika Laya refers to a person who has realized that the world is a result of Avidya and realizes the true Non-dual nature of Atman, as a result of which the notion of duality is destroyed completely.
    – Nithin Sridhar
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 4:06
  • @Keshav, Yes cycles will continue forever, Kalpa after Kalpa, but that is only from stand point of Jagat. From stand point of Brahman, it is Advaitama and Birthless. So, there is no creation at all. Prakriti is Power of Brahman that makes Brahman appear as World. But, there is disagreement among various schools on this. But, what I agree is, from standpoint of Jagat, the manifestation goes on in cycle after cycle.
    – Nithin Sridhar
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 4:09
  • @iammilind The descriptions I gave is summary of what Bhagavatham states.
    – Nithin Sridhar
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 4:10

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