Why did the last cosmic devastation, also called the “flood,” occur?
From the navel of Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, the full emanation of Krishna, the Sovereign Lord, sprang a lotus shining like a thousand blazing suns. This flower shelters all conditioned souls, and the first being to emerge from it was the all-powerful Brahma.
All the conditioned souls resting in the Lord's body after the dissolution of the last creation return in the overall form of a lotus. And the first being to emerge from this lotus is Brahma, who alone is capable of creating the rest of the manifested galaxy.
This lotus is described here as shining like a thousand suns. This indicates that living beings are qualitatively of the same nature as the Supreme Lord, since they are minute parts of Him. Indeed, the Lord's body also radiates a radiance. In Vaikuntha, the spiritual realm, there is no need for moonlight, sunlight, electrical energy, or fire, for all the planets there produce their own light, just as the sun does.
When the Supreme Lord, who rests upon the Garbhodaka Ocean, entered the heart of Brahma, the latter gathered all his intelligence, and with this concentrated intellect, he set about creating the galaxy as it had been before. At a certain point, the Supreme Lord Krishna, in his full form as Karanodakasayi Vishnu, lay down in the Karana Ocean, and there, from his breath, produced several thousand galaxies.
As Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, he then entered each of the galaxies, filling their lower half with the water exuding from his body. The other half of the galaxy remained empty and became what is called space. Then, from the abdomen of this second Vishnu sprouts the lotus, from which Brahma, the first created being and ruler of our galaxy, is born. The Lord then enters the heart of every living being, including Brahma, as Ksirodakasayi Vishnu.
Witness to the activities of all distinct beings, the Lord grants each one the memory and intelligence necessary to act according to the desires they harbored at the moment of their annihilation in their last existence, in the previous era. This intelligence manifests according to the individual's personal aptitude or through the law of karma.
The Lord says of Himself: Within Me lies unlimited power, and that is why I am known as infinite, or omnipresent. Cosmic manifestation arose in Me from My material energy, and within this universal manifestation appeared the first being, Brahma, who had no material mother.
The devastation, or partial destruction, of the galaxy was called the “flood,” and it occurs at night, when Brahma sleeps.
Our galaxy, like all others, is divided into three major regions.
The upper region is composed of numerous Edenic, paradisiacal planets; the middle region is composed of numerous Earth-like planets; and the lower region, called Hell, is composed of numerous infernal planets.
The deluge, or partial annihilation, occurs every 4.32 billion solar years, at the time when Brahma, the first created being and ruler of our galaxy, the Milky Way, takes his nightly rest. Krishna, God, the Supreme Person, then contacts the king of the earth so that the latter may take the necessary measures for the survival of his people.
Krishna, God, the Supreme Person, addressing the monarch, said: O king, in seven days the three worlds, Bhut, Bhuvah, and Svah, will be submerged by the waters of devastation.