Anāvṛshṭi
Anāvṛshṭi · an-āvṛshṭi, “absence of rain”
Grammar: feminine noun; an (not) and āvṛshṭi (rain, from ā with the root vṛsh, to rain): “the absence of rain”.
Meaning: drought, the failing of the rains.
In the scriptures: in the Brahma Purāṇa, Vyāsa tells the munis of the naimittika pralaya, the dissolution at the end of Brahmā‘s day. After a thousand caturyugas, when the surface of the earth has largely wasted away, an unbroken anāvṛshṭi of a hundred years sets in, and many living beings of little strength suffer greatly and perish. Then Bhagavān Vishṇu, in the form of Rudra, sets about drawing all creatures into himself: he stands in the seven rays of Sūrya and drinks up all the water, the oceans, rivers and streams dry up, and seven Sūryas appear and burn the world (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 232).
Related terms: Pralaya · Vṛshṭi · Caturyuga · Saṃvartaka
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 232