Saṃvartakalpa

saṃvartakalpa (P. saṃvaṭṭakappa; T. 'jig pa'i bskal pa འཇིག་པའི་བསྐལ་པ་; C. huaijie 壞劫) is translated as "era of destruction," "era of dissolution," etc. It one of the four periods in the of creation and destruction of a world system, corresponding to the four divisions a great eon (mahākalpa).

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics (Vol 1) states:

... the eon of destruction is posited as beginning from when the new birth of sentient beings in Avīci hell ceases up to the termination of external world systems. The period of destruction of sentient beings who inhabit those worlds is nineteen intermediate eons, and the period of destruction of external worlds is one intermediate eon. Thus it lasts twenty intermediate eons.

See also

• kalpa

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 
• Thupten Jinpa, ed. (2017), Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Volume 1: The Physical World, translated by Coghlan, Ian James, Wisdom Publications