Text 4

bhumir apo ’nalo vayuh
kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me
bhinna prakritir astadha

Translation

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight constitute My separated material energies.

Commentary by Srila Prabhupada

The science of God analyzes the constitutional position of God and His diverse energies. Material nature is called prakriti, or the energy of the Lord in His different purusha incarnations (expansions) as described in the

Satvata-tantra: 

visnos tu trini rupani
purushakhyany atho viduh
ekam tu mahatah srastr
dvitiyam tv anda-samsthitam
trtiyam sarva-bhuta-stham
tani jnatva vimucyate 

“For material creation, Lord Krishna’s plenary expansion assumes three Vishnus. The first one, Maha-Vishnu, creates the total material energy, known as the mahat-tattva. The second, Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, enters into all the universes to create diversities in each of them. The third, Kshirodakashayi Vishnu, is diffused as the all-pervading Supersoul in all the universes and is known as Paramatma. He is present even within the atoms. Anyone who knows these three Vishnus can be liberated from material entanglement.” 

This material world is a temporary manifestation of one of the energies of the Lord. All the activities of the material world are directed by these three Vishnu expansions of Lord Krishna. These purushas are called incarnations. Generally one who does not know the science of God (Krishna) assumes that this material world is for the enjoyment of the living entities and that the living entities are the purushas—the causes, controllers and enjoyers of the material energy. According to Bhagavad-gita this atheistic conclusion is false. In the verse under discussion it is stated that Krishna is the original cause of the material manifestation. Srimad-Bhagavatam also confirms this. The ingredients of the material manifestation are separated energies of the Lord. Even the brahmajyoti, which is the ultimate goal of the impersonalists, is a spiritual energy manifested in the spiritual sky. There are no spiritual diversities in the brahmajyoti as there are in the Vaikunthalokas, and the impersonalist accepts this brahmajyoti as the ultimate eternal goal. The Paramatma manifestation is also a temporary all-pervasive aspect of the Kshirodakashayi Vishnu. The Paramatma manifestation is not eternal in the spiritual world. Therefore the factual Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna. He is the complete energetic person, and He possesses different separated and internal energies. 

In the material energy, the principal manifestations are eight, as above mentioned. Out of these, the first five manifestations, namely earth, water, fire, air and sky, are called the five gigantic creations or the gross creations, within which the five sense objects are included. They are the manifestations of physical sound, touch, form, taste and smell. Material science comprises these ten items and nothing more. But the other three items, namely mind, intelligence and false ego, are neglected by the materialists. Philosophers who deal with mental activities are also not perfect in knowledge because they do not know the ultimate source, Krishna. The false ego—“I am,” and “It is mine, which constitute the basic principle of material existence—includes ten sense organs for material activities. Intelligence refers to the total material creation, called the mahat-tattva. Therefore from the eight separated energies of the Lord are manifest the twenty-four elements of the material world, which are the subject matter of Sankhya atheistic philosophy; they are originally offshoots from Krishna’s energies and are separated from Him, but atheistic Sankhya philosophers with a poor fund of knowledge do not know Krishna as the cause of all causes. The subject matter for discussion in the Sankhya philosophy is only the manifestation of the external energy of Krishna, as it is described in the Bhagavad-gita.

Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur

And, knowledge (jnana) in relation to bhakti means knowledge of the Lord's powers, not knowledge of the atma being separate from the body. In defining knowledge of the Lord's powers, the Lord speaks of his two energies (prakrti), superior and inferior, in two verses. By the listing of the five gross elements beginning with earth, the subtle elements, known as the sense objects such as smell, taste, form, touch and sound, are understood as well. By the word false ego, the ten senses, which arise from it, and the mahat tattva, its cause are also understood. Mind and intellect are listed separately to show their greater importance among all the elements.