SB 11.22.14 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

पुरुष: प्रकृतिर्व्यक्तमहङ्कारो नभोऽनिल: । ज्योतिराप: क्षितिरिति तत्त्वान्युक्तानि मे नव ॥ १४ ॥

Verse text

puruṣaḥ prakṛtir vyaktam ahaṅkāro nabho ’nilaḥ jyotir āpaḥ kṣitir iti tattvāny uktāni me nava

Synonyms

puruṣaḥ — the enjoyer ; prakṛtiḥ — nature ; vyaktam — the primeval manifestation of matter ; ahaṅkāraḥ — false ego ; nabhaḥ — ether ; anilaḥ — air ; jyotiḥ — fire ; āpaḥ — water ; kṣitiḥ — earth ; iti — thus ; tattvāni — the elements of creation ; uktāni — have been described ; me — by Me ; nava — nine .

Translation

I have described the nine basic elements as the enjoying soul, nature, nature’s primeval manifestation of the mahat-tattva, false ego, ether, air, fire, water and earth.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

I have described the nine basic elements as the jīva, prakṛti, mahat-tattva, ahaṅkāra, ether, air, fire, water and earth. First the twenty-five elements are described in two and a half verses. Vyaktam means mahat-tattva. These have been described by me.

Purport

Prakṛti, or nature, is originally unmanifest and later becomes manifest as the mahat-tattva. Although the living entity is puruṣa, an enjoyer, the real process by which he can enjoy is by satisfying the transcendental senses of the Lord, just as the hand eats by supplying food to the stomach. Within material nature the living entity becomes a false enjoyer, forgetting his subservience to the Lord. The material elements as well as the living entity and the Supersoul are thus systematically analyzed to demonstrate to the conditioned soul his actual constitutional position beyond material nature.