Devanagari
वायुना हृतगन्धा भू: सलिलत्वाय कल्पते ।
सलिलं तद्धृतरसं ज्योतिष्ट्वायोपकल्पते ॥ १३ ॥
Verse text
vāyunā hṛta-gandhā bhūḥ
salilatvāya kalpate
salilaṁ tad-dhṛta-rasaṁ
jyotiṣṭvāyopakalpate
Synonyms
vāyunā
—
by the wind
;
hṛta
—
deprived
;
gandhā
—
of its quality of aroma
;
bhūḥ
—
the element earth
;
salilatvāya kalpate
—
becomes water
;
salilam
—
water
;
tat
—
by that (the same element, wind)
;
hṛta
—
rasam — deprived of its quality of taste
;
jyotiṣṭvāya upakalpate
—
becomes fire .
Translation
Deprived of its quality of aroma by the wind, the element earth is transformed into water; and water, deprived of its taste by that same wind, is merged into fire.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Deprived of its quality of aroma by the wind, the element earth is transformed into water; and water, deprived of its taste by that same wind, is merged into fire.
Having described the destruction of the totality of jīvas, the product, the destruction of the causes, the elements, is described in reverse order of their creation. Wind or air is well known to deprive earth of fragrance. Deprived of fragrance by the wind of destruction, earth becomes water. This means it merges into water. The water, deprived of taste by the wind, merges into fire. Other elements should be understood in the same way.
Purport
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
gives several descriptions of the material creation, by which air is expanded from ether, fire from air, water from fire, and earth from water. Now, in the reverse order, the creation is wound up. Thus earth merges back into the water from which it came, and water similarly merges into fire.