The Five Manifest Elements

1. Those who are ignorant do no not understand, therefore the explanation of the attributes of the five elements is given.
2. The five elements are intermingled to such an extent that it is impossible to separate them, but some explanation of their differences will now be given.
3. Hills, stones, rocks, mountaintops, rubble, and gravel that is small and large of many colors and varieties are all made of earth.
4. Soil of many colors which is present in many places, and various types of sand are all earth.
5. Beautiful towns and cities, many temples filled with jewels, and many temple tops are all made of earth.
6. How much should be told to describe the land masses and continents that are made of earth?
7. Many gods, kings, languages, cultures, and all of the 8.4 millions species of living beings are all made of earth.
8. Many barren forests, many jungles with huge trees, and many places in the mountains and valleys are all made of earth.
9. The listeners should understand that all the many creations made by gods and all of those created by man are made of earth.
10. Many metals such as gold and others, many various types of jewels, and many types of trees and wood are all made of earth.
11. Now, let this be enough of these many examples. You can have confidence that whatever is firm and hard is of the nature of earth.
12. The nature of earth has been described, now I shall give the description of water. Listeners are asked to remain alert and recognize its nature.
13. The water, which comes from wells, ponds, lakes, many rivers, clouds and the seven seas48, are all made up of water.
14. The oceans of salt water are visible and easily seen by all. This form of water where salt is formed is called the salt sea.
15. Another form of water is named the sea of milk. In ancient mythology this sea of milk was given by God to Upamanyu, the son of Vyagrapada.
16. Other seas are the sea of wine, one of ghee, and one is the sea of curds (cultured milk; yogurt).
17. There is one that is the sea of sugarcane juice, and lastly, one that is but pure water. Like this, there seven seas found around the earth.
18. Thus, understand that all of the various forms of water found all over the earth, are made of the water element.
19. There is water in many underground sources, on the surface of the earth, and in the covering of moisture all around the earth. The water in all three of these locations is the water element.
20. There are many varieties of vines, the sap of many trees, honey, mercury, ambrosia, and poison that are all made from the water element.
21. There are many other liquids such as juices and oils which look different from water, but they are of the nature of the water element.
22. Liquids that are wet and cool, and fluids in nature such as semen, blood, urine, and saliva, are all made of the water element.
23. Understand the indications of the water element and recognize that its nature is to be soft, cool, and fluid.
24. The signs of liquidity, softness, and smoothness of the water element have now been told. Understand that sweat, phlegm, and tears, are also all made of water.
25. Listen alertly now to the description of the fire element. The moon, sun, galaxies, and shining heavenly bodies, are made of the fire element.
26. That which is seen in the clouds as lightening, that which is the fire that destroys the universe, and is the huge fire the bottom of the sea, is the fire element.
27. The fire that is in the third eye of Shiva, the fire of the hunger of time that devours all, and the luminosity that is around the circumference of the earth is all fire.
28. Whatever is in the form of luminance, and that which has the quality of heating and drying is the of the nature of fire.
29. Understand the wind element to be movement. It is the wind alone that ignites Life-Energy (Chaitanya). The activities of talking and walking are all because of the wind element.
30. All that moves and vibrates is wind. Nothing moves without wind. The primary animating force of nature is the wind.
31. To move, to bend, to expand, to resist, and to contract are the qualities that are the nature of the constantly changing wind.
32. Understand that the five vital airs or pranas (Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana, and Samana), and the secondary airs, the Upapranas, (Naaga, Kurma, Karkasha, Devadatta, and Dhananjaya) to be only wind.
33. Anything and everything that moves is due to the wind. The moon, the sun, and the galaxies are all supported by the wind.
34. Understand that the sky is empty, stainless, and still. Understand that the empty form of space is the sky.
35. The sky permeates all, and everything is contained in the sky. The other four elements have their residence in the sky.
36. There is nothing as essential as the sky. The sky is greater than everything else. Through inquiry, one can see that the sky is similar to the True Form of the Self.
37. Here the disciple raised a doubt. "If both are similar in form, then why do we not say that the sky (space) itself is our True Form?
38. What is the difference between space and our True Form? When looking, there appears to be no difference. Why not call the space as Reality itself?
39. Reality is still, indestructible, pure, and changeless. Similarly, the sky is like Reality."
40. Hearing this, the speaker responds, "Reality is eternal, and without attributes, while the sky has seven attributes that are explained in the scriptures.
41. Desire, anger, sorrow, enticement, fear, ignorance, and emptiness are the seven attributes that are inherent in the sky’s nature.
42. The authors of the ancient scriptures have described the sky element with attributes like this, while Reality is formless and cannot be compared to anything.
43. While a glass floor and water look similar, it can be easily understood that one is glass and the other is water.
44. If a clear piece of crystal falls into a pile of cotton, people see only see the cotton. The two look the same, but crystal is hard and could even break one's head while cotton could not.
45. If there are some small white stones mixed in with grains of rice, one does not know the difference in them until biting down on one and breaking a tooth.
46. In the solid concrete, there is stone, lime, and sand which all appear hard, but when looking into their composition, they are seen to be of different hardness.
47. Jaggery (a crude type of brown sugar) may have a small clump of soil in it, yet the soil is hard and dry and different from the sugar. Nagakandi and Vekhanda are two plants that look alike, but they cannot be said to be the same. (One is poisonous and one has medicinal qualities.)
48. Gold and yellow brass appear to be the same, but when coming into contact with a flame, the brass gets coated with black soot.
49. Now, enough of these comparisons which are of low quality. The sky is only an element, how can an element be the same as the boundless Reality?
50. There is no color to Reality while the sky appears to have a blue or black color. How can they be said to be similar.
51. The listener says, "How does the sky have form when it is basically formless? The formless sky is so similar to Reality that there is no difference.
52. The other four elements are subject to destruction, but how can the sky be destroyed? It does not possess color, form, or undergo any modification.
53. The sky is still, how can it be destroyed? If we look into it, it is our opinion that the sky is permanent."
54. Hearing these statements the speaker gives a reply. Listen now to the qualities of the sky.
55. The sky is formed from ignorance (Tamas), and is covered by desire and anger. It is called by the name of the "Void of Ignorance."
56. From ignorance arises desire, anger, enticement, fear and sorrow. These distinctions in the sky are because of ignorance.
57. The atheist rejects the existence of Reality and openly says so. This in itself is a sign of emptiness. People call him empty-hearted and ignorant.
58. The stillness of the sky is empty or void. Being empty means that its nature is ignorance and its form is solid.
59. How can that which is hard, empty, and prone to modification be called permanent? It is only thought to be the same as Brahman by the mind when not seen clearly.
60. Ignorance is infused with the sky, and Knowledge has the capacity to destroy that mixture. Therefore, the sky is destructible.
61. In this way, the sky and Reality seem to one and the same, however there is a difference in the emptiness of them.
62. If one only looks superficially, both appear to be the same, but there is a difference between the sky and Reality
63. The state of deep sleep and "no-mind" (unmani), are basically felt to be the same, but when seen with proper discrimination, there is a difference.
64. When a falsehood is presented to be true, the ordinary person is fooled, but the expert examiner can select what is true. It is similar to the deer that sees a mirage and runs towards it.
65. Now, let this be enough of these similes. These are only examples given to help one understand that the sky element and the immeasurable Brahman are not the same.
66. The sky is seen from the perspective of being apart from it, and Reality is only seen by being one with it. Reality is only seen in this way.
67. Here the doubt has been cleared, and the skeptical attitude has faded away. Reality cannot be experienced by being separate from it.
68. The sky can be experienced, while Reality is beyond all experience. Therefore, the sky cannot be the same as Reality.
69. The Royal Swan (Raj Hansa) can differentiate between milk and water, sipping up the milk and leaving the water. Similarly, the saints understand the difference between the sky and Reality.
70. All of this world appearance is a tumultuous intermixture of Illusion. Only in the company of saints is one able to resolve this. Arrive at the state of liberation in the company of the saints.