SB 11.22.8 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

एकस्मिन्नपि द‍ृश्यन्ते प्रविष्टानीतराणि च । पूर्वस्मिन् वा परस्मिन् वा तत्त्वे तत्त्वानि सर्वश: ॥ ८ ॥

Verse text

ekasminn api dṛśyante praviṣṭānītarāṇi ca pūrvasmin vā parasmin vā tattve tattvāni sarvaśaḥ

Synonyms

ekasmin — in one (element) ; api — even ; dṛśyante — there are seen ; praviṣṭāni — entered within ; itarāṇi — others ; ca — also ; pūrvasmin — in a prior (subtle causal element, such as the dormant presence of ether within its cause, sound) ; vā — either ; parasmin — or in a later (produced element, such as the subtle presence of sound within its further product, air) ; vā — or ; tattve — in some element ; tattvāni — other elements ; sarvaśaḥ — in the cases of each of the different enumerations .

Translation

All subtle material elements are actually present within their gross effects; similarly, all gross elements are present within their subtle causes, since material creation takes place by progressive manifestation of elements from subtle to gross. Thus we can find all material elements within any single element.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

All subtle material elements are actually present within their gross effects; similarly, all gross elements are present within their subtle causes. Thus we can find all material elements within any single element. The meaning of the previous verse is more elaborately explained in two verses. The effects reside in subtle form within the causal elements, just as a pot is potential in lump of clay. The causal elements reside in the effects, the later elements, following after them, just as clay is present in the pot.

Purport

Since material elements are present within each other, there are innumerable ways to construe and categorize the material creation of God. Ultimately, however, the significant element is God Himself, who is the basis of all the transformations and permutations of the material cosmos. The creation of the material world takes place by a progression from subtle to gross elements, as explained in the sāṅkhya-yoga system of Lord Kapila. The example may be given that we find the dormant existence of an earthen pot within mud and also the existence of mud within the earthen pot. Similarly, one element is present within another, and ultimately all elements rest within the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is simultaneously within everything. By such explanations, Kṛṣṇa consciousness constitutes the ultimate scientific methodology for factually understanding this universe.