The Philosophy of the Bhagavadgita : 12.2. - Swami Krishnananda.
=============================================================== Friday, 01 Sep 2023 07:00. Chapter 12: God and the Universe - 2. ================================================================ With this cautious introduction the Teacher of the Bhagavadgita takes us to a picture of the cosmos, which is concisely explained in a few words. The whole universe is constituted of the five elements and certain phases of the universal consciousness, the elements being grosser than the latter—earth, water, fire, air and ether—the mind, intellect, ego. Here the teaching resembles, to a large extent, the cosmological explanation offered by the Samkhya system. We have touched upon this theme earlier on some occasion. The lowest category of reality that we observe is the earth plane, physical matter, solid substance, gross objects, all which can be grouped under the category of the mahabhutas, or the five elements. Anything that is perceptible to the senses is regarded as material. The five elem