The creation of the elements according to Srimad Bhagavatam
How does the Srimad Bhagavatam explain the creation of the material elements? This is explained in the third canto:
The material energy is first manifested in the form of pradhana, the gigantic mass of unmanifested material energy that appears like a cloud, covering part of the spiritual sky. After being impregnated by the time energy by Maha-Viṣnu, the three material modes become apparent (originally they are present, but merged into the mass of elements). From this point on, the pradhana gives birth to the mahat-tattva, and the chain of transformations that leads to the creation of the material universes starts.
From the combination of the total material energy and the mode of ignorance, the false ego is generated. This false ego is the basic force that binds the souls into the material universe, making them accept different material identities one after the other.
The false ego means the concept of identity that makes us think we are something other than our original spiritual nature. Our original nature is to be a servant of Krsna, but under the influence of the false ego, we think we are a man, woman, demigod, a tree, or a horse. Under the influence of the false ego, we are prepared to accept any identity, any at all, except our original spiritual identity as a servant of Krsna.
False ego leads to executing material activities, manipulating the material energy, in the form of gross matter, and also in dealing with other people. These material activities have three phases: cause, effect, and the doer. The cause is material desire, the effect (or consequence) is the different karmic reactions we get, and under the illusion, we see ourselves as the doers, the ones doing all these things.
Originally, there were only five energies present: the mahat-tattva (the sum of all material elements), the three modes of nature, and material time. By the interaction of the five, everything else was created. First, the false ego was created by the combination of mahat-tattva and the mode of ignorance, and next, the mind is created by the further interaction of the false ego and the mode of goodness. The mind is the center of our material experience because it is through the mind that we can feel, desire, and experience the world.
The interaction of the false ego and the mode of goodness also creates the different demigods who govern the cosmos. The demigods created at this stage, however, are not the same demigods we have in our universe. Everything that happens in this chapter happened in the very initial stages of creation, before the creation of the material universes. These demigods mentioned here are archetypical demigods that are the source of all the different demigods that later appear inside the different material universes, just like Lord Sadha-Shiva is the origin of all the Lord Shivas that appear in the different universes.
Next, by the interaction of the false ego and the mode of passion, the senses are created, allowing us to experience the world. Again, the senses created at this stage are archetypical senses, that will later give origin to the senses of every individual living being. One example that can be given in this sense is that someone may invent a thing called "car" as an idea, and later, a factory may be built to produce cars for everyone interested in buying them.
We can see that the Lord creates the conditions for us to enjoy this material world, by creating the false ego, the mind, the senses, etc., and at the same time, He creates the conditions for our liberation, by giving the scriptures, sending His pure devotees to take birth in this world to help the conditioned souls and so on. We come to this material world due to misusing our free will, choosing to turn our backs on Krsna, and we can return to our original, eternal position by using our free will appropriately, by choosing to understand Krsna through the scriptures, and by association with pure devotees.
In this way, from the interaction of false ego and goodness, the mind and the demigods are generated. From false ego and passion, the senses and material intelligence are created. The next stage is the creation of the material elements, which starts with the creation of the element ether, from which other elements are created.
Ether, or sky, is created from the interaction of false-ego and ignorance. False ego already appears from the interaction of the Mahat-tattva and ignorance, and when the combination again mixes with ignorance, ether is created. These successive combinations are similar to an artist creating new colors by mixing different colors present in his palette and then mixing the new colors again with the previous colors to create yet new colors.
Two different Sanskrit words are used to describe the element ether: kham and nabha. However, in his purports, Prabhupada mentions the word ākāśa, which makes clear that all these three words refer to the same thing, the element ether.
As explained in the Vedanta-sutra, the element ether (sky), or ākāśa, is a manifestation of the Lord. The element ether is the fabric of the material manifestation and also the source of all other elements. It also serves as the foundation where the whole cosmic manifestation rests. The property of ether is to transmit sound, therefore, ether and sound are created at the same stage. Sound is used to transmit Vedic knowledge, and this is another indication of the importance of ether.
The next stage was the creation of the element air, together with the touch sensation. We can't see air, but we can feel it, and the Vedas explain that we can feel different material objects due to a layer of subtle air that covers the skin. Ether is created from mixing mahat-tattva with ignorance and then again ignorance. Touch is created from the mixture of ether with eternal time and again mahat-tattva, the total material energy, and the element air come immediately after the creation of touch. This all happens due to the glance of the Lord.
"Thereafter the Personality of Godhead glanced over the sky, partly mixed with eternal time and external energy, and thus developed the touch sensation, from which the air in the sky was produced." (3.5.33)
As Prabhupada explains in his purport: "All material creations take place from subtle to gross. The entire universe has developed in that manner. From the sky developed the touch sensation, which is a mixture of eternal time, the external energy and the glance of the Personality of Godhead. The touch sensation developed into the air in the sky. Similarly, all other gross matter also developed from subtle to gross: sound developed into sky, touch developed into air, form developed into fire, taste developed into water, and smell developed into earth."
The next stage is the creation of the element fire. In this passage, fire is mentioned as "jyoti" (light), which Prabhupada translates as "electricity". Both light and electricity are considered subtle manifestations of the element fire, therefore, the three are manifestations of the same material element. However, it seems that at the time of creation, there was no gross manifestation of fire (there was nothing burning), but just subtle energy. Therefore, the element fire existed in a very subtle form and that's probably why Prabhupada chose to use the word "electricity".
Electricity, or fire, comes after the appearance of form, which comes from a combination of ether (or sky) and air. It's thanks to the creation of the element fire, and its subtle forms as light and electricity,y that we can see the world.
"Thereafter the extremely powerful air, interacting with the sky, generated the form of sense perception, and the perception of form transformed into electricity, the light to see the world." (3.5.34)
It's described that this light or electricity surcharged the air and, by the glance of the Lord, this air surcharged with electricity was again combined with time and mahat-tattva, which led to the creation of water, together with taste. This water was again glanced at by the Lord and again combined with time and mahat-tattva, leading to the creation of the element earth, together with smell.
This diagram can give you a general idea:
Nowadays, the most accepted scientific theory for the origin of the universe is the Big Bang theory. Their idea is that a great explosion led to a rapid expansion of the fundamental material particles, which created the physical laws that govern the cosmos, and a mass of energy, that gradually expanded and cooled down, leading to the creation of hydrogen, which condensed in the first stars, leading to the gradual creation of the other atomic elements by nuclear fusion inside these starts. These atomic elements then spread throughout the cosmos as these first stars exhausted their fuel and exploded into supernovas.
Interesting enough, this passage of the Srimad Bhagavatam connects well with this scientific description of the initial stages of the universe, with the sequential creation of the fabric of space-time (ether), followed by the expansion of matter (air), which was, in turn, surcharged with light and energy (fire) leading to the creation of hydrogen (water) and finally the other atomic elements (earth) by the process of nuclear fusion inside the stars. This initial creation was then followed by the appearance of Brahma, who used these elements to create the sun, the planets, and the different forms of life.
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