Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 1 - Verse 4

Sanskrit:

ततो विकारा अभवन् षोडशामीषु कञ्चन ।उपधावन् विभूतीनां सर्वासामश्न‍ुते गतिम् ॥ ४ ॥

ITRANS:

tato vikārā abhavanṣoḍaśāmīṣu kañcanaupadhāvan vibhūtīnāṁsarvāsām aśnute gatim

Translation:

The sixteen elements have evolved as transformations of that false ego. When a devotee of Lord Śiva worships his manifestation in any one of these elements, the devotee obtains all sorts of corresponding enjoyable opulences.

Purport:

False ego transforms into the mind, ten senses (the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, hands, feet, voice, genitals and anus), and five physical elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether). Lord Śiva appears in a special liṅga form in each of these sixteen substances, which are worshiped individually as deities in various sacred locations of the universe. A devotee of Śiva may worship one of his particular liṅgas to obtain the mystic opulences pertaining to it. Thus Lord Śiva’s ākāśa-liṅga bestows the opulences of ether, his jyotir-liṅga bestows the opulences of fire, and so on.