Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 14

Sanskrit:

पुरुष: प्रकृतिर्व्यक्तमहङ्कारो नभोऽनिल: ।ज्योतिराप: क्षितिरिति तत्त्वान्युक्तानि मे नव ॥ १४ ॥

ITRANS:

puruṣaḥ prakṛtir vyaktamahaṅkāro nabho ’nilaḥjyotir āpaḥ kṣitir ititattvāny uktāni me nava

Translation:

I have described the nine basic elements as the enjoying soul, nature, nature’s primeval manifestation of the mahat-tattva, false ego, ether, air, fire, water and earth.

Purport:

Prakṛti, or nature, is originally unmanifest and later becomes manifest as the mahat-tattva. Although the living entity is puruṣa, an enjoyer, the real process by which he can enjoy is by satisfying the transcendental senses of the Lord, just as the hand eats by supplying food to the stomach. Within material nature the living entity becomes a false enjoyer, forgetting his subservience to the Lord. The material elements as well as the living entity and the Supersoul are thus systematically analyzed to demonstrate to the conditioned soul his actual constitutional position beyond material nature.