Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 11 - Chapter 1 - Verse 8

Sanskrit:

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

ITRANS:

ekasminn api dṛśyantepraviṣṭānītarāṇi capūrvasmin vā parasmin vātattve tattvāni sarvaśaḥ

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.

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.