Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 12 - Chapter 1 - Verse 12

Sanskrit:

पुरुषानुगृहीतानामेतेषां वासनामय: ।विसर्गोऽयं समाहारो बीजाद् बीजं चराचरम् ॥ १२ ॥

ITRANS:

puruṣānugṛhītānāmeteṣāṁ vāsanā-mayaḥvisargo ’yaṁ samāhārobījād bījaṁ carācaram

Translation:

The secondary creation, which exists by the mercy of the Lord, is the manifest amalgamation of the desires of the living entities. Just as a seed produces additional seeds, activities that promote material desires in the performer produce moving and nonmoving life forms.

Purport:

Just as a seed grows into a tree that produces thousands of new seeds, material desire develops into fruitive activity that stimulates thousands of new desires within the heart of the conditioned soul. The word puruṣānugṛhītānām indicates that by the mercy of the Supreme Lord one is allowed to desire and act in this world.