Verse 2.153

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

आकाशादेश्च कार्यत्वान्न वाय्वादि प्रजायते ।
वियद्रूपान्मरुज्जन्म तस्मादात्मन एव तत् ॥ १५३ ॥

ākāśādeśca kāryatvānna vāyvādi prajāyate |
viyadrūpānmarujjanma tasmādātmana eva tat || 153 ||

English translation of verse 2.153:

Since ether, etc., are effects, air and other elements do not come into existence therefrom. Air is born from (the Self which has assumed through avidyā) the form of ether. Therefore, it is from the Self alone that it has come.

Notes:

All the five elements—ether, air, fire, water, and earth—are effects. Just as the Self through māyā is the cause of ether, so also it is the cause of the remaining four elements. When śruti says that from ether was produced air (ākāśādvāyuḥ), it does not mean that air has come into being from the mere element ākāśa. Rather it means that from Brahman which has for its adjunct ākāśa, the product of avidyā, air comes into being (avidyāpariṇāmākāśa-upādhikāt brahmaṇo vāyuḥ). Brahman in association with māyā is the material cause of all the elements. Air is said to be created from ether, since the latter is the proximate adjunct of Brahman. In the same way, from Brahman which has for its adjunct vāyu, fire came into being. The same explanation holds good in the case of the remaining elements.