In plain words
This whole world is only a gathering of substances. The whole world made of what is seen is only a gathering of substances. But how does the movement of these substances come about? Bhūr: this is the movement of substances, Materialisation. Bhuvaḥ: that same movement is energy, vibration. It moves; but what is the meaning of the movement of substances? We must make some effort to understand why it moves. That is suvaḥ, radiation. ‘Bhūrbhuvassuvaḥ’ means Materialisation, vibration, radiation. This is what the Veda calls ‘Prajñāna is Brahman’. That is constant integrated awareness. Such intelligence is in man. Such prajñāna is in man. Such vibration is in man. In this human body all substances are contained; nowhere is there a world without the five elements. Who is the root and support of these five elements? That is the sound of Om. With this in view the gopikās of that time said, ‘Klīṃ kṛṣṇāya govindāya gopījanavallabhāya svāhā.’ Klīṃ: earth. Kṛṣṇāya: water; govindāya: fire; gopījanavallabhāya: air; svāhā: space. We find no world without these five elements. What pervades everywhere in all beings is the five elements themselves. The five elements are the very life of this world. The five elements are what have gathered everywhere. It is this:
With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads and faces everywhere, with ears everywhere in the world, It stands enveloping all.
The principle that fills everything is the five elements themselves. These five elements are the very forms of God. The earth is the very form of God. So all devotees call it Mother Earth. They call it Bhūdevī. The second is water. They call it Gaṅgādevī. They have held even the Gaṅgā to be God. No one can understand the excellence and the glory of our ancients. They are divine sayings that all our ancients experienced, delighted in and handed on. The third is the god of fire. The fourth is the god of wind. All these are the root and support of the fifth, space. These five elements are themselves five forms of God.