Śivasaṃhitā 1.72

The doctrine of the gradual emanation of elements explains not only cosmology but karmic experience. The universe we experience is not a neutral setting: it is the accumulated result of past actions that have configured the field of our perception. Without karma—without action and its trace—no subjective experience would be possible. The body itself is condensed karma.

Karmajanya (born from karma, produced by action) places the universe in the register of the conditioned. Natvakarmaṇi vedanā (without karma there is no experience, without action there is no sensation) establishes the dependence between action and perception. The cosmogony of the elements (pañcīkaraṇa—the fivefold combination) shows how each element includes within itself the qualities of the previous ones, creating a reality of increasing complexity.

The doctrine of pañcīkaraṇa (the quintuplication of elements) that appears here is a technical teaching of Vedānta, detailed by Śaṅkara in the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi. Each gross element is not pure but composed of the five subtle ones: the gross ether contains portions of all five subtle elements. This teaching serves in yoga to understand how bodily practices act on the subtle elements of being.