Śivasaṃhitā 1.76

The progressive emanation of elements as a process of densification of consciousness. Each element arises from the previous but contains it: air includes ether within itself, fire includes air and ether. This accumulation of qualities creates the experiential complexity of the universe. The process is not a fall but a diversification: the same consciousness appearing with increasingly concrete faces.

The sequence ākāśa → vāyu → agni → āpas → pṛthivī (ether → air → fire → water → earth) corresponds to a process of increasing densification and multiplication of qualities. Ākāśādvāyur (from ether, air) and pavanādagni (from wind, fire) follow the causal chain. Each element is heavier than the previous and contains within it its qualities plus a new one that individualizes it.

This cosmological sequence has a direct parallel in the yogic physiology of the subtle body. The five prāṇas (five vital energies) correspond to the five elements, and the five main cakras of the trunk (mūlādhāra, svādhiṣṭhāna, maṇipūra, anāhata, viśuddha) correspond to earth, water, fire, air, and ether respectively. To know the cosmogony is to know the body from within.