भूमिरापोऽनलो वायुः खं मनो बुद्धिरेव च ।अहङ्कार इतीयं मे भिन्ना प्रकृतिरष्टधा ॥
bhūmirāpo'nalo vāyuḥ khaṃ mano buddhireva ca |ahaṅkāra itīyaṃ me bhinnā prakṛtiraṣṭadhā ||
Earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect, and ego-sense: this is how My nature is divided eightfold.
Explanation
Krishna now begins explaining his own nature to Arjuna, after saying that few truly know him. He lists the eight parts of his lower nature (prakṛti): the five gross elements, plus mind (manas), intellect (buddhi) and the sense of 'I' (ahaṅkāra). The next verse introduces a higher nature, the living being (jīva), which sustains this world.