tato vikÄrÄ abhavan
á¹£oá¸aÅ›ÄmÄ«á¹£u kañcana
upadhÄvan vibhÅ«tÄ«nÄá¹
sarvÄsÄm aÅ›nute gatim
tataḥ - from that (false ego); vikÄrÄḥ - transformations; abhavan - have manifested; á¹£oá¸aÅ›a - sixteen; amÄ«á¹£u - among these; kañcana - any; upadhÄvan - pursuing; vibhÅ«tÄ«nÄm - of material assets; sarvÄsÄm - all; aÅ›nute - enjoys; gatim - the acquisition.
The sixteen elements have evolved as transformations of that false ego. When a devotee of Lord Åšiva worships his manifestation in any one of these elements, the devotee obtains all sorts of corresponding enjoyable opulences.
False ego transforms into the mind, ten senses (the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, hands, feet, voice, genitals and anus), and five physical elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether). Lord Åšiva appears in a special liá¹…ga form in each of these sixteen substances, which are worshiped individually as deities in various sacred locations of the universe. A devotee of Åšiva may worship one of his particular liá¹…gas to obtain the mystic opulences pertaining to it. Thus Lord Åšiva’s ÄkÄÅ›a-liá¹…ga bestows the opulences of ether, his jyotir-liá¹…ga bestows the opulences of fire, and so on.
