vÄyunÄ há¹›ta-gandhÄ bhūḥ
salilatvÄya kalpate
salilaá¹ tad-dhá¹›ta-rasaá¹
jyotiá¹£á¹vÄyopakalpate
vÄyunÄ - by the wind; há¹›ta - deprived; gandhÄ - of its quality of aroma; bhūḥ - the element earth; salilatvÄya kalpate - becomes water; salilam - water; tat - by that (the same element, wind); há¹›ta-rasam - deprived of its quality of taste; jyotiá¹£á¹vÄya upakalpate - becomes fire.
Deprived of its quality of aroma by the wind, the element earth is transformed into water; and water, deprived of its taste by that same wind, is merged into fire.
ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam gives several descriptions of the material creation, by which air is expanded from ether, fire from air, water from fire, and earth from water. Now, in the reverse order, the creation is wound up. Thus earth merges back into the water from which it came, and water similarly merges into fire.
