tato vikārā abhavan
ṣoḍaśāmīṣu kañcana
upadhāvan vibhūtīnāḿ
sarvāsām aśnute gatim
tatah -- from that (false ego); vikarah -- transformations; abhavan -- have manifested; shodasa -- sixteen; amishu -- among these; kancana -- any; upadhavan -- pursuing; vibhutinam -- of material assets; sarvasam -- all; asnute -- enjoys; gatim -- the acquisition.
The sixteen elements have evolved as transformations of that false ego. When a devotee of Lord Siva 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 Siva appears in a special linga form in each of these sixteen substances, which are worshiped individually as deities in various sacred locations of the universe. A devotee of Siva may worship one of his particular lingas to obtain the mystic opulences pertaining to it. Thus Lord Siva's akasa-linga bestows the opulences of ether, his jyotir-linga bestows the opulences of fire, and so on.
