Krishna now lays out the building blocks. My lower nature, He says, is divided into eight parts: five gross elements — earth, water, fire, air, and space — and three subtle elements — mind, intellect, and ego. Together, these form what is called 'apara prakriti,' the material or lower nature.
Consider a garden. Soil, water, sunlight, air — they all come together to produce a flower. Each is distinct, but they all belong to the same gardener's plot. In the same way, these eight elements look different from one another, but their source is one: the divine.
What we see outside us and what we experience inside — the solidity of the ground, the flow of water, the warmth of fire, the movement of air, the openness of space, the chatter of the mind, the sharpness of the intellect, the pull of ego — all of it is part of the divine nature.