When we think about matter we think about atoms, but Srimad Bhagavatam explains it in a different way, focusing on the practical aspects of material experience. It explains how the material experience, as well as the tools we use to experience it, are created.

According to the Vedas, all material objects are a combination of the five material elements. These elements are created together with the senses that can experience them. There is no point in having eyes if there are no forms to be seen, there is no point in having ears if there are no sounds to be heard, etc. Similarly, there would be no point in form, sound, and taste existing if there were no one to experience them, therefore, they come together. From the moment sound is created, the possibility of hearing such sounds (the sense of hearing) is created, when forms are created, the possibility of seeing such forms (vision) is created, and so on.

The element ether mentioned here is not connected with the disproven theory of the luminiferous ether from past centuries, nor is it just a vacuum, like in space. The Vedic conception of ether is a subtle element that serves as a fabric or support for all the other material manifestations.

The Vedas explain that ether can conduct sound. Of course, the gross sounds we can hear depend on the presence of atoms that can conduct the vibration, but there are subtle forms of sound that can travel on ether. Even in our gross reality, radio signals can travel through the vacuum of space. The creation of the element ether thus comes together with the creation of sound and the sense of hearing.

Next, air is created, together with the sense of touch. We can’t see air; when it’s pure, we can’t taste or smell it, but we can easily feel it when we move our arms. Thus, the creation of air comes together with the sense of touch.

The next element is fire, which includes also a form. Sound can pass through fire and we can surely feel its warmth, but fire adds a third quality which is form. Different from pure air or ether, fire can be seen, and thus it comes together with the sense of vision.

The fourth element is water. Pure water doesn’t have smell, but it has taste. It also has form and can transmit sound. We can surely also feel it with our hands. Thus, water has all the three previous properties, and add one more, which is taste. Together with the creation of water, comes the sense of taste, that allows us to experience it.

The final element is earth, the grossest, which includes all the four previous qualities, and adds smell, which leads to the creation of the last of the five senses.

The Vedas explain that reality exists on several different levels. There are levels of existence much subtler than the reality we currently experience. In our current level, matter is composed of atoms, but in subtler levels matter has a different nature, not being based on physical particles. Matter there is still composed of the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, and ether), but is not based on gross atoms like here. Thus, the Vedas explain the five original elements that are used to constitute all types of matter in all different planes, and not just on atoms, which are relevant only to our particular plane.

The five basic material elements are the constituents of all material objects, as well as the bodies we use to experience them. The Bhagavad-Gita explains that the body is just like a vehicle that is driven by the soul. A car certainly allows us to do lots of things, but there is no point in having a car if we don’t have hands and legs to drive it. In the same way, the five elements form all the material objects as well as the bodies and senses we use to experience them, but all of this is useless if there is no way for the soul to interact with the body and control it. This interface between the soul and the body is facilitated by two additional layers: the material mind and intelligence.

Actions are motivated by desires, and desires are stored in the mind. The mind is also the connection between the soul and the material body and senses. Therefore, the mind is the basic tool we use to experience the material world.

The mind is not a living being, but rather a mechanical entity created from material energy, much like a computer. The mind is created from the material mode of goodness, which indicates that originally the mind is peaceful. It becomes agitated due to contact with innumerable material desires, but it can be brought back to its original peaceful nature by spiritual practice.

While modern science explains the movements of the body as just a combination of nerves and muscles activated by electrical signals, the Vedas explain the existence of subtle forces, such as the vital air and different demigods that control body movements. These demigods are also created from the mode of goodness.

From the mode of passion, the intelligence is created. There are two types of intelligence: spiritual intelligence, which is used when the soul is connected with his eternal spiritual nature, and material intelligence, which works to satisfy the desires of the mind, making plans to manipulate matter. This passage speaks about material intelligence, which is created together with the sense organs. From this description, we can also understand that there is a difference between the subtle senses, grouped around the mind, and the gross sense organs that are part of the physical body. The physical bodies of all living entities are the last stage of creation, which becomes possible only after all the previous stages are concluded.

Some philosophers, like the Mayavadis, conclude that this world is false, but in his teachings, Srila Prabhupada explains that this world is not false, but it is illusory. By “illusory” he doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist, but that it is temporary. The material world is real in the sense that it was created by Krsna and it is being experienced by us, but at the same time, it is illusory because it is disconnected from our eternal reality in the spiritual world.

In contemporaneous terms, this universe has many similarities with the idea of virtual reality, which allows content creators to create whole virtual worlds that exist only in the memory of computers. These words are not false, because they were created by someone and are experienced by others, but they are illusory since they are divorced from reality. One may die a thousand times inside a VR game, but this doesn’t affect his real life in any way.

The Srimad Bhagavatam explains in detail the workings of this temporary world we somehow ended in. Apart from helping us to understand it, this explanation can help us to find our way out.