Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight constitute My separated material energies.
(Bhagavad-Gita-----7:4-----translation).

In the material energy, the principal manifestations are eight, as above mentioned. Out of these, the first five manifestations, namely earth, water, fire, air and sky, are called the five gigantic creations or the gross creations, within which the five sense objects are included. They are the manifestations of physical sound, touch, form, taste and smell. Material science comprises these ten items and nothing more. But the other three items, namely mind, intelligence and false ego, are neglected by the materialists. Philosophers who deal with mental activities are also not perfect in knowledge because they do not know the ultimate source, Kṛṣṇa. The false ego—"I am," and "It is mine," which constitute the basic principle of material existence—includes ten sense organs for material activities.
(Bhagavad-Gita-----7:4------purport).

Here it is clearly mentioned that living entities belong to the superior nature (or energy) of the Supreme Lord. The inferior energy is matter manifested in different elements, namely earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego. Both forms of material nature, namely gross (earth, etc.) and subtle (mind, etc.), are products of the inferior energy. The living entities, who are exploiting these inferior energies for different purposes, are the superior energy of the Supreme Lord, and it is due to this energy that the entire material world functions. The cosmic manifestation has no power to act unless it is moved by the superior energy, the living entity. Energies are always controlled by the energetic, and therefore the living entities are always controlled by the Lord—they have no independent existence. They are never equally powerful, as unintelligent men think. The distinction between the living entities and the Lord is described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.87.30)
(Bhagavad-Gita-----7:5------purport).

As explained in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.4), the separated material energy of the Personality of Godhead is covered by eight kinds of material coverings: earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intelligence and false ego. All these are emanations from the Personality of Godhead as His external energy. These coverings are just like the covering of clouds for the sun. The cloud is a creation of the sun, yet it actually covers the eyes so that one cannot see the sun. The sun cannot be covered by the clouds. The cloud can at utmost extend a few hundreds of miles in the sky, but the sun is far greater than millions of miles. So a hundred-mile covering is not competent to cover millions of miles.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----2:10:33-----purport).

Anything which has a beginning, interim and end is called material. The material world is begun from the Lord, and thus the form of the Lord, before the beginning of the material world, is certainly transcendental to the finest, or the finer material conception. The ether in the material world is considered to be the finest. Finer than the ether is mind, intelligence, and false ego. But all eight of the outward coverings are explained as outer coverings of the Absolute Truth. The Absolute Truth is therefore beyond the expression and speculation of the material conception. He is certainly transcendental to all material conceptions. This is called nirviśeṣaṇam.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----2:10:34-----purport).

In Bhagavad-gītā (7.4-5) it is stated that the eight elements earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intelligence and false ego are all products of the Lord's inferior energy, whereas the living entities, who are seen to utilize the inferior energy, originally belong to the superior energy, the internal potency of the Lord. The eight inferior energies work grossly and subtly, whereas the superior energy works as the central generating force. This is experienced in the human body. The gross elements, namely, earth, etc., form the external gross body and are like a coat, whereas the subtle mind and false ego act like the inner clothing of the body.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----3:6:9-----purport).

The Vedas give information that in all planets—not only within this material sky but also in the spiritual sky—there are varieties of living entities. Although all these living entities are of one spiritual nature, in quality the same as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they have varieties of bodies due to the embodiment of the spirit soul by the eight material elements, namely earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intelligence and false ego. In the spiritual world, however, there is no such distinction between the body and the embodied. In the material world, distinctive features are manifested in different types of bodies in the various planets. We have full information from the Vedic literature that in each and every planet, both material and spiritual, there are living entities of varied intelligence.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----4:20:35-36-----purport).

The living entity is the marginal energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the material world is the external energy. Under the circumstances, one must understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is factually the original source of both matter and spirit. This is explained in the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā (7.4-5):
bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ
khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me
bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā
apareyam itas tv anyāṁ
prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām
jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho
yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat
"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight comprise My separated material energies. But besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which consists of all living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe."
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----4:31:13-----purport).

Darkness, illumination and clouds sometimes appear and sometimes disappear, but even when they have disappeared, the potency is still there, always existing. In the sky sometimes we see clouds, sometimes rainfall and sometimes snow. Sometimes we see night, sometimes day, sometimes illumination and sometimes darkness. All these exist due to the sun, but the sun is unaffected by all these changes. Similarly, although the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the original cause of the total cosmic manifestation, He is unaffected by the material existence. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.4):
bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ
khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me
bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā
"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight comprise My separated material energies."
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----4:31:17-----purport).

Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (7.4):
bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ
khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me
bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā
"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight comprise My separated material energies."
The energy of the Lord acts throughout the creation, just as heat and light, the energies of the sun, act within the universe and make everything work. The specific rivers mentioned in the śāstras are also energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and people who regularly bathe in them are purified. It can actually be seen that many people are cured of diseases simply by bathing in the Ganges. Similarly, the inhabitants of Krauñcadvīpa purify themselves by bathing in the rivers there.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----5:20:23-----purport).

"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight comprise My separated material energies. Besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which consists of the living entities, who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe." The living entity tries to lord it over the material or physical elements, but both the physical elements and the spiritual spark are energies emanating from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Lord says, ahaṁ vai sarva-bhūtāni: "I am everything." Just as heat and light emanate from fire, these two energies—the physical elements and the living entities—emanate from the Supreme Lord. Therefore the Lord says, ahaṁ vai sarva-bhūtāni: "I expand the physical and spiritual categories."
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----5:16:51-----purport).

In Bhagavad-gītā the Supreme Personality of Godhead has explained that the material energy and spiritual energy both emanate from Him. The material energy is described as me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā (B.G.7:4), the eight separated energies of the Lord. But although the eight gross and subtle material energies—namely, earth, water, fire, air, ether,mind, intelligence and false ego—are stated to be bhinnā, separate from the Lord, actually they are not. As fire appears separate from wood and as the air flowing through the nostrils and mouth of the body appear separate from the body, so the Paramātmā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears separate from the living being but is actually separate and not separate simultaneously. This is the philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva propounded by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----7:2:43-----purport).

As long as the spirit soul is covered by the subtle body, consisting of the mind, intelligence and false ego, he is bound to the results of his fruitive activities. Because of this covering, the spirit soul is connected with the material energy and must accordingly suffer material conditions and reversals, continually, life after life.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----7:2:47-----translation).

The living entity is bound by the subtle body, consisting of the mind, intelligence and false ego. At the time of death, therefore, the position of the mind becomes the cause for the next body. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (8.6), yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram: at the time of death the mind sets the criteria for the spirit soul's being carried to another type of body. If a living being resists the dictation of the mind and engages the mind in the loving service of the Lord, the mind cannot degrade him. The duty of all human beings, therefore, is to keep the mind always engaged at the lotus feet of the Lord (sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (S.B.9:4:18)).
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----7:2:47-----purport).

"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight comprise My separated material energies." Bhūmi, earth, includes all the objects of sense perception—rūpa (form), rasa (taste), gandha (smell), śabda (sound) and sparśa (touch). Within the earth are the fragrance of roses, the taste of sweet fruit, and whatever else we want. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.10.4), sarva-kāma-dughā mahī: the earth (mahī) contains all our requirements. Thus the objects of sense perception are all present in bhūmi, or the earth. The gross material elements and subtle material elements (mind, intelligence and ahaṅkāra, false ego) constitute the total material energy.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----7:7:22-----purport).

In the cycle of material activities, the material body resembles the wheel of a mental chariot. The ten senses (five for working and five for gathering knowledge) and the five life airs within the body form the fifteen spokes of the chariot's wheel. The three modes of nature (goodness, passion and ignorance) are its center of activities, and the eight ingredients of nature (earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intelligence and false ego) comprise the rim of the wheel. The external, material energy moves this wheel like electrical energy. Thus the wheel revolves very quickly around its hub or central support, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul and the ultimate truth. We offer our respectful obeisances unto Him.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----8:5:28-----translation).

"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight comprise My separated material energies. But besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which consists of all living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe." Thus both matter and the living entities are manifestations of energy of the Supreme Lord. Since the energy and the energetic are not different and since the material and marginal energies are both energies of the supreme energetic, the Supreme Lord, ultimately the Supreme Personality of Godhead is everything. In this regard, the example may be given of gold that has not been molded and gold that has been molded into various ornaments. A gold earring and the gold in a mine are different only as cause and effect; otherwise they are the same.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----8:12:8-----purport).

Catur-viṁśad-guṇa, the twenty-four elements, are the five gross elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether), the three subtle elements (mind, intelligence and false ego), the ten senses (five for working and five for acquiring knowledge), the five sense objects, and contaminated consciousness. These are the subject matter of sāṅkhya-yoga, which was inaugurated by Lord Kapiladeva. This sāṅkhya-yoga was again propounded by another Kapila, but he was an atheist, and his system is not accepted as bona fide.
(Srimad Bhagavatam-----8:16:30-----purport).