Pancha Bhuta

Pancha Bhuta (Sanskrit: पञ्चभूत; pañca bhūta), five elements, is a group of five basic elements, which, in Hinduism, is the basis of all cosmic creation. These elements are: Prithvi (Sanskrit: पृथ्वी:, Earth), Ap (Sanskrit: आपः, Water), Agni (Sanskrit: अग्नि, Fire), Vayu (Sanskrit: वायु:, Air), Akasha (Sanskrit: आकाश, Aether). In Ayurveda and Indian philosophy, the human body is made of these five elements. However, the Chārvāka system of materialism did not accept Akasha as a basic element as it is not tangible and they accepted that there are only four basic elements. Hinduism influenced Buddhism, which accepts only four Mahābhūtas, viewing Akasha as a derived (upādā) element. These five elements of the Indian cosmological system are static or innate, in comparison to five elements, or phases, of the transformational theory used within China's Wuxing philosophy.