Turtle Draws its Limbs in

The aggregate elements, namely the five gross elements, the five subtle elements, the four internal senses, the five senses for gathering knowledge and the five outward organs of action, are known as the pradhāna.
PURPORT
According to Bhagavad-gītā, the sum total of the twenty-four elements described herein is called the yonir mahad brahma. The sum total of the living entities is impregnated into this yonir mahad brahma, and they are born in different forms, beginning from Brahmā down to the insignificant ant. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other Vedic literatures, the sum total of the twenty-four elements, pradhāna, is also described as yonir mahad brahma; it is the source of the birth and subsistence of all living entities.

There are five gross elements, namely earth, water, fire, air and ether. There are also five subtle elements: smell, taste, color, touch and sound.

That explains the difference between the gross and subtle body. The subtle body stores information just like the gross one. It can only be dissolved when one performs action without results (akarma). That explains effulgence observed around a Bhakta.