In plain words
On the second day sambar and dal, on the third day chutney: though she served him this way, the son-in-law did not budge. Telling him to go would not be polite. If she told him to stay, how was she to live by doing coolie work before her son-in-law's eyes? So the mother-in-law began to teach Vedānta. ‘Are we born for food and drink? Food and drink are for us. We come first, food comes after. That is how we must think. We must be content with what we get. In truth we are not this body of the five elements at all. We are embodiments of the Ātma, free of hunger and thirst,’ she began. But the son-in-law let none of that Vedānta into his ears, and, quite contrary to it: ‘Mother-in-law! In all the three worlds there is no dwelling as happy as a mother-in-law's house. That is exactly why Śiva lives right in the Himālaya. Viṣṇu reclines on the Ocean of Milk itself, Lakṣmī's maiden home. So what is wrong with my sitting in my mother-in-law's house?’ he said. So be it! Seeing that the son-in-law showed no sign of moving, the mother-in-law quietly locked the house and went away. The son-in-law, too, told no one and went off down the road he had come by.
What is the inner meaning of this story? The mother-in-law's house, steeped in poverty, is the human body itself! It is a wretched hovel. Loathsome, without strength, a filthy hovel that gives shelter to diseases. To that house came the son-in-law called worry. Whatever you do, he will not go out. What is the remedy for it? If you lessen your desire for the body and take up Vairāgya, the son-in-law called worry will leave of himself.
We must certainly nourish the body with food. But that food must be proper, right and sāttvic. Too much food is harm to the mind. Measured food is great comfort. We must lessen the delusion that we are the body, not let the vāsanās for sense objects grow, and live our life with care. ‘Bhikṣānnaṃ dehapoṣaṇārthaṃ, vastraṃ śītanivāraṇaṃ’: that is all! Hunger has no end, but our eating and our pleasures must have one. If you take food in moderation, with a pure heart, the body is well nourished. When we put petrol in a car, we put in only as much as the tank will hold, don't we! You must not eat beyond measure for the craving of the tongue. Just as we take medicine when we fall ill, so, for the illness called hunger, food is like a medicine, that is all.
Truly, human life is a matchbox with only one stick in it. A man is lighting a cigarette with that stick. Just at that moment some friend comes along: ‘Hey there! What news? What are you doing? Will you come with me?’ he calls out to him. But he gave no answer to any of it; intent only on lighting his cigarette, he kept silent. Why? Because what he had was a single match, just one. If it went out while he was caught up in talk, there was no other stick in the box. Life, too, is just like that! Before life goes out, we must light the flame of the Ātma and cross over. There is only darkness, only a fall. Once the body falls, we can achieve nothing. A life that does not make the flame of the Ātma shine is a mere waste of food, a burden to the earth. However many kinds of learning you master, however many sādhanas you do, however many high positions you adorn, however much wealth, gold, goods and vehicles you pile up, a life in which the flame of the Ātma does not shine is wasted all the same. Learning used for nothing but argument and counter-argument brings disgrace on the goddess Sarasvatī and serves no other purpose. Learning must not be misused. We must put it into practice and attain the Jñāna of the Ātma. That is why the śāstra says, ‘However learned they may be, they are no match for devotees.’ Devotees bind God Himself, don't they! In devotees there is no jealousy, envy, ostentation or Ahaṅkāra at all.
Every person must strengthen the bonds among themselves. The feeling ‘It is enough if I am happy; why should I care about the affairs of others?’ is the mark of an animal. We must build close bonds together with the people around us. Today is the fifth of December. All the Sathya Sai Seva Organisations in the world are making every arrangement needed for the care of the sick, helping the spiritual progress of the disabled, and tying on the sacred thread of the vow of service. Truly, this is a vital sādhana of service. ‘Nāyamātmā balahīnena labhyaḥ,’ the Śruti warns. Even monkeys and dogs frighten the weak. But if you take a stick and stand there boldly, not just a dog: a jackal, even a tiger, takes fright. So this treatment and these acts of service, all of them, are only to give them strength of the Ātma. In the world there are lakhs of the disabled, the mute, the deaf and the blind. ‘Why should all these be born like this?’ is a big question. Even in that there is a sacredness. Only one who knows everything knows that. Doctors do not know about engineering. Their field is one thing, these people's field another. Would an aeroplane that travels in the sky run on railway tracks? Each has its own path, its own rule and discipline. Only those who follow this are blessed. For those who do not keep their own dharma and take refuge in the dharma of others, there is no escaping fear.
It is good to guard your health so that diseases do not come. A dog with fever will not touch meat, though it is so very fond of it.