In plain words
life is in vain, he said.
A human birth is hard to win among creatures; if we cannot lead such a human birth in a holy way, an animal's birth is better. In today's system of education people do not learn what the goal of education is. Is life only these four, eating, drinking, sleeping and dying? These are the same for man and beast. Today's man wallows in the craving for pleasures and the getting of pleasures. He thinks that the power of money, the power of the intellect and the power of strength are life. Every man says ‘enjoy, enjoy’. What does this enjoy mean? It is really end joy: enjoyment is precisely what shows forth the final state, or the last state, every act being exemplary.
A human birth that does not develop man's brotherhood and the fatherhood of God, and does not help fellow men, fellow beings, in their sorrow, is no birth at all. Humanness is not a drop of oil on water. Without society man cannot live even for a moment. Thinking of the honour and welfare of that society, we must give up selfishness and develop a broad heart. On this ground, Jñāna is of three kinds. Ordinary Jñāna, Sujñāna and Vijñāna. ‘I, my friends, my relatives, my people’: this is ordinary Jñāna. It is like the life of a frog in a well. To gather the qualities in all beings and nourish a good life is Sujñāna. It is like a tank. Then the third. Īśvara dwells in all beings; Vāsudeva is all this: the broad feeling that Īśvara is in everyone. It is like the ocean. Such Vijñāna is the cosmic form itself.
Our dhyāna, our kīrtans and bhajans are not for the satisfaction of the Paramātma. They are for our own satisfaction. What does the Paramātma need? When we sing the glories of the Paramātma's qualities, they enter into us. Whatever things we dwell on in thought, those qualities enter into us. At the very word ‘lime’ our mouth waters. When we see filthy things we feel sick. If someone cries ‘Snake, snake!’ where we are sitting, we feel fear even without seeing a snake. If worldly names alone bring such a change, what a change will come from the Name of the supremely holy One! When we describe the qualities of the One whose form is auspiciousness, such holy qualities arise in us. That is why we must strive for holy thoughts and deeds. When Nārada went to teach the Vedas and Śāstras to the unlettered Gopīs, what he saw there was that the Gopīs, with no Jñāna and no tapas of any kind, had nothing but the unbroken thought of Kṛṣṇa, crying ‘Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa’. That name, ‘Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa’, became their thirst. With the thirst for Kṛṣṇa, the Gopīs' very life became filled with Kṛṣṇa. When asked how such greatness came to them, they said that just as an image forms on paper, so the image of Kṛṣṇa had formed on their hearts. At another time someone asked Rādhā, ‘You think of Kṛṣṇa ceaselessly and have turned into Kṛṣṇa yourself; what Ānanda, what happiness is left for you?’ To that Rādhā said, ‘Nīrajā! In the unbroken thought of Kṛṣṇa I may become Kṛṣṇa, and in the thought of Rādhā Kṛṣṇa may become Rādhā’. So whatever holy feelings men fill themselves with, those very qualities enter into us. Amid the air made impure by thoughts of injustice, wrongdoing and wrong conduct, we must win pure Ānanda through the holy singing of the Name. In your hopes and despairs, in your joys and sorrows, do not forget the Lord's Name. In creation there are waves and veils of joy and sorrow. We must take it that even our sorrows come to give us a holy place, and hold them in check only with the thought of the Lord's Name. Whatever God grants, we must take as God's prasāda. A mother who always gives her child sweet food gives it bitter medicine when it has a high fever. That is only out of Prema for the child. If the child takes to a wrong path she beats it out of Prema alone, not out of anger or hatred. In the same way, whatever sorrows God, as the Mother of the universe, may give, we must understand that they come out of Prema alone. Not elated by joy, not cast down by sorrow, we must cultivate an even vision and mastery of the senses. Mastery of the senses does not mean holding everything back. It is to have an even vision. We must make it a habit not to listen to the faults of others, and to wish for their good, their health and their prosperity. The man who sees the good in others and the faults in himself is the true sādhaka. Then he rids himself of his own faults and takes on the goodness of others. As we clean the things and the vessels in the house, we must from time to time set our minds right, join in satsaṅga and strive to be happy. Bhajan is what matters most for purity of heart. It purifies not only us but the hearts of those who listen. We sing bhajans for our sādhana and for our Ānanda. However many books we read and however many sādhanas we do, they do not bring the Ānanda that singing bhajans brings.