In plain words
“Brahman is Prema in form, Brahman is all Prema; to join Prema with Prema is the law; so one who holds Prema in full is worthy to reach the One without a second.”
Those who long to recognise for themselves the ultimate reality, the supreme principle, must above all have purity of citta. In a bright, spotless room, poisonous vermin find no way in. Into a citta that holds sacred Jñāna, evil qualities such as lust, anger, hatred and envy do not enter.
If you wash charcoal in pure milk to make it white, the milk is soiled, but the charcoal does not turn white. To drive away darkness, a lamp is needed. To root out Ajñāna, we must develop Jñāna.
Ajñāna is not charcoal. It is like the tarnish that forms on copper. Wash it off, and the impurity can go. Ajñāna is like the husk that covers the rice. With pounding, the husk comes away. The husk called Ajñāna can be removed by the sādhana of Jñāna.
Arjuna! All karmas too must, without fail, merge in Jñāna.
The Dharma of the Guṇas Looks to the Fruit
To win sacred Jñāna, people perform yajñas, yāgas and kratus. The aśvamedha and rājasūya yāgas are bound up with expense. They are beyond the reach of ordinary people. … the tapas of Jñāna, the boat of Jñāna, the fire of Jñāna, the sword of Jñāna: these too they shape into yajñas, and so they enjoy Ānanda.
People perform all yajñas to give and to receive worldly fruits. All of these belong only to the Dharma of the guṇas; they are neither the Dharma of Īśvara, whose form is the universe, nor social Dharma. The Dharmas of the guṇas, all of them, are bound up with desires, with longing for the fruit.
To do karma free of all longing for its fruit: that alone is Jñāna-yajña. All human beings can practise it, with no distinction of race, religion or caste. Every karma done as an offering to Īśvara is itself Jñāna-yajña. Kṛṣṇa is striving to light the flame of Jñāna in Arjuna.
Wick and Oil May Be Ready, but What If No One Lights Them?
If we want to light a lamp, we need, first, a lamp bowl; second, oil; third, a wick. The fourth is fire. Only when these four are there can the lamp be lit. But if there is no one to light it, they are of no use. If there are flowers, thread and a needle, is a garland made? If there is gold and there are gems, do jewels come into being? To light the wick, to string the garland, to make the jewel, a person is needed.