In plain words
Nor is it even something to be acquired.
We ourselves are embodiments of the Ātma. That is why, before I speak, I keep addressing you as ‘Embodiments of the Ātma’ and as ‘Embodiments of the divine Ātma’. That is, the body is the Ātma itself, your jīva is the Ātma itself; because our guṇas are distinct, changes appear in reflections of certain kinds, and this is what we have been calling the difference of upādhi. From ancient times many maharṣis have said that to go on inquiring every day, from dawn until lying down at night, into such divine teachings of the Ātma is mīmāṃsā. This they called the power of research. Through this power of examination they were able to recognise the form of the Ātma of all. The one who recognised this principle of the Ātma, the very first, was Vyāsa; that is why this sacred full-moon day came to have the fitting name Vyāsa Pūrṇimā. Giving an ideal to this world of mortals, bound by many infatuations, many kinds of karmic bonds and many kinds of fetters, offering them sacred divine teachings, Vyāsa went on building many paths to bring them to a state of growth. That is why the spiritual path here is most needed by men. Embodiments of Prema! You have learned what spirituality means; you must recognise, too, that the true aim is to strive, step by step, to master, to conquer and to bring under control the animal nature in us. Without mastering and conquering this animal nature, however many kinds of yajña, yāga and rite we perform, however many kinds of tapas we practise, they only sink to the level of tamas; they do not reach the higher, sāttvic level. We bear many kinds of hardship, spend money and go to Tirupati. We go to Kāśī. We go to Badrīnāth. We go to Haridwar. We have the darśan of Kedārnāth. What is the use of doing so much? Only when we can master the animal feelings, the beastly traits, the animal nature in us, at least in some measure, will the fruit of these pilgrimages too be ours: “The moment you know the secret, the mind itself is your guru, sirs,” they said. So when you curb the animal nature in your mind, this heart itself is your Badrīnāth, your heart itself is your Lord of Kedāra, this heart itself is your Veṅkaṭeśvara of Tirupati. Everywhere it will be your own heart. Otherwise, “I am a devotee of Veṅkaṭeśvara of Tirupati, I am a devotee of Śrī Rāma. I am a devotee of Śrī Kṛṣṇa”: to speak of oneself this way is a disgrace; so what we must newly learn today is this: before spirituality, we must first master qualities such as the animal nature in us. We must enter divinity from humanness. Hoping and blessing you that, trusting from today that this is the spiritual path, you may step by step escape from that animal nature, master it and conquer it, and reach the place of divinity, I bring this talk to a close.