In plain words
What is the flaw? What is the inner meaning? From the very beginning, human life has been taking shape as divinity filled with kindness, Prema, patience, compassion and Ānanda. What has made us come to this state, in which the sāttvic qualities are rooted out and evil qualities take shape and root out our humanity? When a tiger breaks into a cow pen, what becomes of the cows? Can the cows survive there? They cannot. In the same way, when evil qualities break into the pen of man's heart, which is joined to sāttvic qualities, what becomes of the good qualities? So because these wild beasts, the evil qualities, enter man's sacred heart, his pure, steady and selfless mind and the citta that holds divine qualities, the way has opened for him to lose his humanity and develop the beast in himself. That is why: what are these, Bhakti and prapatti? For what purpose have they come to us? It is most necessary now to recognise this Satya.
Bhakti is not only japa, bhajan and the like, not only steady dhyāna and the like, not only rites and observances; we must enter this path of Bhakti in order to drive away the beast within us. In sum, the inner meaning of Bhakti is this: to drive away the beastliness that has entered man and make the principle of Paśupati shine forth; that is Bhakti. The day we develop our divinity, that very day the name of humanity becomes true to its meaning. So, to set apart in the principle of life these three, humanity, divinity and beastliness, the power that has no birth or death, the power beyond Māyā, the power of the Puruṣa in the form of a man taken in play, the power of Puruṣottama, came down to the world as a man. That itself they called the principle of Gopāla. The ordinary meaning of Gopāla is one who tends the cows. Go means living beings. Gopāla means the principle that came down in human form to tend living beings; that is the inner meaning of this Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī.
The principle without attributes and without form, the radiant principle that shaped itself into divinity with form and attributes: that is the inner meaning of this Gokulāṣṭamī. To become the best of men, to make the principle of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Puruṣottama, fruitful in ourselves, and so to have the humanity that worships the three divine forms: that is the inner meaning of this Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī. To recognise the Satya, ‘I am bound by no bonds, by no feelings, by no attachment or self-regard’: that is the true purity of the devotees of Kṛṣṇa. However much Kṛṣṇa said, whatever He said, whatever He did, whatever He showed, whatever He spoke, all of it was play He carried out to raise up man, to raise up this world, to raise up Dharma. Holding Him as the very form of Dharma and His divine life itself as His teaching: so this story of Kṛṣṇa has come down. That is why: His life is His Message. He did the karma-kāṇḍa Himself, practised it and handed it on. Kṛṣṇa is the chief embodiment of the sacred karma-yogīs. Always doing karma and practising it, He gave others a life that is an ideal.