In plain words
Augustus was a Roman emperor. Janus is a god. Septo, octo, navaṃ: these numbers tally with our saptamī, aṣṭamī and navamī. The words of Bhārata, of Rome and of Latin are closely related. Countries may differ, languages may differ, but the words are one.
Good and bad
Bairāgi Śāstri said, “The moon is one, yet its reflections appear as many.” In the same way, the sun is one, yet in many vessels there appear to be many suns. When the sun's light falls on a tree, its shadows appear through the branches and twigs. Beside a shadow there is light. The influence of the light is in the shadow too. Without the influence of light, a shadow does not appear. In both the original and the reflection the radiance is one and the same. In the worldly sense the original and the reflection are different, but in the divine state both are the same. If a shadow appears, how does it appear? A shadow appears because there is light beside it. If there were no light at all, the shadow too would not appear. For darkness to be seen, there must be light beside it. In the same way, though the mind is the one sun behind joy and sorrow, it is enough if we keep in mind the truth that the agitations begin from it alone.
In time there cannot be an absence of good and bad. ‘Ja’ means being born, ‘gati’ means changing. In being born and changing, the name jagati is borne out. By astrology, today is Thursday, the first day of the bright fortnight of Caitra. Every year has nine leaders. Of the nine, four are excellent. The first, Bṛhaspati, is the King; the second, the Moon, is the Minister; Śukra is the Lord of liquids, Budha the Lord of dry goods: these are the four. This year the chief leader for the uplift of the world, the rule of the world and the peace of the world is the King. He thinks constantly of the welfare of the people. So the King is favourable to the people. If only the King were favourable and the Minister not, some disorder might happen. The Minister too is favourable to the King.