In plain words
When the Prema of these, the King and the Minister, is on the people, the people will have neither calamity nor fear. Moreover, it is said in the Veda, ‘Candramā manaso jātaḥ, cakṣos sūryo ajāyataḥ.’ They compared the moon and the mind as original and reflection. The moon is the very reflection of the mind; the mind is the very reflection of the moon. The Veda has shown that the two are inseparably bound. Because the Moon, an embodiment of virtue, is a leader of this year, the nature of the mind will take on a calm shape.
Not preaching but practice
Man means the mind itself. The mind means nothing but a gathering of thoughts! Thoughts mean nothing but the outcomes of daily life! There is no doubt that if our conduct in our daily life is orderly, the mind too can stay in Śānti and order. If our mind is not as it should be, that means our conduct is not as it should be. So man means nothing but conduct! That is the very breath of life. Today humanness is seen only in outward form, and stays far away from practice. The preaching of Dharma has grown as much as could be wished. There is no shortage at all in the world of preaching Dharma or teaching Dharma. The number of preachers is growing, but the number of those who put it into practice is shrinking. Not teaching: we must set about practising. Doing one thing and showing it is better than saying a hundred. Without recognising the root principle, we are dedicating life only to outward observance.
There are some superstitious customs too. We must look at these carefully. One example. We go to the temple and resolve to break a coconut for God. We have resolved to break a coconut, but we do not much mind whether the coconut is good, rotten or spoilt. “If the coconut is rotten, all the better; the wish is as good as granted,” we think. With that alone we are satisfied. What is the principle of this coconut? It is the knot of our heart. All the outer fibre is the principle of tamoguṇa. The shell upon it is the principle of rajoguṇa. The pure kernel clinging to that shell is the sāttvika principle.