Passage 3

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In plain words

All Laṅkā was burning to ashes. At that midnight hour the city of Laṅkā looked to Hanumān as bright as broad daylight; though all Laṅkā was as bright as day, Rāvaṇa's heart alone lay wrapped in pitch darkness. What was the reason? The darkness within. A heart filled with desire and anger. A place where no light comes, however many lamps are lit there. So, to drive away the evil qualities, evil schemes and evil thoughts in Rāvaṇa, the light of Jñāna must be lit. Rāvaṇa was no ordinary person. He had ten heads. You may think, "What a strange thing!" The six, desire, anger, greed, pride and envy, together with the four inner instruments, Manas, Buddhi, citta and antaḥkaraṇa, make ten heads. So we may say that every man with these ten heads is a Rāvaṇa. These ten qualities fill every man. Not only that. Rāvaṇa was a son born of Brahmā's mind. Kubera was his elder brother. Kumbhakarṇa, a man of great strength, was his brother. Indrajit, who conquered Indra, was his son. He was related to such mighty men, had ten heads and twenty arms, had many powers and abilities, and was rich in the power of tapas; yet because the evil qualities of attachment and hatred were in him, he not only fell himself but brought his kingdom down as well.

Man should not think the nine planets the chief planets. Because it falls under the two planets of attachment and hatred, humanity is sinking lower morally day by day. When we want to put humanity to sacred use, we must look into the divine qualities in it. The way of education today is to protect the ancient traditions that shine as eternal truth, harmonising them with today as the times require. But we forget the ancient traditions of Satya and Dharma, put our faith in Asatya, injustice and wrongdoing alone, and dedicate our life to them. This is humanity joined with animality. We must light up the divinity in this humanity, but we must not nourish the animality or the demonic nature in it. Man is not of one form only. This humanity has five kinds of qualities: the divine in man, the demonic in man, the fiendish in man, the animal in man and the human in man. These are the five senses, the five kinds of knowledge, the five sheaths, the five elements. We may give them whatever names we like. But it is because such vāsanās cling to man that he cannot recognise his own true nature.