In plain words
Embodiments of the Divine Ātma!
Tṛṣṇā has two meanings: desire and thirst. Desire means this: in our daily life we want certain objects, certain things, certain works that our living needs, that is, food to eat, cloth to wear, a house to live in; wanting these is the natural desire of man. Within this desire, again, there are two kinds. One is natural desire; the second is greed. I need a house: that is fit to be desired. It is truly worth longing for. But greed is to think that we need two more houses besides; desiring beyond our need is greed; today, among men, greed far more than desire is the coin in circulation. That is why man falls prey to boundless sorrow and unrest. Far from contentment, he passes his life in discontent. The cause is this very greed.
Next comes tṛṣṇā. Tṛṣṇā means thirst. Whenever thirst comes on, we feel we must drink water. When does this thirst come to an end? As long as there is life, there is no escaping thirst. Even at the last hour, people keep giving water. So how do we bring this thirst to an end? Even iron fetters, once they have rusted little by little, can be broken; but tṛṣṇā is very hard to break. This tṛṣṇā enters with boundless desires. If these desires bear fruit, there is Ahaṅkāra; if they fail, anger.
The gates that bring man to hell are chiefly three. They are lust, anger and avarice. Little by little they have slipped out of control. We must make a fitting effort to bring them under control. Precisely this has been called sādhana. What is sādhana? The unceasing effort we make to come near the object we have hoped for, loved and longed for: that is sādhana. This sādhana is the chief path that brings us to the goal. The word sādhana has a second meaning. Sā-dhanaḥ: riches that belong to God. Wealth we speak of in three ways: riches, treasure and wealth. All three are names of one thing. This wealth stays with us only along with the body; once the body is gone, these do not come with us. If wealth is lost, we can earn it again; if the span of life is lost, we cannot earn it back. So, while life lasts, we must earn the wealth that is lasting, true and divine. This divine wealth is nothing but our practice. Through this practice alone we can earn the wealth called good conduct. Good conduct is our wealth. Virtue is our riches. Right behaviour is our treasure. This wealth, this treasure and these riches are our very qualities, our conduct, our character. But man today gives up these three, takes worldly things alone to his heart, hopes to cross over by them, and deludes himself that this is Bhakti.