In plain words
What is the cause of this? The root cause of it is Ahaṅkāra. I, I, I. ‘I am doing, I am seeing, I am enjoying. I am the master of this’: this very feeling is the root cause of this destruction. As long as those who are students have strength in their limbs, their eyes are fat with pride. Man today swaggers about the strength of his muscles and the strength of his heart, but he gives no thought to the strength of God or the strength of Dharma. How long does this last? O leather puppet with nine holes, which topples at a sneeze! Tai tai tai, tai puppet. See the fun of it, the leather puppet! Is this humanness? How long will this strength, this sturdiness last?
Prema only gives; it does not know how to take
‘Brother, do not strut about because you have beauty, youth and the strength of your senses! Ahead of you lies the crocodiles’ feast called old age,’ said a poet. ‘We are young, we are young!’: even as we revel in that joy, old age comes rushing upon us. You cannot move about, your eyes grow dim, your face is lined with wrinkles and your hair has turned grey! Calling you an old monkey, little children snigger at you, you puppet they swarm around! How long shall we enjoy? While we are enjoying childhood's games, songs, studies and the like, youth comes and settles in. ‘I am young!’: in sheer pride we forget everything and swagger, with no sense of elder and younger, and even as we swagger, old age sets in. What is lasting here? What is real here? Everything is changing! Everything in this Prakṛti is a passing cloud! Not one thing is lasting. Your purity alone is lasting. You can consider how impurely man behaves, though he has attained this state called purity. When do we gain purity? Purity comes only when we offer heart to heart and Prema to Prema. Our Prema is triangular in form.