In plain words
That is why, among the eight kinds of power, hearing is the chief. The Veda's authority is that God is the embodiment of the eight aiśvaryas, that the first aiśvarya is hearing, and that through hearing alone nidhi-dhyāsa is attained. On the path of Bhakti too, hearing itself has taken the chief place. Śuddhabrahmamayī, carācaramayī, jyotirmayī, vāṅmayī, nityānandamayī, parātparamayī, māyāmayī, śrīmayī: these forms of the eight aiśvaryas are the forms of the Veda. Seeing that ordinary folk would not understand these eight aiśvaryas in this kind of language, and holding that the chief thing on the path of Bhakti is hearing:
Hearing, singing, remembering Viṣṇu, serving His feet, worship, salutation, service, friendship, and the offering of the self.
Hearing stands in the chief place. But unfortunately there are people in our Bhārata who do not even listen to it. There are people in our Bhārata who, even when they get the chance to listen, slip away without listening. There are also people in our Bhārata who, even while they listen, do not hear the clear mantras but hear only some sound or other. What is the reason for this? With this reason in view, the Veda has also taught many easy paths.
The body is beset by the doṣas called vāta, pitta and śleṣma. From vāta, 40 kinds of disease arise. From pitta, 42 kinds of disease arise in the human body. From śleṣma, 244 kinds of ailment are born in man. This human body is bound up with 326 kinds of disease, all these together. This body is a house of diseases. This body is a basket of filth. Clinging to pride in such a body, forgetting the one who dwells in it, taking bodily comforts and pleasures alone to be what matters, men are forgetting the inward. Just as vāta, pitta, śleṣma and the like are doṣas of the body, so three diseases called mala, vikṣepa and āvaraṇa befall the antaḥkaraṇa too. Because these doṣas called mala, vikṣepa and āvaraṇa take hold of the antaḥkaraṇa, man cannot develop these inward feelings. He cannot contemplate Ātma-Jñāna. He cannot long for it. He takes the physical alone to be his daily life. This is the root cause of the Ajñāna in man.
Another name for mala is avidyā.