In plain words
This mala is destroyed only through karmas. Then this āvaraṇa wanes only through upāsana. Vikṣepa is destroyed by discerning knowledge. That is why the Veda has taught that karma, upāsana and Jñāna are most needed for these three. By karma comes purity of citta, by upāsana one-pointedness of the citta, and by Jñāna the attainment of Mokṣa. The people of Bhārata think that the attainment of Mokṣa means going to some special place, or merging in God, or gaining some other kind of divinity.
They do not inquire into what the root cause is of the joys and sorrows that come in this life. The root cause of this sorrow is birth itself. The root cause of this birth is karma itself. The root cause of this karma is attachment. The basis of this attachment is pride, and the basis of pride is lack of discrimination. The basis of lack of discrimination is Ahaṅkāra. The root and basis of this Ahaṅkāra is Ajñāna. Only when Ajñāna is destroyed does Ahaṅkāra subside. Only when Ahaṅkāra subsides does lack of discrimination wane. Only when lack of discrimination wanes is attachment destroyed. Only when attachment is destroyed does karma wane. Only when karma wanes does birth find its fulfilment. It becomes clear that the root cause of the sorrow met in this birth is Ajñāna itself. So the root cause of this Ajñāna in human nature is a kind of āvaraṇa. What was there before it is mala.
What is mala? It is simply this: to take oneself to be this antaḥkaraṇa, made of the five elements, joined with the five senses, dwelling in the five sheaths and lived through outwardly as the body; that is one mala. Through the sway of this mala, man forgets his own svarūpa. He deludes himself that he is this outward body, made of excrement and urine, foul smell, flesh and blood. This is contrary to Satya. This is contrary to purity. What is contrary to Satya is Asatya itself. What is contrary to purity is impurity itself. People who have not grasped what mala means in the language of Vedānta can understand that well from our daily life. Every human being says, ‘I am passing mala.’ We regard this passing of mala as impure. The basis of this impure thing is the pure itself. We eat pure fruit. We take clean food. Then again, every day we eat pure things like milk and curds. But in the very end this pure food, this clean food, turns into impure mala. Mala means: a substance contrary to purity is mala; Asatya, contrary to Satya, is mala.