In plain words
The eight petals in the heart-lotus are under the control of God. What are they?
Made of the Word that is Brahman, made of all that moves and moves not, made of light, made of speech, made of eternal Ānanda, made of what is beyond the highest, made of Māyā, made of splendour.
These eight petals are under the control of God. That is why God was called the embodiment of the eight splendours. Kṛṣṇa's eight wives means that the eight petals themselves are the eight wives. Then the sixteen thousand Gopīs. Who are they? Not Gopīs who took on a physical form. The lotus in this head, with its thousand petals. In each petal of this thousand-petalled lotus there are sixteen kalās. That is why He is called the embodiment of the sixteen kalās. When the thousand petals are multiplied by these sixteen kalās, it comes to 16,000. That is the sixteen thousand Gopīs. In the sahasrāra lotus there are 16,000 kalās. When the kuṇḍalinī śakti starts from the mūlādhāra and travels up into the sahasrāra, it becomes one with these sixteen thousand kalās. Without recognising the inner meaning, men build up the outer meaning, multiply the many meanings, let go of the true meaning and live on with what has no meaning.
Tamaso Mā Jyotir Gamaya
Naraka. Nara means the Ātma. Naraka means what is contrary to the Ātma. Naraka does not stand for a demon. A satellite. Among the planets that go round this earth, the one called Naraka is a small planet. As this planet came near the earth, fear and alarm grew among the people over what danger might come, and to drive their fear and alarm away Kṛṣṇa destroyed this satellite named Naraka. Such things come about naturally now and then as states of nature. Some years ago something called the conjunction of eight planets began, and it alarmed people greatly.