In plain words
This body is an iron box of no worth; as jewels are laid inside a box, so God, the Ātma, dwells within the body; know this well!
The box is not what matters. We have to guard this box for the sake of the precious things laid inside it. Life is very precious. It is very sacred. It is worth living. In what way are we to conduct such a human life? In what way are we to nourish it? Man today has forgotten the truth of how we are to live it. Man scrambles after the happiness and peace, the enjoyments and riches, that belong to the body; but he gives not the least thought to what belongs to the Ātma: good qualities, wise counsel, noble thoughts and good conduct.
Students! The very first thing we must learn is: what is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of this life?
Food, sleep, fear and mating are common to beasts and to men; Jñāna is the one thing more that marks out men; empty of Jñāna, they are the equals of beasts.
Food, sleep, fear and hunger, these desires, are common to man and to the beasts, the birds and the animals. And then, of man: what is meant by saying ‘Jantūnāṃ narajanma durlabham’, this human birth is hard to attain? Here, it is Jñāna that is of great value to man. A stick of sugar cane and a bamboo stick both look just alike. But with the sugar cane, they pay for the juice. For this bamboo stick, they pay for its length and its thickness. Where does man's value lie? The value is not merely in the form, in good looks, in build, height and girth. The value lies, rather, in man's character. But in the man of today, character has become a void. Just because it is missing, man cannot earn the name of man.
A man who is man in form alone is of no use at all to the world. We need men of practice and reflection. We read so many books. We pack so many matters into our heads. What is the use of packing them in? A small example. You have gone into a big library room. In that library room there are so many books. So many subjects are there, but the building knows nothing at all of what is in those books. Put any question to the library room, and it will not answer even one. In the same way, our brain has become a big library room. We pack in all the matters of the world.