In plain words
A royal road. It is very close to attaining divinity. For the body too it is a path that brings a holy strength and contentment; when we look at it from the body's side, this winter is a season that gives fine health. With such splendour Sankrānti comes in.
The sun seems gentle now; the days have all grown short; the cold wind has grown sharp; out in the fields, in the night's dim moonlight, the farmers thresh the heaps, raise their voices and begin to sing their songs. The yellow flowers have strung strings of pearls on the hemp fields; the ripe chilli has taken on the gleam of kumkum; the marigolds have opened their faces wide; it has given our homes their grain and riches: the gracious festival of Sankrānti has come.
With such splendours this Sankrānti comes in. Physically, in worldly life and spiritually, this is a most ideal month. In such a month there is a fine chance to turn humanness toward divinity. This Sankrānti is a day that brings joy to everyone, from children to the old. Three days are important for this Sankrānti. The first day is Bhogi. The second day is Sankrānti. The third day is Kanuma. On the very first day they bathe, put on new clothes, tie green festoons on our houses, sprinkle cow-dung water all over the front of the house, draw rangoli of many kinds, and make everything lovely and attractive. There is meaning in this sprinkling of cow-dung water. In this cold weather all kinds of germs and insects settle on the ground. When we sprinkle this cow-dung water, all those poisonous germs go away. This is most necessary for health. Not only this: we tie green festoons on our houses. What is the inner meaning of tying these green festoons? We must live always in Śānti and well-being. We must live auspiciously. We take down the old festoons and tie new ….