In plain words
Embodiments of Prema!
This body of the five elements, with its senses, is not separate from the mind. This body is a house the mind has built for its own play. For all the bodies one takes, the mind itself is the root cause. The world goes on according to the nature of the mind. This mind is a form made of willing and doubting. The fruit of karma comes from the very seed of willing. Feelings arise from the very seed of karma. From the seed of feeling comes habit. From the seed of habit comes character. From the seed of character comes fortune. Man's good fortune and ill fortune rest on his character. Character is the cause of everything.
Mind, character, will
Habits are the root of character. Feelings are the cause of habits. Willings are the root of feelings. All willings arise from karma. That is why it was said, “karmānubandhīni manuṣyaloke”. The whole of man's life is bound by karma. “As false as the being of a crop without water, so false is the being of a life without mind.” A crop without water, a wire without current, a school without a teacher, a temple without God, a life without mind: all of it is in vain. No one builds a temple without God. No student joins without a teacher. There is no wire without current. No crop grows without water. No life is full without mind. So the mind is the root cause of everything. All our good fortune and ill fortune rest on the mind. To keep the mind pure and to make one's willings holy is man's chief duty.
Make the mind your friend
Ratnākara, cruel, pitiless and hard-hearted, was able to become Vālmīki through the teachings of the great sages and through their resolve. By the power of his own resolve alone he became fit to write the holy and great Rāmāyaṇa. That is why his fame and standing spread through the world. If the giver of ślokas became Vālmīki, the giver of the worlds became Īśvara.