In plain words
Dharma alone is the holy principle of life; that itself is its life-breath. What is Dharma? Dharma, they said, is dhārayatīti dharmaḥ. What is borne, they said, is Dharma. But this gives it no true derivation. For each thing there is a principle that gives it life. This is fire; when we say fire, what does fire bear? It bears heat. It bears light. Only when both heat and light are there can we show the truth that it is fire. Without this heat and light it becomes charcoal, not fire. So what has borne the charcoal is heat and light; that is why the name fire is fitting for it. What is fire's Dharma? To give heat and light is its very Dharma. This is ice. What is its form? It is something white; it is cold. If it were hot and not cold, it would not be ice; it would be fire. This, we say, is sugar. What is sugar's Dharma? Sweetness is sugar's Dharma. If the sweetness is gone, it turns into salt. Or it turns into dirt. So sugar's Dharma is sweetness. Fire's Dharma, heat and light; ice's Dharma, coolness.
In just the same way, what is man's Dharma? In what way is it? It is purity in the three instruments. The thought one thinks, the word one speaks: what bears the oneness of these three is humanness. That is why, because these three are missing in man today, Dharma has declined. That is why knowledge has faded away. The welfare of the country and all its prosperity have been rooted out. Security is going altogether. Justice and peace themselves are becoming void. All is money, money. Through this very money we are losing morality and honesty. Money earned by losing morality and honesty is no better than dirt. Such money never goes along with you. Does merely heaping it up and keeping it safe give happiness and joy? No, no. Honeybees gather the honey from every flower and bring it to one place, but without enjoying it at all they keep it stored in one place. But the hunter puts smoke on it, sprinkles hot water, kills them and carries off that honey. Wealth earned through injustice never stays in our hands at all. For this there are four thieves. The first thief: the government, on some pretext or other, under tax or under a raid, carries off some of it.