In plain words
“Each for himself on the Yamunā's bank”
In this modern age of today men fall prey to many misconceptions, forget the eternally true Divinity, and waste their lives with merely worldly thoughts. First of all, Prema must grow in man. This Prema must not be worldly. Because we have taken a human birth, the ties of the body come about. But before birth, who is the mother? Who is the child? Before marriage, who is the husband? Who is the wife? Only after the wedding has taken place does the bond of wife and husband come about. Only after birth does the bond of mother and child come about. All these bonds are the kind that come in the middle and go again in the middle. But before birth, after birth, and after death too, what keeps watch close behind you and beside you is Divinity alone. We must make this eternally true Divinity firm in the mind.
These births and deaths belong only to the body, not to the Ātma. The things that decay or grow are only temples; none of these apply to God. Men are bound to one another only so long as they live. After that there is no bond of any kind. When man is born he brings not even a scrap of cloth; when he dies he does not leave even an “Address”: “each for himself on the Yamunā's bank”. But so long as we bear the body, we must carry out our duty. We must go through the ties and relationships that come by way of the body. But all of these will part some day. If not today, then in another fifty years, the parting cannot be escaped. But between you and God there is no parting at all. Even if you forget God, God does not forget you. We must foster that principle of God, so full of Prema.
The Meaning of the Word “Strī”
Devī means the form of woman. This whole world is a form made of the three guṇas. Now, this ‘strī’ is made up of the letters ‘sa’, ‘ta’ and ‘ra’. The letter ‘sa’ points to the sāttvic. The sāttvic quality arises, before all else, from the mother herself. The mother makes her own blood full of Prema and gives it to her children. That is why a mother's Prema cannot be described in words. The second is the letter ‘ta’. Modesty, self-respect and the like are traits belonging to the letter ‘ta’. In women the quality of feeling shy is very great. They strive constantly for their honour and dignity. This letter ‘ta’ signifies that women are people who possess such sacred qualities. It does not mean having traits such as eating and sleeping. The third is the letter ‘ra’. It points to the rājasic trait. Qualities such as sacrifice and generosity, so abundant in women, do belong to the letter ‘ra’. Women do not grieve over hardship and loss; to keep their honour they will go to any sacrifice, and when the need comes they do not draw back even from giving up their lives. They stand ever ready to root out the tamoguṇas that come marching against the sāttvic. So ‘Devī’ means the very embodiment of Śakti who takes on rajoguṇa, roots out bad qualities and nourishes the sāttvic.