In plain words
From daybreak on, man inquires into many things. He reads many books. But what has he come to know? He is coming to know nothing. All that he has come to know is worthless! Though it gives satisfaction for the moment, the next minute it brings nothing but dissatisfaction. These are like mirages. However far we follow them, our thirst is not quenched. That is not water. It looks like water, but it is not water. All the pleasures, joys and good fortune we experience in this Prakṛti merely look like pleasures, look like comforts, seem like Ānanda. But they are not real. Truly, this pleasure and comfort do not give lasting Ānanda. Only for the moment do we imagine that we have enjoyed pleasure and comfort. Within the next minute they bring sorrow. Once Śaṅkara put a question to his disciples: ‘Who in this world is the one who has won victory?’ The students there each went on giving an answer as it struck them. Then one disciple answered, ‘The hero is the one who, as a great warrior, conquers others in battle and wins victory.’ ‘The hero is the one who climbs the Himālayas and plants a flag there,’ said another. ‘The one who crosses the ocean and proves his strength and ability is a hero,’ said another. In this way each went on speaking as it struck him. At all this Śaṅkara smiled: ‘Disciples! You take worldly victories alone for victories. In this worldly sphere anyone can win a victory. Two beasts fight, and one beast wins. Birds fight with birds, and one of them wins. Birds too cross the oceans. Birds fly even higher than the Himālayas. Does that alone mean they have won victory? No, no. Whoever has mastered the mind, he alone is the victor. To think, “I have won victory,” without mastering the mind is sheer delusion,’ he taught.