In plain words
That is our tradition,” she said. “What is this? What has the Satyanārāyaṇa vrata to do with catching a cat and putting it under a basket?” the brāhmin thought. If he said this was no tradition, the dakṣiṇā that would come to him would be lost. Saying ‘All right’, he too caught a cat, put it under a basket and went. Why did they keep putting this cat under a basket the night before? In those days every house was full to the brim with grain. Because there was so much grain, there were a great many rats. To catch these rats they kept cats. When cats roam about the house, they have some bad habits. Anywhere in the grain it would relieve itself, cover it over and go away. The night before, they had to mix wheat rava and sugar, make it into the Satyanārāyaṇa prasāda and set it in a plate. They had to make all the pañcāmṛta ready. For fear the cats might touch the pañcāmṛta, they put the cat under a basket. In this way, all the things done for their own convenience took shape as a custom. In truth none of these are customs; they are only blind customs. Seeing such things, the young people of today all talk about them with mockery. There is a great difference between arrangements made for convenience and the divine feeling held for the sake of custom.
Whether you believe it or not, the doctrine of the fruit of karma does not change in the least
Students! Every karma we do has a result. Good karma has a good fruit, bad karma a bad fruit. Whether you believe it or not, the doctrine of the fruit of karma does not change in the least. There is a small seed. When you plant it in the ground, in time it sprouts and becomes a big tree. The leaves, flowers, fruits, branches and twigs on it are all parts of this seed! As the seed is, so is the tree that comes. If you plant a mango seed, no neem tree will come. Every karma we do is like a seed. From now on, if not today then tomorrow, and in however many births, there is no escaping the fruit of karma. So we must do good. A small example. Students are here. They go into the examination hall and write the examination.