In plain words
Wherever even ten people gather, the air becomes polluted. Through the breath that those who come breathe out, poisonous gases fill the whole place. Carbon dioxide spreads in that air. For what we breathe out is carbon dioxide, isn't it! Then these green leaves take in the poisonous gases and release the oxygen in them. In this way, when crowds gather, these mango festoons and plantain stems serve us by keeping the poisonous gases from spreading.
Today, in the houses they build, modern people put up big halls and fit them with big windows. Houses of old had small doors. In such houses, if some twenty people gathered for a wedding, the whole air would turn poisonous from the breath they let out. So, to take that in and to supply oxygen, they tied up green festoons like this. These released oxygen and protected health. Is this foolishness?
In the old days it was the custom to mix cow dung in water and sprinkle it in front of the house on holy days and festivals. Today: ‘What is all this? They are sprinkling all this dung about like this. They could lay good marble and mosaic stones and keep it nice and clean, couldn't they!’ so people think. No, no. In this dung there are antibiotics, that is, a power that kills germs. When they sprinkled it, all the harmful germs around would perish. So people stayed healthy. Unfortunately, no scientist today does research on cow dung. If they did, they would learn what is in it. In this way, with customs such as these, they kept the society of that time healthy, pure and safe.
Not only this: in the old days all the women used turmeric. They smeared turmeric on the doors and thresholds too. On it they put dots of kuṅkuma. This turmeric works as an antiseptic. They kept germs and insects from coming in from outside. But today, why use turmeric?