In plain words
In former times, when the population was a hundred crores, faith in God grew in the hearts of many. Today faith has dwindled, unbelief has grown, and physical life has flourished. That is why the very word Mokṣa has gone. First we must learn what this Mokṣa is. Mo, kṣa, mu: how many letters? Three letters. Mo is moha, kṣa is kṣaya; when this moha, this ‘mo’, wanes away, Mukti is gained. This is Mokṣa. But today moha has grown. There is no limit or bound to it. So the worship of the Devī was begun in order to make these mohas wane away. Lakṣmī is bound up with moha. She comes shining and bright. She plunges man into many illusions. Lakṣmī is she who is ever shining bright. But Sarasvatī chirps and chatters merrily. In every word she sets her sounds on the pure path and gladdens man in many ways. Durgā, then, shines bright. The worship of these nine nights begins with the worship of Durgā, goes on with the worship of Lakṣmī and ends with the worship of Sarasvatī. That is why students too perform the worship of Sarasvatī. That is, they worship their books. But they offer worship to their books, not to their heads. In this way all of today's culture has become very trivial. First we must try to recognise the principle of the worship of Durgā, Lakṣmī and Sarasvatī.
Only when mind and body are still does Buddhi blossom
From ancient times in Bhārata, the inner meanings of the holy days were each bound up with some form of God. Every holy day, however small, was meant to awaken divine feelings. But today we go on keeping only the outward marks and meaning of the holy days. Setting up pictures of the deities, doing pūjās, offering worship merely in an artificial way: this is what goes on.