In plain words
"Nirguṇaṃ, nirañjanaṃ, sanātanaṃ, niketanaṃ, nitya, śuddha, buddha, nirmala svarūpiṇaṃ": so they spoke of God's Prema. Every person must try to recognise this sacred principle of Prema. The ancient ṛṣis went on calling this very sacred Prema the Ātma. The Ātma and God's Prema are not different. Prema is the Ātma; the Ātma is Prema. It is most necessary for every human being to recognise this principle of Prema, which is the very form of God. A part of that Prema dwells in man. You will not find a man without Prema. So a life without Prema is only a lifeless life. Though he has such Prema, how is one to describe the folly that cannot recognise it? But unfortunately man forgets this sacred Prema and behaves with its opposites: hatred, envy, pomp, desires and the like. To man such bad qualities, bad thoughts and wicked thoughts are unnatural. Every human being must try to recognise this principle of Prema. It is not only in man; it is in birds, beasts and animals too. That is why it is said, "Īśāvāsyam idaṃ jagat": the whole world is the very form of Īśvara. Prema itself is the nature of Īśvara. When we cannot recognise this nature of Īśvara, we have no proper right to call ourselves human. This Prema is everywhere. It is in the evil mind and in the good mind, in the garden, on the road, in the fort, in speech, in literature, in music, in the heart and in the room. When man cannot recognise this principle of Prema that pervades everywhere, his very humanness goes to waste. When man cannot know his own true nature, which is everywhere, what else is he trying to know? For man today, money is what matters most, and position is his support. But money and position are momentary. A heart without Prema is a heart of stone. A heart without Prema is a hard heart. A heart without Prema is full of poison. With such a heart of stone, such a hard heart, what is the use of learning any number of sciences?
It is not in learning, it is not in argument, it is not in the cleverness of the worldly mind, it is not in the many creeds, nor in debate on the Vedas; it is, it is: it is in the compassionate heart alone.
That compassionate heart is most necessary for every human being. For a man without this compassionate heart, however many studies he may pursue, however many positions he may hold, however much money he may earn, what is the use?
Students! You may wish for positions. You may wish for money. But first of all you must earn God's Prema, the root and support of everything. You must understand it. When this Prema in the men of today is not latent within them but fills them from within, the divinity that is in this humanness shows itself in many ways. Every human being must make this principle of Prema manifest in every way. Humanness that does not make this very principle of Prema manifest is wasted. Man today is caught in the hands of three demons: Ahaṅkāra, envy and show. How can one say that such a person is a human being? Only on the day one frees humanness from these three demons, Ahaṅkāra, show and envy, is he a true human being. Today we keep saying, "Bhakti, Bhakti." What is this Bhakti? Is Bhakti only bhajan with rāga and tāla? What is yoga? Is yoga to hold the nose shut, sit in a corner and doze? What is Jñāna? Is Jñāna to read many books, learn the ślokas in them by heart and expound them? What is sannyāsa? Is sannyāsa only putting on an ochre robe? Bhakti is the principle of Prema that is free of attachment, hatred, envy and the rest, and beyond them: that is Bhakti. The man who cries "Bhakti, Bhakti" and struts about with Ahaṅkāra, lives with envy, and goes through life in show, is no devotee at all. Bhakti does not come near such a man. One must go to the state beyond these three and love God with serene Ānanda. Only then:
Nityānandaṃ paramasukhadaṃ kevalaṃ jñānamūrtiṃ, dvandātītaṃ gaganasadṛśaṃ tatvamasyādilakṣyam, ekaṃ nityaṃ vimalam acalaṃ sarvadhīsākṣibhūtaṃ.
Only what abides in that state can be called Bhakti. What is yoga? They give it such names as haṭha yoga, kriyā yoga, Transcendental Meditation. That is not yoga. "Yogaḥ citta vṛtti nirodhakaḥ": control of the senses is true yoga. Give no room to excitement of any kind. Whether others blame us or praise us, we must remain without sinking and without swelling.