In plain words
Ingratitude is a great sin
In Caitra, the month of this new year, troubles strange and various are happening. Goodness that was there one moment changes the next. The very one who did good turns into one who does harm. This is beyond telling. However much good is done for them, people not only forget that good but stoop to doing harm, its very opposite. You all know Ghorī Muhammad. Many times he invaded our country and brought harm to the people. At last he came to invade Pṛthvīrāj. But Pṛthvīrāj captured Ghorī. He heeded his plea and let him go again. This Ghorī, who had been let go, again invaded Pṛthvīrāj six times. Six times he forgave him and let him go. But the seventh time he made friends with Pṛthvīrāj's father-in-law, and with his help came to invade Pṛthvīrāj. Pṛthvīrāj was defeated. How grateful he ought to have been to Pṛthvīrāj, who had forgiven him seven times and let him go! When Pṛthvīrāj was defeated, Ghorī put out Pṛthvīrāj's eyes. Not only did he lack gratitude; he turned into an ingrate. But when the time came, he became that ingrate. Many people do Sūrya Namaskāra. O Sun! The moment you look, the snow melts. Tamoghnāya namaḥ: the moment you come, all the darkness is driven far away. Not only that. You are the light in everyone's eyes. One day you take away the eyes of the one who does harm. If one is grateful, there is great grace from God. We must not turn into ingrates. We must not set about doing harm in return for good.
Do no harm, or you will come to harm
One day Pṛthvīrāj's minister went up to Ghorī: ‘Pṛthvīrāj is no ordinary man. He has mastered śabdavedhi well. He can let fly an arrow guided by sound. You think he has no eyes. That is a great mistake. He has no eyes of flesh, but he has the eyes of wisdom’; and seating Ghorī on a throne, he set a bell beside him, placed Pṛthvīrāj at a distance, and said he would have him strike it. They seated Pṛthvīrāj a hundred feet away. They set the bell beside Ghorī Muhammad. When the bell was struck, Pṛthvīrāj let fly an arrow by the sound. The bell was smashed to pieces. Ghorī watched in amazement. He suspected that the minister might have given him some signs. Man has many suspicions and doubts. He suspects everything. How can one who cannot trust even himself trust others? He cannot trust himself even for four minutes. Once more he struck this bell. Again he smashed it to pieces. When he did this, Ghorī Muhammad's Ahaṅkāra swelled. He decided to take this man's very life. "I made a mistake in taking his eyes." He decided to take his life. Pṛthvīrāj remembered God. Once more he brought the bell and set it there. As it was struck, God's grace , God entered into his hand with the thought of what to do to this cruel man who returned harm for good. When he let fly, it came straight on, fell into his throat, and he gave up his life. See how great a help the thought of God is. He had got ready to kill Pṛthvīrāj in that very court. Do no harm, or you will come to harm: when we try to harm others, God brings harm on us ourselves. If a palace man strikes a village child, Nārāyaṇa, they say, strikes the palace child. If you keep striking someone, will God not strike you!
Root out suspicion; grow faith
As the feeling, so the outcome. Our own goodness is what protects us. We must not think of anyone as bad. We must not foster bad thoughts against anyone. We must do harm to no one. We must do good as far as we can. We must root out the suspicions in our mind. We must grow faith. In the man of today there is no faith at all. Faith in nothing. When he looks at his wife, suspicion; when he looks at himself, suspicion. Everything is suspicion. How long can a man live who is full of suspicion like this? We must grow faith in God. As long as that faith in God is there, no treachery, no Kali, will do harm.
What are the true ornaments?
We must try to conquer Kali by truthful speech, by hands that give, and by listening to good things.
The ornament of the hand is charity; truth is the ornament of the throat; the ornament of the ear is the divine Name: what can Kali do?
What greater ornament could we want than this? A necklace is not the ornament of the throat; truth is the ornament of the throat. Bangles are not the ornament of the hand; charity is the ornament. Earrings are not the ornament of the ears; listening to the Name of God is the ornament. There is no ornament beyond this ornament. This is what we must earn. It is by this alone that our birth gains its meaning. What has man come for? What was he born for? Was he born to eat? Was he born to earn money?