In plain words
They recite the names of the five prāṇas. Why the water all round? This is itself a saṃskāra. Ants may come and to some extent defile the cooked food, the things in the plate that has been served. If you pour water all round, the ants cannot come. The culture of Bhārata keeps teaching little things like these. There are no words without meaning in Sanskrit at all. People do not know the meaning, yet they use the words. One who does not know does not stay as one who does not know. He talks as if he knew. That is folly. Try to learn what you do not know. Many powers and capacities lie contained in the principle of God. In each letter of the Veda a form of power of its own lies contained. Vāk: that is sound. Within this word another word comes. Pada is itself a word. Padārtha too is a word. What meaning is there in padārtha? The artha of a pada is the padārtha. ‘Rose flower’ is a word. For the word ‘rose flower’ this flower is the meaning. For the word ‘kerchief’, this is the meaning. Because it shows the meaning of a word, they named it padārtha. There are still some wonderful things. Within the spiritual principle there are fine words. Akṣara. What does akṣara mean? The letters of a language. In the language of Vedānta, akṣara means the eternal. In it, within the eternal there is the transient. Within the transient there is the eternal. Akṣaram. Kṣaram means what perishes. A means what lasts for ever. What perishes is the jīvātma. What does not perish is the Paramātma. The union of the Ātma and the Paramātma is akṣaram. In everything there are many inner meanings.
Students! We must learn about our culture of Bhārata. At every step the culture of Bhārata becomes clear to us. In every word the culture of Bhārata is heard. In every glance, there in the midst, is the culture of Bhārata. Once, the king of the elephants was in torment in the grip of a crocodile. ‘Come! O Lord, save me, O giver of boons, protect me, O gracious one!’ he cried out. At once God came. Many asked how far away God is from His servant. Some witless wise men said, ‘God is as far away as an elephant's cry can be heard.’ What ignorance! He does not come from somewhere to somewhere.