In plain words
For the Ānanda of the Ātma, for the search for the Ātma, for union with the Ātma, for the vision of the Ātma, man practises many kinds of sādhana. In the practices of the ninefold paths, every man strives in many ways to attain Divinity and to experience holiness.
We must do sādhanas for union with the Ātma and separation from the Anātma
Listening, singing, remembering Viṣṇu, serving His feet, worship, salutation, service, friendship and the offering of the self.
People think these nine paths are a way of searching for the Ātma. This is a great mistake. God is not attained by us through sādhanas. All these sādhanas are done to drive the Anātma away. When the Anātma is driven away, the Ātma is everywhere. Take away the ash that covers it, and the fire shines out for us. All your sādhanas are acts done to drive the Anātma away. When the clouds move off, the sun shines. To see the sun, you need do no other sādhana. We imagine, wrongly, that all our sādhanas are for the sake of the Ātma. This is not for the sake of the Ātma. It is a going from separation from the Anātma to union. We must do sādhanas for both, union with the Ātma and separation from the Anātma. But man today praises God in many ways.
God, who is in all, is one alone!
You alone are mother and father, You alone are kinsman and friend, You alone are learning and wealth, You alone are my all, O God of gods.
None of these prayers is right. We think, ‘O God! You alone are my mother, my father, You alone are my kinsman, You alone are my friend, You alone are everything.’ What result do these prayers bring us? They make God other than you. You alone are mother, You alone are father, and I am apart. With this kinship, ‘You alone are mother, You alone are father, You alone are everything,’ we get bound all the more.