In plain words
The Ātma Is in All
The Ātma is in all, from the tips of the nails to the crown of the head. Only those who cannot recognise such immortality long for poison. If a man recognises the truth that amṛta is here, that is enough; he will strive for nothing else. Only the one who does not know what amṛta is keeps striving after poison. So first of all we must try to gain this experience of amṛta, at least in some measure. So Śaṅkara made many efforts with the doctrine of Advaita, from the village to the town, from the unlettered to the learned, to bring about this feeling of oneness. While the assemblies were going on in this way in the holy city of Kāśī, Śaṅkara went on setting forth an ideal. When he was leaving home, he had given his mother a promise. ‘My son! You are leaving home. Though I did not like it, you took sannyāsa. But I have the wish to see you at my last moment. So at my last moment you must be with me,’ she longed. Being a man of great heart, being a man of purity of citta, he resolved that he must keep his promise without fail.
Whatever Those with Purity of Citta Say Comes True
The word spoken by those who have purity of citta comes true. Whatever they say comes true. If they say, ‘This is not a flower’, it ceases to be a flower. We must recognise that truth. The Mahābhārata war begins on the day of the new moon. On the fourteenth day of the fortnight Kṛṣṇa took Arjuna into the battlefield. They went on talking over how the battle was to be carried on the next day, who was to stand in which position, and who was to blow which conch. Before He gives grace, God always tests the strength and ability of the person. Only then does the devotee become fit to keep hold of what God has given. ‘Arjuna! It has grown dark; go now, and come again,’ He said. ‘Come now! Let us go home,’ said Kṛṣṇa, and there He began a test: ‘Arjuna! That on the tree is a peacock, is it not?’ He said.