In plain words
In the world today money alone is the foundation
In today's world money alone is the foundation. Because the eye has been turned to money, health is wasting away. Strength of mind too is sinking day by day. It is most urgent to give the villagers of today fitting guidance, so that they till their own lands themselves, stand on their own feet, and develop their own village themselves. History itself shows us how great a weight Pōtanāmātya gave, in ancient times, when he was writing the Bhāgavatam, to the worth of the villages and to the tilling of the land. Śrīnātha, who was born in a village, grew up in a town and built close ties of kinship with kings, was Pōtana's own brother-in-law! He had given his daughter in marriage to Pōtana's son. One day Śrīnātha came to Pōtana, who stayed in the village itself, writing the holy story of God and passing his days in serenity. ‘Brother-in-law! Life in this village is very hard. Come with me and live in the town. Dedicate all the poems you write to the Mahārāja. With the wealth the Mahārāja gives, your family will flourish in happiness and Śānti’; in many ways like this he kept urging him. On the road as he came, Śrīnātha caught sight of his son-in-law Nāganna ploughing the land. Then, greeting his son-in-law, he asked, ‘Well now! Ploughman! All well?’ In answer to this, Pōtana spoke one fine padyam:
“Rather than give the maiden of poetry, tender as the fresh shoots of a young mango grove, to base men and eat that harlot's bread, good poets may be ploughmen, what of it, or in the depths of the forest be diggers of bulbs and roots, what of it, to feed their own wives, children and bellies!”
‘Rather than give the learning that has dawned in you, God's gift of grace, to kings and eat that food they toss to you, there is no want in our welfare when we eat trusting in Mother Earth and Mother Cow’, he said. Our ancients believed in and served Mother Earth, Mother Cow, the mother who gave the body, and Mother Veda.