In plain words
Touching the feet of elders alone gives the body its true worth. But many atheists criticise this. This is foolishness!
When the war of the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas took place, Bhīma brought Duryodhana down. While some life still remained in Duryodhana, Bhīma kicked his head with his foot. Then Duryodhana: “Bhīma! Had you kicked my head before I fell, I would have shown you my might. Now, at the hour when my life is departing, for you to kick my head with your foot is no greatness. Not you alone; in a few minutes the crows and vultures too will kick me with their feet,” he said. So while there is life we must give the head its worth. We must lay the head at the feet of great souls and through that make it holy. Life is not permanent. Only the karmas we do are permanent and true.
You must be very close to God. When charcoal joins the fire it turns into fire, does it not! In the same way you must come into God's presence and be shaped into the form of God. “We are human beings,” you think. This is your delusion. If you develop true Bhakti and prapatti, you will recognise this Satya: ‘I am God.’ Ahaṃ brahmāsmi, prajñānaṃ brahma, ayamātmā brahma, tat tvam asi (That is I myself): such courage and such faith must arise in you.
This is the year named Īśvara, a year that is the embodiment of all aiśvarya, a divine year that belongs to the heart. So we must purify the heart. How? Contemplation of God is one way, service to society the other. Only through these two does purity of citta come. Many people say that, whether to read the Purāṇas or to do pūjās, they get no time at all because of office work and business affairs. Coming back from the office in the evening, they sit down in a chair as though utterly worn out. If the family says they should go to the temple, do pūjā and come back, they say, “Oh no! I have no time, I am very tired.” Such people are out-and-out sluggards! Well then, do they at least take some rest, sitting in the chair? No! They switch on the TV and watch a film. Do they not find time to watch TV? Does weariness not stand in the way of going to the club and playing cards? Only for contemplation of God, they say, there is no time. This is a downright lie. There is all the time they need, but they are wasting it. Time is the very form of God. So we must make every moment fruitful through prayer to God.
The right prayer
In the world many people pray to God. But for what? They pray that their worldly, material desires may be fulfilled. This cannot be true prayer. We must pray for God's Prema. God's Prema alone is true, permanent, immortal, unbroken. God is full of Ānanda, the very form of Sat-Cit-Ānanda. What kind of Ānanda is that?