In plain words
So Prema is only for giving, not for taking. This is precisely the difference between worldly love and divine Prema. Worldly love takes but does not give. The Prema of the Paramātma gives but does not take. Always it is giving. This is the chief quality of the Prema of the Paramātma. Second, the Prema of the Paramātma has no fear of any kind. Worldly love has the fear of what someone will say, what someone will think. But the Prema of the Paramātma has no selfishness. That is why it has no fear. Next, the third. For Prema, Prema alone is the goal. Prema is Prema alone, not a thing. That is precisely why it was said that Prema is made of three angles. One, the giving of Prema; second, fearlessness; third, for Prema, Prema alone is the fruit. This is divine Prema. People today pray to God in many ways. What do they pray for? They pray for money. They pray for a marriage. They pray for children. They pray for houses. They pray for power. They pray for material things. These are not what we should pray to God for. Pray to God for what you do not have. You must pray for what you do not have and He has. You have no Prema. That Prema is with God. Pray for that Prema. There is no Śānti in you. That Śānti is with God. Pray for that. You have no Ānanda. That Ānanda is with God alone. The twenty-five marks of God: for God is
eternal Ānanda, the giver of supreme happiness, Jñāna alone in form, beyond the pairs of opposites, like the sky, the aim of ‘Tattvamasi’ and the like, one, eternal, stainless, unmoving, the Sākṣī of every mind, beyond all feeling, free of the three guṇas.....
If you want Prema, eternal Prema is there with God. You have no Śānti. God is the embodiment of Śānti. Ask Him for Śānti. You have no Ānanda. But you have happiness. You must recognise the difference between happiness and Ānanda. Happiness belongs to the head. Ānanda belongs to the heart. Ānanda belongs to the heart. Look to God for Ānanda. We must pray to God for the things we do not have. Money is there with you. It is there in the world. Why look to God for it? You have food and comforts in plenty. Why pray to God for them? If you have two pens, what do you want another pen for? Why ask for it? Use what you have. If you do not have one, you must ask others for a pen. The things you should ask God for are not worldly ones. ‘O God! Grant me Praśānti. O God! Grant me Ānanda. O God! Grant me pure Prema.’ Pray to God for these. But today's prayers have no limit and no measure. People pray to God for whatever they please. Will God give everything? He will never give it. Even when you do not know what is good for you, He knows what is good for you and holds back from giving. All that is only for your good. Whatever He says, whatever He does, it is only for your good. Man cannot recognise this truth. God is the Sākṣī of all. In every way He looks only to your good. Offer everything to God. Receive what God gives. Live a life of Ānanda.
Prayer to God with Prema in full
Today young men and young women must become exemplary beings. They must become model citizens. Do not enter petty paths; enter the divine principle of God. God is in all. All heads are forms of God. You, who are such embodiments of Ānanda, forget yourselves and scramble about asking where divinity is. Recognise yourself. Recognise your own Satya. Enjoy your own Ānanda. Do others no harm; do them good. That is man's chief service. Whoever hurts anyone, it is the same as hurting God. There was Saint John. He believed that everything is the principle of God alone. He regarded everyone as a brother. One day he punished a brother very harshly. That night Jesus came in a dream. ‘Foolish one! Thinking him a stranger, you are hurting yourself. What is in the hearts of all is God alone. Whatever heart you hurt, it is the same as hurting God.