In plain words
To believe the many to be one is merit; to divide the one into many is sin. Because he cannot know these right meanings, man, however long he does sādhana, stays at the level where he is.
And the fourth: “Smara nityamanityatāṃ”. That is, we must inquire into what is eternal and what is transient.
Embodiments of Prema! What you must know above all today is this: you must set the senses God has given you on the right path and on a measured path. There is no other sādhana you need to do beyond this. In fact you need not do any sādhanas at all. For you yourselves are all things. When one is oneself everything, what is sādhana for any more? If you neglect a fire, ash covers it. But that ash comes from the fire itself. Coming from the fire itself, it covers the fire itself. Blow on it once, and the fire shows. In the same way, divinity is within you yourselves. From it Māyā was born and has covered you. Once you know that this is Māyā, Māyā goes and the Ātma principle shows itself. For this you need do no sādhanas, you need go on no pilgrimages. Turn your gaze inward; that is enough.
Beholding one's own svarūpa
Yesterday you learned about the body, and today about the senses. Tomorrow I shall explain about Manas, and after that about Buddhi. Only after knowing these four does Ātma-sākṣātkāra come. For all these lie one upon another. Only when all of them are removed can one behold one's own svarūpa. Buddhi on the Ātma, Manas on Buddhi, the senses on Manas, the body on the senses: in this way they lie one upon another. First we must give up attachment to the body, push the senses aside and make Manas die. We must thrust Buddhi aside. Only then comes the vision of the Ātma. Yet they have said, “Buddhi grāhya matīndriyam”. Because Buddhi is very close to the Ātma, its radiance is very great.
Above all, all the children of today must recognise well the nature of the senses. Giving in to the senses, the young are sinking lower than beasts. Even beasts, birds and animals live by a rule. But in man, educated and clever as he is, all rule is vanishing altogether. What then is all this education for? What is all this cleverness for? This education must come only for you to know yourself. When that is lacking, your cleverness and your acquaintance with books are all a waste!
“‘I have read the books, I have looked through all the śāstras in full, I have learned arts beyond compare,’ you say: why the pride? unable to fold your two hands and worship the Paramātma with Bhakti, all this present learning: is it not worthless on the earth, O man!”
“From rising out of sleep until you sleep again, for the sake of your belly you spend your life away beyond all bound and reckoning; your learning you pour out, and forget the One with lotus-petal eyes: what great happiness have you won? Think on it lovingly, O man!”
From the time you rise at daybreak until you lie down at night, you roam about for your belly without bound or reckoning. What is it you have come to know? O man! First recognise your humanness well. Merge in divinity. This is the very goal of your life.