In plain words
We must take time into our own hands. Only then does the body become worthwhile. If one does not keep in step with time, the body becomes worthless. The body is very sacred. ‘Among all creatures, birth as a human is hard to gain,’ it was said. That is why it was called ‘Tuṅgabhadrāya namaḥ’. The body has the name Tuṅgabhadra. Bhadra means the lasting one. Tuṅga means what brings about good. This body has come to bring about deeds that are lasting and bring about good. When this body has come for the sake of doing sacred deeds, how impure you are making it. The body is like a stick of bamboo. It has knots in many places. These are called granthis. That is, in human life too there are many kinds of granthis. So man falls into many hardships and losses. They may be in the body, if they are, but see that they do not reach the heart. The heart must always stay pure. Make it your habit to keep a vision free of delusion and a mind that does not waver. Do not give room to feelings that are merely personal. Man is not a being on his own; he is a being of the whole. When you recognise this truth, you will not count your separate life for much. It is because you are a being of the whole that you are able to live in society. So you must go on recognising well the nature of society.
What does ‘mānava’ mean?
Mānava means one who has conducted himself free of ignorance. ‘Mā’ ignorance, ‘na’ without, ‘va’ conducting oneself. ‘Mā’ means not, ‘nava’ means new. That is, you are not new; you are old. From how many births you have been coming. The light of the sun falls on the moon. Yet the light of the sun and the moon is one. The sun's light is warm. The moon's light is cool. ‘Candramā manaso jātaḥ, cakṣo sūryo ajāyata.’ What is the reason for this? The moon is connected with the mind. The eyes are connected with Jñāna. That is why our eyes of Jñāna are like the light of the sun. The light of the moon is not its own, and so it wanders everywhere.