In plain words
Satya is the one step to Dharma; giving, the one step to fame; Satya, the one step to heaven; good character, the one step to happiness.
For anything at all, worthiness is essential. It is on the strength of worthiness that everything comes to a man. By Satya one may gain heaven, by giving, fame, and by good qualities, every happiness.
From time without beginning, the festivals have been bringing the people of Bhārata zest and encouragement. Every festival arose with the good of society in view. For the people of Bhārata this festival of Sankrānti is the most important festival of all. It comes about through the influence of the sun. Month by month the sun enters one line after another. But the influence of the sun once it has entered Makara is especially excellent. That is why this festival of Sankrānti, when the sun enters the sign of Makara, is so special.
The sun seems gentle now; the days have grown short; the cold wind sharpens its bite; in the fields, by the dim moonlight of night, the farmers at the threshing heaps lift their voices and begin to sing their songs; the yellow flowers, for the hemp fields, have strung garlands of pearls; the ripe chillies take on a vermilion glow; opening wide the faces of the marigolds, setting the wealth of grain in our homes, the lovely festival of Sankrānti has come.