In plain words
We do not have the bodily strength and capacity to go from street to street teaching the story of Rāma”: when they said this, Vālmīki lost heart. While these talks were going on, Lava and Kuśa came. ‘Gurujī! We have heard what you have been discussing with the disciples all this while. Give us the chance to carry this task through to the end,’ they said. Who were they? Princes, dear disciples: such as these took the tambūra in hand, put on the sacred marks, held the cymbals, and went singing from street to street. Can you do this today? If you go to some bhajan and sing some song, “Oh! He is singing bhajans too!” they will mock: that is the fear. And if by chance you put on a little vibhūti, “Oh! Is he a devotee of Sai Bābā?” they may say: that is the fear. If you keep the beat while doing bhajan, “Oh! Has he become bhajan incarnate?” they say. The people of today give their lives for such pride and possessiveness. The day we give up Ahaṅkāra and possessiveness, that very day good fortune will come to society. We must give up this Ahaṅkāra and pride. As long as these remain, we cannot remember even the name of God. Why should we fear that someone or other will say something? You do all the things that should not be done. You have no such fear of these, have you? Why fear to take up the sacred name of God? We must fear wrongdoing, but we need not fear the good. That is why the world today has fallen into such wretched states.
Sacrifice itself is true enjoyment
Through a coarseness that has no fear of sin, taking a road that has no love of God, humanness has sunk away in human beings; this is the root cause of selfishness.