In plain words
‘Śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṃ’: this is the bank on one side. ‘Saṃśayātmā vinaśyati’: this is the second bank.
Two Banks for the River of Life
First of all, man must live up to this eight-syllable name, saṃśayātmā vinaśyati. As long as there is doubt, man cannot achieve even the smallest task. He cannot reach success. Free of doubt, he must step forward in any task at all. This itself is the bank on one side of the river of our life. Śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṃ: the bank of these eight syllables is on the other side. Between these two banks the river called human life flows on and merges in the ocean called grace. For the tree we see, we must water the roots we do not see. But unseen, unheard is the secret in your karmas, O jīva! If you do not keep the roots safe, if you do not protect the roots, the tree itself falls. Life itself turns into so much firewood. When there is no water, what becomes of this tree? It dries up. From a tree that has dried up we can get no fruit of any kind. So every human being must root out this thing called doubt and set about serving God free of doubt. In any task at all, without these two banks, no one can achieve success. ‘Oṃ namo nārāyaṇāya’: that is not the eight-syllable name. It is one name that God has. But freedom from doubt itself is the one true path. Saṃ-śa-yā-tmā-vi-na-śya-ti: these eight syllables alone have proved to be the one true path. If man is not caught in this doubt, there is nothing in this world he cannot achieve.
Then the second, ‘Śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṃ’: this freedom from doubt is like the roots of this tree of human life. Śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṃ. This itself is the fruit of the tree. Fruit above, root below. Fruit on top, root beneath, and in between, many kinds of branches, twigs and leaves: all these too are joined on. What does man plant a tree for?