In plain words
Many took up vows for the sake of this search for Satya, keeping to a sacred time, to a special faith and to a firm resolve. Many great ṛṣis practised tapas, saying, “Until I see Satya, I will not give up my vow.” After some time those very ṛṣis came among the people and said, “Vedāham etaṃ puruṣaṃ mahāntam ādityavarṇaṃ tamasaḥ parastāt.” O people, we have been able to see God face to face. That God is full of radiance. He shines with divine light. He stands far from this tamoguṇa. This radiant One is beyond the tamoguṇa called Ajñāna. Such a God we have been able to see. God is not somewhere far away. We did not search for Him somewhere outside. In this very body made of clay we have been able to see this form of pure Consciousness. Those who beheld the God of pure Consciousness in this body of clay were the great ṛṣis of those days.
The Body Is a Casket of Jewels
We must not regard the body as something ordinary. This body is the dwelling of God. Today man drives so sacred a body into impure ways and into some strange ways, and, wanting to enjoy passing pleasures, he lives a life that is impermanent, transient and Asatya. No, no.
This body is an iron safe of no value; as when jewels are put in a safe, in the body dwells the Ātma, the Lord, know this!
Just as people keep a valuable gem hidden in a worthless iron safe, in the same way they have kept the valuable, radiant gem called the Ātma hidden in this worthless body. Is the body that keeps so sacred and so precious a gem hidden a thing easily had? No. For the sake of this gem, the Ātma, we must cherish the body, worship it and put it to use on the right path.