In plain words
Only Those Who Give Are Fit to Receive
Wealth hidden away is equal to earth. It is not wealth that matters. Purity of heart is most important. You must make sacrifice in order to make the heart pure. Even to buy a small handkerchief, you must go to some shop and pay ten rupees, must you not! In the same way, only when you give something to God can you receive something, be it Prema, or grace, or peace. But God does not ask you to give anything. Yet giving is your duty. Only if you give do you gain the fitness to receive. However little you give to God, who is all-powerful, all-knowing and the form of all, you receive a great deal. You need not give God anything; give Him pure Prema, that is enough. Lessen your desire for wealth. Desires make only worldly life grow; they cannot make the spiritual life grow.
A train was crossing the bridge over the river Kṛṣṇā. A devout woman travelling in that train took out two coins and threw them into the river, saying, “Kṛṣṇārpaṇam.” A modern young man travelling in the same compartment saw the sight: “What is this! This woman is throwing money into the river for no reason and wasting it! What madness this is!” he said. Hearing his words, she: “My son! The madness is not mine; it is yours. When I throw two coins into the river for the Lord's pleasure, you think it a waste. But have you thought how much money you waste on cigarettes, coffees, teas and drinks?” she asked. Water makes your body pure. God makes your very life pure. But because that faith is not in you, you do not offer yourselves to God. As the saying goes, “What you buy is a brinjal; what you ask for as a bonus is a pumpkin”: the man of today gives little and asks for much. If you ask for much, you must give much.
Sacrifice Itself Is Yoga; That Is the True Enjoyment
You must not give money in charity to the beggars you see in the bazaar. For they may spend that money on drink and misuse it.