In plain words
When you were born from your mother's womb, there were no necklaces at all to be seen; no strings of fine pearls, not even one for a sample; no chain of pure gold about your neck; no necklaces of gems shining bright; no emeralds and rubies set in; no necklaces of diamonds in their splendour; no hessonites along with you. There is, there is one garland about your neck: all that you have done, every one of them counted, good or bad, none cut away, Brahmā gives it you and sends you forth: a heavy garland, a necklace strung of all your karmas.
You come wearing a necklace strung of the sins and merits you have done from birth after birth. For every action you do there will be a consequence. There is no ‘action’ without a ‘reaction’. Whatever small act you do, a consequence for it is sure to follow. For example, suppose you are sewing a cloth with a needle. The needle may be small. But if by mistake it pricks your hand, blood comes at once. That is, the act bears its fruit in that very moment. The food you have eaten takes at least two hours' time to be digested. A seed planted in the earth takes at least a week to sprout. In the same way, some actions bear fruit after some months, or after some years, or after some births. Every person must undergo the consequence of the action he has done. But you need not worry, ‘Is there no way to escape the sufferings we undergo?’ You can escape them! When pure Prema rises from the depth of your heart, all those sufferings sink out of sight.