In plain words
What vow do you keep? What sādhanas do you practise?’ So they showered questions upon him. Then he said, ‘My dear ones! I do no japa, no tapas, no yajñas or yāgas or the like. God is very fond of the poor. So I serve the poor. Mukti is not won by japa, tapas and the like, nor by pilgrimages. To cross the ocean of saṃsāra, service is the only way.’
Many rich people came to the Viśveśvara temple to see this wonder. Because the rich were coming, many poor people too gathered there. Seeing the poor who had gathered there, that supreme devotee: ‘God has boundless Prema for the poor. For that very reason He has brought so many of the poor here. Caring for the humble and the helpless like these is the very thing God delights in. This alone is my delight. My joy is to care for the poor and make them glad,” he said. His words opened the eyes of the rich who had gathered there.
We must lay up the wealth of grace
“Even a man worth lakhs eats salt and rice; he does not swallow gleaming gold ... He earns money and swaggers about, and that is all; the riches he has hoarded do not keep him company ...” So, instead of scrambling after money, pray to God. If you think of God with all your heart, He Himself will give you all that you need. You must guard your own portion, and lay up the wealth of merit.
When you were born from your mother's womb, no necklaces whatever were to be seen; of strings of good pearls, not even a sample; no chain of fine gold upon your neck; no necklaces of gems glowing there; no emeralds or rubies inlaid; no diamond necklaces in their splendour; no hessonites came along with you. There is, there is one garland upon your neck: all the deeds you have done, counted one by one, good or bad, with none broken off, Brahmā gives you and sends you forth with a heavy garland, a necklace strung of all your karmas.