In plain words
Do not let your life be swept away into the Gaṅgā!
A small story: in places such as East Godāvari and West Godāvari, many traders set out in boats to cross the river. A trader came and sat down in a boat. No one but him got into that boat. When people travelling anywhere go along talking of something or other with their fellow travellers, they do not feel the weariness of the journey. So, to pass the time, the trader began to chat with the boatman. “My boy! Do you have a newspaper with you?” he asked. “I have no paper with me, sir! I can't read,” said the boatman. “Alas! If you can't read, a quarter of your life is as good as lost in the Gaṅgā!” said the trader. The boatman could give no answer and kept silent.
After a little while the trader asked again, “My boy! Do you know how the prices of silver and gold stand in the Bombay market now?” The boatman: “Sir! I have no experience at all of that business. I don't know how the prices of silver and gold stand,” he said. “If you know nothing about business, half your life is as good as lost in the Gaṅgā!” said the trader. The talk did not stop there. Noticing the watch on the boatman's wrist, the trader asked, “My boy! What time is it?” He had tied a watch on his wrist, but he did not know how to tell the time. “I don't know how to tell the time, sir,” said the boatman. When the trader asked, “But you have tied a watch on your wrist!”, the boatman said, “Though I can't tell the time, tying a watch on the wrist is the fashion these days.” “If you don't even know how to tell the time, three parts of your life are as good as lost in the Gaṅgā,” said the trader.
After a while the wind began to blow fiercely. Struck by the waves, the boat began to rock this way and that. The boatman could not control the boat. Then he asked the trader, “Sir! Can you swim?” “I can't swim,” he said. “Then your whole life is as good as given over to the Gaṅgā,” said the boatman.