In plain words
Dear students! From time without beginning, everyone in the world has longed for God, worshipped Him and yearned to reach Him. Many sages too have yearned in this way, seeking to contemplate God, to describe Him, to see Him and to become one with Him. Nine paths have been laid down for reaching God.
Hearing of Viṣṇu, singing of Him, remembering Him, serving His feet, bowing down, worship, service, friendship and the offering of oneself.
From that day to this, devotees have followed these nine paths.
Once Nārada went to Śrīman Nārāyaṇa: ‘Swami! We utter Your divine Name, but the nectar of that Name is in You. Only when You grant us that nectar of the Name shall we be blessed,’ he said. But some, unable to understand rightly the greatness of such nāmasmaraṇa, went about spreading the opposite. Such ‘politics’ have gone on from that day to this. If anyone says one thing, there will be three to say the opposite. But when you point a finger at a fault in the person before you, three fingers point at you yourself. You do not recognise that.
Some went to Nārada: ‘Sir! We keep on doing nāmasmaraṇa as you said. But we do not see God,’ they said. ‘“As much as anyone thinks I am, just so much am I,” said God. The more you yearn for God, the more God's grace will flow upon you,’ Nārada said. From that day to this, arguments for and against have gone on about God. ‘What use is there in merely saying the Name? This is only work for idlers,’ some say.