In plain words
If even one of these five life-breaths is missing, one's life is simply wasted! So man must first of all live by Satya. He must grow by Dharma. Satya is like the foundation. Dharma is like the wall. If there is no foundation, the wall will not stand. Prema is like the roof. Śānti is the very ‘life’ that lies under that ‘roof’. Man cannot make his dwelling in a house that has no ‘roof’. Today Satya, Dharma, Śānti, Prema and Ahiṃsā have wasted away altogether. However rich a man may be, no spirit of sacrifice is born in him. The life of such a man is just like a house without a roof. He has no choice but to bake in the sun and be drenched in the rain, without end! So we must take good care of the ‘roof’.
Embodiments of Prema! All of you must cultivate Satya, Dharma, Śānti, Prema and Ahiṃsā. When these five are absent, humanness itself goes to waste. Today, wherever you go, money, money, money! Even the old woman who makes dosas hopes to earn plenty of money. Such longings have grown beyond all measure today. This is not the Kali Yuga; it is the Kalaha Yuga! The root cause of this quarrelling is money itself! So, first of all, we must cut down our longings. We treat the body as what matters most. We must look upon the body as a ‘box’. We must keep the precious ‘ornaments’ within it safely guarded. Without them this ‘box’ is of no use at all. Human life is very precious. We must recognise this Satya and act on it. What use is it if we lose our ‘human values’ and make our life worthless! Even in cattle, birds, beasts and the rest there is Prema. They have no longings as man has. When they are hungry, they eat a little something. But man is not like that. He must have everything. Though he has five buildings, he keeps longing, ‘I want ten more buildings.’ Is one house not enough for him to live in? Why so many buildings?! Cheating goes on precisely because such longings grow. Too much desires! We must cut down these desires. Less luggage, more comfort makes travel a pleasure. We do a great many things. But we expect no return for any of them. I do not have even one house. Wherever I go, I stay in devotees' homes, and afterwards I leave from there. In the same way, you too must be without any desires. Since you are born as human beings, you must gain control over your desires. When you restrain your desires, you can experience Śānti in full measure. Your Prema for God must never waver in any circumstances. You must cultivate Prema for God. If we cultivate that Prema, everything will be ours.
Embodiments of Prema! You are listening to the talks of many elders. All that you hear, you must put into practice. You must hold on to Satya, Dharma, Śānti, Prema and Ahiṃsā for ever. If we have these two, Śānti and Prema, we can achieve anything. The children sitting here in the front row have done their Ph.D.s. The children sitting on this side have done post-graduation. Not one of them has any longing for home. Wherever they go, they would be given salaries of thousands of rupees. Outside, M.B.A. youngsters are earning lakhs of rupees. But these have no longing for money. ‘Will money give us any joy? No. We want ‘work’. Work is worship. Duty is God. So we want duty,’ these children say. In this way, ideal feelings must arise in all children. But today, wherever you look in the world, desires, desires! What are these desires doing? They are drowning man in sorrow. Control your desires. We must go on cutting down our longings. How long can you walk with a load on your head? Suppose you are on your own now.