In plain words
Embodiments of Prema! Those who spoke before Me said very fine things. After hearing their words, I had not meant to speak today at all.
What gift is greater than the gift of food! What God is there above mother and father! What life of Satya is there beyond japa and tapas! What Dharma is higher than compassion! Look, what gain is greater than the company of the good! What enmity is worse than anger! What disease is worse for men than debt! What death on earth is worse than ill fame! What wealth, at any time, is greater than a good name! What ornament surpasses remembrance!
In this world we are beings whose life rests on food. Without it we cannot live for even a moment. Where does food come from? It arises from none other than Śaṅkara, the infinite, the one without a second, beyond the reach of speech and mind. All the things seen in the world are nothing but God's creation. All that is seen in past, future and present is nothing but God's creation. The one who recognised that Satya was Pārvatī alone. All the gods came and said to her,
‘You are only a young girl, Gauramma; Sāmbaśiva is an old man, dear; His head is all matted locks, dear; what He wears is a tiger's skin, dear; He rides about on a bull; at every hour He goes wandering; He has wound the anthill's snakes about Him, dear; not knowing His secret, how could you choose Him? Not a house has He, not a doorway; He lies down in the burning grounds.’
‘Could you not see even this much? How can you marry such a man?’ they asked. Then Pārvatī said, smiling, ‘Seeing only the outer form, you mistake it for Satya. Without recognising the principle that is beyond the physical, beyond this world and eternal, you look at good looks and possessions with a vision limited to the body, the mind and the intellect. So those are all you see. You do not recognise the subtle form that is within. That is divinity. He is not the body, He is not the mind. The Lord abides in the form of the liṅga. No one can see that liṅga. It is in His throat. I am the one who has recognised that form. That is why I am choosing Him. To you only the outer form is visible, and that only in part. But God is not limited to the form you see. ‘Subtler than the subtlest, greater than the greatest’: when you recognise such a form, you will not give the physical form a thought. You will not think, ‘Sāmbaśiva is old! He is old!’ My husband is not one who begs alms. He is the one who gives alms to all,’ she said. Then Śailarājendra appeared. He looked far younger than Gaurī. In age and as a pair they matched perfectly. All the gods were amazed. In this way, what people imagine is one thing and what happens is another. Not everyone can recognise the Satya that lies within.
For Him who prevails through the whole cosmos, is it possible to raise a temple! For Him whose light outshines a crore suns, who can hold up a little oil lamp! For Him who moves through all the waters, is it possible to give Him a bath! For Him who moves within all beings, is it possible to give Him a fitting name! When the whole cosmos lies in His belly, is it fitting to set food and dainties before Him!
God's form is supremely subtle. Its form is that of the atom itself. That itself is this. (He created a liṅga with a wave of His hand.) Just as that (the liṅga the chief priest worships daily) is, so this (the liṅga He created) is too.
People are crows. Blinded by Ajñāna, they look only at the outer form. No one at all can recognise divinity. No one can lay down, ‘It is this, it is that,’ about what must be offered to divinity. Today many people are experts in the English language. They are educated in the modern way. ‘What is this! While so many poor people writhe for want of food, they throw so much grain and so much ghee into the fire and waste it! Instead they could feed the poor, couldn't they!’ they say. Vedāntins like our chief priest set such people right. ‘Sir! Today a farmer puts five bags of paddy into water.