In plain words
When they have sprouted, he takes them and scatters them in the soil. Can anyone say that what the farmer does is not good work? It is only by scattering them in that mud that some days later he is able to bring home fifty bags of paddy. In the same way, the pūjās and homas our ṛtviks perform yield great results; they are not wasted. The grain and the ghee offered to God today will all yield very great results in the future. Just as five bags of paddy scattered in the soil become fifty, all the substances offered as oblations to Agni are multiplied many times over.’
What we must offer to God is one thing, and one thing alone. Many desires have gathered in our heart. We must offer all these desires to God. However many we offer, having given up every attachment, all those feelings will yield very great results in the future. But ordinary men, unable to recognise this Satya, go on taking note of external and worldly things alone. Everything given to God comes back to us a thousandfold.
People's vision is limited to the outer form alone. The outer form is merely like a package. Only when the package is removed is the thing inside seen. Divinity is covered over by the five elements in this Prakṛti. Because of desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride and envy, which envelop man, it stays hidden from the eye. Take off this package, and then the blissful form of God will be revealed to you in all its beauty. You must not fix your gaze on the ‘package’ alone. The ‘package’ may be very beautiful. But unless you open it and look, no one knows what the thing inside is like. Many are deceived by looking at the ‘package’. But the matter of divinity is not like that. To the outward eye only the physical body and the senses are visible.
The body is of the five elements; the body cannot escape its fall; the indweller is free of all ill; reckon it well: for the indweller, death and birth and the seals of the bonds delusion ties are not there; see the truth: that indweller is the God of gods; reckon it in your mind: He is the very form of the Ātma!
The principle of that God of gods is ‘packed’ in the body in just this way. So we must not rest content with looking at this package alone. Divinity is right within us. We ourselves are divinity. You yourself are God. God is all-pervading. So you too are all-pervading. Divinity dwells in you and in all beings too. If you would see divinity, lead a life that is pure, unwavering and selfless. All the diversity the eye sees is worthless! Put diversity away from you and develop oneness. Where there is ‘unity’, ‘purity’ arises. Where there is ‘purity’, ‘divinity’ is revealed. You are not one person; there are three in you. 1. The one you think you are (the ‘you’ you take yourself for) 2. The one others think you are (the ‘you’ of other people's thinking) 3. The one you really are (the real ‘you’). Though you are the Ātma-principle itself, you live leaning only on the body, the mind and the intellect. All these are bound to fall! They are bound to drop away! I shall teach you about this later on.
Do nāmasmaraṇa of Īśvara.
(He had the devotees sing the song ‘Śiva Śiva anarādā…’ as a bhajan, and then continued His divine discourse.)
‘Namaśśivāya’: this is the mantra of five syllables. It is mighty. It is pure. ‘Without attributes, stainless, eternal, the abode, ever pure, awakened, free, of spotless form.’ You must keep this principle in your heart. In the world they have kept giving outward meanings: that Brahmā is the creator, Viṣṇu the protector and Śiva the one who dissolves. Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara, all three, are not separate. The three together are one. If you would chew tāmbūla, you need all three: betel leaves, areca nut and lime. Only when these three come together does the red colour appear. Where did this red colour come from? Did it come from the betel leaves? Did it come from the areca nut? Did it come from the lime? No, no. The red colour came about because the three became one. In the same way, the very oneness of Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara is divinity. Do not think of this divinity as separate and so spoil your mind. You will surely experience the oneness of these three.
At one time, it is said, Pārvatī prayed to Īśvara that they should build a house. ‘Wandering from village to village begging alms is all there is; at home there is no settled place for a meal. There is no house to shelter our heads. How am I to keep such a household?’ she said, it is said. Then Īśvara: ‘Pārvatī! What comes of merely building a house? The rats will move in before us. To kill the rats, a cat. To rear that cat, milk is needed. If we want milk, we need a cow. And to buy that cow we need money, don't we! You think building a house and keeping a household is some ordinary matter.