In plain words
‘I have read the books, I have looked through every śāstra in full, I have learnt learning beyond compare,’ so you say: why this pride? If, with your two hands folded, you cannot worship the Paramātma with Bhakti, then all this learning of the present day is learning gone to ruin, see, O man!
Though you learn every kind of learning in this Prakṛti, its worth is nil. But men, unable to understand this, lose their good sense and grow proud. For all the learning learnt, what fruit is there? What shall I tell this assembly is the fruit that lies in such learning!
Every Ārya Dharma has burnt out; to speak the mother tongue has come to seem a fault; to keep the decencies of society, a dread has arisen; to guard the treasure of Dharma of the land of Bhārata, the whole responsibility is yours alone, O devotees!
Embodiments of Prema! Today in the world everything rushes by so fast that time itself passes unnoticed. Even as we watch, the seconds and the hours slip past. Sixty seconds make one minute. Sixty minutes make one hour. But today the hours change in a second. What is the reason for this? The very nature of man's mind. Man's mind changes from second to second. ‘Manayeva manuṣyāṇāṃ kāraṇaṃ bandhamokṣayoḥ’: the mind itself is the root cause of bondage and Mokṣa. What is the mind? A bundle of desires. We must rein in these desires to some extent. Today man is able to rein in everything. But he cannot keep himself under control. What is the use of bringing everything under control while he himself roams about out of control?
Embodiments of Prema! First of all, we must offer the mind to God. The mind is God's gift of grace. The mind that God gave, we must offer back to God Himself. Only when we follow such an ordered way can we experience complete Ānanda.
When you were born from your mother's womb, no necklaces of any kind were to be seen; of fine pearl strings there was not even a trace; no chain of pure gold hung at the neck; no garlands of gems were there to glow; no emeralds or rubies were there to shine; no diamond necklaces were there to sparkle; no hessonites came with you. There is, there is one garland at your throat: all that you have done, each counted, one by one, be it good or be it bad, not one broken off, Brahmā hands you and sends you forth with a heavy garland, a necklace strung from all your karmas!
This whole creation is nothing but God's gift of grace. We must guard such a gift with care. Man has three guṇas. One is the sāttvic guṇa, the second the guṇa of rajas, the third the guṇa of tamas. We must keep the sāttvic guṇa safe. To the wicked man who thinks evil, only evil appears everywhere. To the man of good feelings, only good sights appear on every side. Only the man free of every intention can become whole and eternal and attain Śānti. Cloth comes to be made only when threads come together as warp and weft. Where did the cord called the fruit of karma come from? It came from the cotton called the saṃskāras of former births. Drawing thread from the cotton and weaving the thread into cloth, we wear it.