In plain words
Every living being refers to itself as 'I.' 'I am Rāmayya, I am Kṛṣṇayya, I am Sītā, I am Rādha' — each one uses the word 'I' for themselves in just this way. Animals, birds and beasts, lacking speech, are unable to use this word 'I'; but if they too had the power of speech, they would use this very word 'I' for themselves. Not only that — even hills, mounds and trees would say, 'I am the mound, I am the anthill, I am the tree,' if only they could speak of themselves. Considering all this with care, one finds that some great secret lies hidden in this word 'I.' From the ordinary man to Paramātma, all are spoken of by this very word 'I' — yet who examines this secret? How many even attempt it? And granting that some do, how many come to understand its meaning? And granting that they understand it, how many actually put it into practice? Have even the very greatest intellectuals, scholars and paramahaṃsas grasped what this mantra 'I' truly means? No. Have even those scholars who have memorised the Bhagavad Gītā's eighteen chapters and seven hundred verses in full, who deliver discourses and sermons, who expound its teachings and write commentaries upon it — have even such scholars fully grasped the ultimate meaning of this word 'I'? Had they truly grasped it, they would understand: 'I shall liberate you,' 'unto Me alone