1. People generally have a greedy nature. When they begin to think of God they say "deva, deva" which means give me something. (The word deva means "give," as well as "god.") People always desire something from God.
2. They do not have any devotion, but they expect their desires to be satisfied. It is like someone who does not perform any service yet asks for some salary from the boss.
3. Without hard work by people there is no fruit, no kingdom gained, nothing gets done, and there is no success.
4. It is easily experienced that by laziness work does not get done, yet people of low caliber still avoid making effort to do any work.
5. Those who bear the burden of hard work in the beginning enjoy the fruit of satisfaction afterwards, and those who take pleasure in laziness in the beginning bear the weight of sorrow later.
6. Whether in worldly life or spiritual life, the logic is the same. One must understand the value and importance of forethought.
7. Those who spend everything that they earn, or more than they earn, find themselves in difficult situations, while those who apply proper forethought to their activities are wise.
8. In the worldly life there should be some accumulation of earnings. The same principle applies to the spiritual life for going beyond the world. Without the accumulation of virtue, the life of living beings is meaningless.
9. One does not simply become free by dying. Again and again he takes birth and suffers the miseries of life. One does not save oneself, kills himself, and is said to be one who only commits suicide.
10. Who can count how many lives where someone has committed suicide? Therefore, consideration must be given as to how one can escape the cycle of birth and death.
11. Everyone says that "God does everything." However, there is a way that having the great fortune of meeting God is possible.
12. Through the power of discrimination it becomes possible for one to realize the Supreme Self, Paramatman. Seeing with the power of discrimination, discerning people find the Self.
13. When seeing God, he is known to be One, but still he appears in many forms. However, it cannot be said that these many forms are one.
14. One must understand the difference between God's creation and the one God. Without understanding this difference, people say many absurd things.
15. To show off their wisdom, they foolishly say many nonsensical things. It is like trying to satisfy one's hunger by doing something besides eating.
16. Those who put forth many efforts enjoy good fortune in life, while those who only talk about doing things remain unfortunate.
17. The signs of the misfortune of the unfortunate are easily recognized by the wise, but the signs of the wisdom of the wise cannot be known by the unfortunate.
18. When evil-mindedness is developed, how can any purity be there? Such a person considers evil-mindedness as being good intelligence.
19. How can a person who has given up purity ever be considered to be truthful? There is nothing valuable to be found where his thinking is concerned.
20. With thoughtful consideration one finds satisfaction in worldly life and beyond the world. With thoughtfulness one should discriminate between the Eternal and the ephemeral and see the truth for oneself.