The primary cause of sorrow for every person is birth itself. Ignorance (aavarana) covers or envelops the human body and creates the state of the mind in which the body, made up of the five elements and the senses of perception and action, is regarded as the real self. Because of this mental condition, people entertain delusions regarding the body which are false and unreal. Mala means impurities. As a state of mind mala refers to the condition in which one regards the impermanent, the false and the unsacred as permanent, true and holy. Past actions are the root cause of your birth. Desire is the root cause for all actions. Desire is prompted by attachment, which originates from lack of understanding. Ego is the cause of this ignorance. When ignorance is removed, ego subsides. Absence of egoism leads to right understanding, decline in desires and actions being sanctified. Then life becomes meaningful. (Divine Discourse, Oct 4, 1989.)