In plain words
Education is for knowledge, not for a job. Education today exists for the sake of life; it is not there for making a living. True education is what makes us recognise that Satya, what life is. Education is what purifies the antaḥkaraṇa. What fills the heart with all manner of evil qualities, evil thoughts and evil conduct is not education. Education is what builds up moral and spiritual wealth, the wealth of character. Education is what helps a man at the time he must decide what is right and what is wrong. Education is what teaches humility and obedience.
In olden times, all the students who went to places of learning were called ‘vinēyuḍu’. Vinēyuḍu means one who goes to the places of learning to learn humility. Today vinēyulu are nowhere to be seen; yet humility is man's natural quality. Ahaṅkāra is merely the mark of a beast. Before teachers, before parents, or before elders, to show humility and obedience is the true sign of humanity; that is why, for the ancients, ‘Education bestows humility;’ ‘from humility comes worthiness;’ ‘from worthiness, wealth;’ ‘from wealth, Dharma;’ ‘from Dharma men can win this world and the next,’ they said. Today they keep saying education means only earning money, but humility and obedience have been rooted out. For humility, discipline is essential. A life without discipline is no better than a beast's. Discipline alone develops the principle of character in us. Character is the very breath of life.
But today such humility and character have been rooted out of students. Is all the learning we have gained only for filling the belly? No, no. The problems of the country, of society, of the family: to inquire well into these, to enter the path of Satya with a peaceful life, and so to show forth our humanity: this is what we must learn today. If you ask what a sorry state today's students are in, here is a small example. The student, with not a crease in the ironed clothes he wears, at delicate work under the fans, sitting in an air-conditioned room putting his signature to some papers or other, takes up a comfortable job, earns money in plenty, and falls prey to the base wish to enjoy worldly comforts and riches. The student does not step forward at all to work hard. These are only the cravings of an idler; they are not the aims that a toiler who labours hard holds dear.
In the gurukulas of old, they ate only in order to live. But they did not live for the sake of food. But the young men of today all live for food.