In plain words
The effort made to get it is the path of karma. This is the karma done for the sake of food. The paths of Bhakti and Jñāna go in just the same way: we need the paths of karma, Bhakti and Jñāna followed for the sake of the Ātma. Food is for the body. Ānanda is for the Manas. Jñāna is for the Ātma. That is why, to gain these three foods, we must follow the paths of karma, Bhakti and Jñāna. That is why I say it again and again. You are not one Person but you are three Persons. The one you think you are - that is body – annagata prāṇa; The one others think you are - that is mind – manogata prāṇa; The one you really are - that is Atma – ātmagata prāṇa. We must look on these three prāṇas as a trinity and follow a system of education fitted to them. With wealth and with learning, one can enjoy physical pleasures. But they are passing; they do not last. ‘I am hungry now. I want food. I got food; I am satisfied.’ For how long? Again, for about two hours, at most. Hunger again; food is needed. All physical satisfaction is like ‘birth again, death again’; but once Śānti of mind is gained, it gives that contentment whenever we call it to mind. So we must learn the education that can give Śānti of mind. For Śānti of mind we must recognise Mādhava-hood. We must try to recognise the sense of the one Ātma. The sense of the one Ātma is one. The sense of the body as the self is many.
In the Upaniṣads the harmony of tat and tvam is explained. What is tat? What is tvam? What joins these two? The one who gives the Answer is ‘tat’; the one who puts the Question is ‘tvam’. What joins the two is ‘asi’. So: tattvamasi. This is the Upaniṣad. Upa means ‘near’, ni means ‘below’, ṣat means ‘sit’. That is, the disciple must learn sitting below, near the guru. The disciple asks from below. The guru gives the answer from above. Once the Answer is given, guru and disciple become one. The Upaniṣads tell of the bond between the jīvātma and the Paramātma. The disciple, that is the jīva, rises from the level of tattvamasi to the level of ‘ahaṃ brahmāsmi’. Who is Brahma? To the question who Brahma is, the answer comes: ‘prajñānaṃ brahma’. This may also be said as ‘ayaṃ ātmabrahma’. That is, ‘ayaṃ ātmā ayaṃ brahma’ (I am Atma, I am Brahma).
So, when teaching children, we must first teach them in such a way that they learn sitting below. Children must certainly be loved, but they must be kept at their own level, and not at ours. Teaching is possible only when there is the bond of guru and disciple. Uddālaka was a great jñāni. He sent his son Śvetaketu to Viśvāmitra to learn. What was the reason? Had he no learning himself? However much he taught, between himself and his son the feeling of father and son would arise, and not the feeling of guru and disciple. Only when the feeling for the guru is there does learning come to the disciple. So children must be loved and cherished, but at times, when they have to be punished, they must be punished.