In plain words
One who has learned many branches of learning, gracious, rich in good qualities, of a gentle mind, Satya in conduct, Dharma, the quality of Śānti: is there even one student on this earth who has learned to live by these? Today's learning raises cleverness alone; it does not raise good character even a little. Though one has a crore of learnings, if good character is lacking, is their worth not gone down the river?
Embodiments of the divine Ātma!
For the world of living beings, Prakṛti itself is the essence of being. The essence of Prakṛti is I. The fruit of water is the plant. The essence of the plant is man. The fruit of man is speech. The strength of speech is the Ṛk. The beauty of the Ṛk is the Sāma. The essence of the Sāma is the Oṃkāra. The Oṃkāra is heard, but it is not seen. It is simply another word for the Paramātma. In all the world there is no place without the Oṃkāra, no moment in which the Oṃkāra is not heard, no living cell the Oṃkāra does not pervade. The whole world is filled with the Oṃkāra. In such a world, filled with the Oṃkāra: oṃ ity ekākṣaraṃ brahma. Holding that the Oṃkāra, the one syllable, is itself the form of Brahman, and feeling this principle of Brahman as all-pervading, the Māṇḍūkya has proclaimed ayam ātmā brahma: that the Ātma too is full of Brahman, and that Brahman too is the Ātma. In short, the Oṃkāra, Brahman and the Ātma are principles without difference, bound to one another inseparably, each resting on the other. Yet it is most needful that every man recognise this Ātma. What is the svarūpa of the Ātma? What is the place where the Ātma dwells? What is its sign? Every man must urgently recognise this matter.
Man passes through four states in his daily life: jāgrat, svapna, suṣupti, turīya. It has shown that these are the four parts of the Ātma. The jāgrat state means being awake. In this state the Ātma faces outward.