In plain words
With middling knowledge, they take it that to believe untruth to be Satya and Satya to be untruth is Satya, and they regard this as Jñāna. That is, though this whole world, made of what is seen, lies within our experience, they think it untrue. That is, to believe that divinity is not and that the principle of Prakṛti is: this is middling knowledge. There is no difference at all between this and that. All is one. This outlook, ‘The whole world is full of Viṣṇu, the whole world is full of Brahman’, they have held to be spiritual Jñāna. For such Jñāna, worldly knowledge is essential. Only after we have crossed beyond it do we become fit to attain the Jñāna that is eternal Satya.
Jñāna is like a mother. From this Jñāna everything has come forth. Nāsti mātṛsamo guruḥ: there is no other guru greater than the mother. We are not making the effort needed to experience that principle of the mother in the form of Jñāna. The boys and girls of today, and the men and women too, are not trying to understand this divine principle. The root cause of this is the influence of education. Through modern education they follow a path that suits the mind, but they do not follow a path that is good for the mind and kept within measure. Through modern education they manage to turn a soft and sweet heart into a hard one. More than that, they manage to turn a most subtle, keen intellect into a dull one. Once Nehru asked Gandhiji, “Why are you always sad? What is the reason for it?” “The hearts of today's students are turning hard. What can these hard-hearted students do for the world? That worry is my worry,” said Gandhi.
Young women today try only to be good wives; the thought of becoming good mothers does not arise in them. The students of today do not so much as wish to become ideal husbands. They hope to be attractive husbands. They forget all about becoming ideal fathers. In keeping with this, the parents too, within the system of education, give encouragement and support to these things alone. Very few fathers hope, “May my son become a man of great virtue.” Many fathers hope he will become a man of great learning. The best fathers are those alone who wish their children to be virtuous. Education is not the final goal of life. Education is only one part of life. But good qualities are the main backbone of life. That is why: Education should be for life not for living. For all of this, a spiritual outlook, a spiritual path and a spiritual citta are essential.