In plain words
So the good and ill of the state depend on the individual. So become a good man yourself. Through yourself, shape others into good people. Step forward to serve the country. Do not draw back in any circumstances. Remember God. Trust the country. Experience Ānanda. That is the chief mark of a true man.
Take no account of the differences of race, caste and creed:
Students! Today our President, Venkataraman, gave a fine ideal. He gave us the details of the saints and holy men of every state. The hearts of the elders are very sacred indeed. We must bow our heads to the words of the elders. What happens is only that people listen and go back. It must not be like this. Put at least one or two things into practice and bind on the wristband of resolve to uplift the country. Experience the principle of human brotherhood. Hold to the sense of equality that all are one. Take no account at all of the differences of race, creed and caste, and look on all as wholly one.
Equal regard for all faiths:
You must not hate any religion. Cultivating equal regard of this kind is itself true education. All are one be alike to every one. Cultivate this sense of equality. Religions may be many; the path is one. Man, too, is one who has divinity in him. That divinity is in you as well. We must strive to spread that divinity everywhere. By speaking at such length I am tiring you. I am bringing My discourse to a close. What the elders have spoken and what the elders have taught on this sacred occasion, you must keep in your hearts like a record and keep pondering from time to time. Only then will the holding of this convocation have its true meaning.
In ancient times, when the students had finished their studies and before they became householders, the teachers gathered them and gave them counsel; that gathering is this convocation. In those days they called it the snātakotsava. What does snātakotsava mean? To take the counsels and to make a fitting effort to live them again in the future: that is the truth of the snātakotsava. It is not just taking some degrees, taking gold medals and going away; the true gold medal will give you that kind of joy only when you put this counsel into practice.