In plain words
The valour of talking too much has grown great; the valour of deeds has waned and melted away; life has become a burden of show; such is the life of today's student.
Through show alone the student's whole life is falling into the bazaar. We must not give show any room at all. How should it be?
As clouds gather in the sky and move on, and lightning must be close beside them, so behind learning Jñāna must shine.
Just as lightning moves and shines amid the dark clouds, so in this dark world our learning must shine like a streak of lightning. We must not hold on to mere bookish knowledge and get into argument and counter-argument. Argument is greatly opposed to learning. Only one who knows nothing sets about arguing. One who knows everything stays silent. A leaf-plate with nothing on it leaps and flutters about. A leaf-plate on which everything has been served lies low and quiet. So we must shine like a full person on whom everything has been served. This is precisely the royal road for the future of students.
At this age Ahaṅkāra, the sense of possession and show are strong in us. These are faults of food and pastimes. With that, we must go on putting those faults right, a little at a time. We must not be people at fault. We must become pure. That itself is the true ideal; it is what today's world needs. What is the student world like? When we look at it out in the world, it is frightening. Our students must become embodiments of fearlessness. They must give fearlessness to those who are afraid. We must draw everyone to us with our principle of Prema. How? As a magnet draws iron, so we must draw the whole world, the whole of society, to us. We must mix and move together with all. This is the very śloka spoken in the Veda:
May He protect us both together; may He nourish us both together; may we work together with vigour; may our study be full of light; may we never hate each other.