In plain words
The Final Goal of Education Is Not Knowledge
“Modern education today develops only cleverness; it does not foster character in the least. Though you learn a crore of subjects without character, there is no profit in it. This character alone is man's true beauty.” So only learning joined with character brings beauty to man. Such learning alone is like a hidden treasure to man. These alone are the foundation of man's fame and standing, of happiness and peace. Such learning is itself like the teacher of teachers. When we go to foreign lands, such learning alone stands by us as a true kinsman. Learning, not wealth, is what kings worship. The śāstras teach that the man who has not acquired such sacred learning is equal to a beast. It is not enough for man merely to have knowledge. Knowledge itself is not the highest aim of education. Along with education, the student must have such chief principles as humility, selflessness and freedom from Ahaṅkāra. We must use education to nurture personality.
Education today appears to be no more than artificial instruction; neither life nor skill is to be seen in it at all. “You must give up the servitude of studying only for degrees and, without shrinking from a life of service, keep the welfare and prosperity of the country in view.”
In ancient times, when students finished their education in the gurukula and were about to enter the householder's life, their gurus, who wished them well, would draw them close and impart to them many kinds of wise counsel. They passed on to the students such teachings as “Satyaṃ vada, dharmaṃcara, mātṛdevobhava, pitṛdevobhava” and “Satyānna pramadhitavyaṃ, dharmānna pramadhitavyaṃ”. “My son! When you speak Satya, no danger of any kind will befall you; when you practise Dharma, no danger of any kind will dog you. The people of Bhārata held Satya and Dharma to be their eyes. So, all your life long, you must follow this Satya and Dharma and practise them”: so their gurus went on teaching the students.
The Causes of the Fall of Moral Values
But through scientific and industrial knowledge, which has advanced at great speed, many kinds of change have come about in the world. These changes have pulled down the moral values of society where they stood. The standards of Dharma are shrinking day by day. Instead, show and excessive talk have grown among men. Among students the craze for selfish aims and self-interest has grown far too strong. This is the very root cause of the fall of moral values in society.
However many theories man may master, however much scientific research he may carry out, every individual must examine himself on how far he has achieved humanness. If man does not have human values, all these are nothing but useless.
It is now over 44 years since the people of Bhārata won independence. In the past there were only a few universities in our country. Today many universities have come up. In the past the number of students studying in colleges was very small. But today a great many students are studying in these colleges.