In plain words
In ancient times all the great ṛṣis controlled their senses, practised humility and obedience well, won the name of great men of learning and received the title ‘sākṣaraḥ’. That is why, from that day to this, we have kept to the tradition of those great ṛṣis, their ideals and their laws, without deviating a hair. Controlling the senses, pursuing the learning of the Ātma and succeeding in the affairs of the world, the great ṛṣis of those days transformed humanness into divinity. Efforts of this kind are the root cause of human beings becoming great ṛṣis. It is not enough just to change clothes; the character must change. Do not think that the great ṛṣis of those days wore ochre robes as sannyāsis. Only when the man changes does the mind change. Only when the mind changes does the man change. Today the mind does not change. Only the man changes. Our ancient tradition is not like that. All the ancient traditions are excellent and sacred. But because our śraddhā and Bhakti towards them have grown thin, we look on them with neglect. We must develop śraddhā and Bhakti.
Our heart is the Ocean of Milk
Students! Of all learning, spiritual learning is the true learning: “Ādhyātmavidyā vidyānām,” says the Gītā. The Kāverī may stay the Kāverī. The Gaṅgā may stay the Gaṅgā. The Yamunā may stay the Yamunā. The Godāvarī may stay the Godāvarī. The Godāvarī is not the Kṛṣṇā; the Kṛṣṇā is not the Godāvarī. But “Nadīnāṃ sāgaro gatiḥ”: all rivers join the ocean. In the ocean is the Kāverī. In the ocean is the Gaṅgā. In the ocean is the Yamunā. In the ocean are the Kṛṣṇā and the Godāvarī. In the same way, we must lead every path into the one spiritual path. If all paths, the path of education, the path of medicine, the moral path, the physical path, are led into the spiritual path, it takes the form of a great ocean. Today we are in the ocean of worldly life, not in the spiritual ocean.