In plain words
Embodiments of Prema!
What is needed today is not a new education, not a new system, not a new society. None of these can solve today's problems. What we need today is men and women of pure mind and intellect. In a society without purity of heart and wealth of character, virtuous men and women cannot live. Where there is no morality, purity of heart and wealth of character cannot grow. Where there is no spirituality, morality and good character do not shine. Nowhere in any other country are there as many styles of dress and speech, as many castes and religions, as there are in sacred Bhārata. With its many styles of dress and speech, its many castes and religions, Bhārata looks like a garden in full bloom. In this lovely garden, the styles of dress and speech, the castes and the religions are the beautiful flowers. Like a diamond shining from many facets, the education of Bhārata glows. No one can describe its power, saying it is like this or like that. This land of Bhārata is the birthplace of prophets who lived believing that Prema is the sādhana and Satya is the breath. But in this sacred land of Bhārata today, people forget their humanness, take up learning that is outward, worldly and material, and lose their own divinity. So teachers must recognise clearly what the right system of education is, and the main life-giving principles of that system.
From time without beginning, the education of Bhārata, with its broad vision, has been handing morality and good character on to society. What changes, then, have come into today's system of education? We must recognise who is responsible, and how far, for shaping today's boys and girls into the best citizens of tomorrow. Only when we examine how far this responsibility rests with whom will a solution be found. Does this responsibility belong to the parents who bore the children? To the teachers who make the intellect blossom? To the political leaders who have vowed to lift up the country? Or to the writers who ought to set out the right aim and the right ideal in what they write? Are all of these truly carrying out their duties? In this matter, each must examine his own heart. Only then can the problems in the field of education be solved.
Discipline among today's students has wholly decayed. Do we give any thought to what the cause of this is, and what the remedy is? Without thinking this through, it is not right simply to misjudge the students. This is not the students' fault. We are not teaching children the right writings, aims and ideals that reflect the culture of Bhārata. Are we passing on to our children's hearts anything of the spirit of sacrifice of the heroes of the freedom struggle: Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who proclaimed ‘Freedom is my birthright’, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal, Netaji and the others? Are we letting our children hear the story of Rāma, who gave his whole life to keeping his father's word? Are we letting the children hear the story of Hariścandra, who gave up everything for Satya and in the end sold even his wife and child? Are we letting the children hear the story of Dharmaja, who gave up his kingdom and lived in the forest eating only roots and tubers, and yet showed Dharma to be his very nature? Are we teaching the children the devotion of Śravaṇakumāra, who gave his whole life to serving his parents? Are we teaching our children the spirit of Ekalavya, who was ready to give up all he had for his guru? Are we letting our children hear the story of Prahlāda, who recognised that all power lies in Bhakti to God and, surrendering himself completely, kept the Name of Hari in remembrance? Are we teaching the children the wisdom of the ‘Bhagavad Gītā’, which gave an ideal of humanness not to Bhārata alone but to the whole world? Are we letting our children hear the words of the Buddha, who taught ‘Ahiṃsā is the highest Dharma’? Are we bringing the compassionate nature of Jesus into our children's hearts? Are we teaching our children the teaching of Muhammad? Are we passing on to our children's hearts the greatness of the singing of God's glory together, which Guru Nanak began? Are we teaching our girls the heroism and valour of women such as Jhansi Lakshmibai, Rudramadevi and Padmini? It is because we do not teach our children the ideals of such holy people of Bhārata that love for their own nation is waning in them.
We must teach children ideals that help them put to good use the intelligence, the course, the station and the wealth that God has given them. Today the student does not nurture the right character; thinking that wealth, friends and strength are what matter most, he wastes his time. Wealth, friends, strength: all these are passing clouds. Character alone is steady and lasting. It is because they are not taught about such character that our children are going astray. Who is to blame for this? Parents at home, teachers in schools, a government that does not provide fitting textbooks, and rulers who ought to recognise their responsibility and shape the children's future well. So the responsibility for helping children grow rests on everyone. This responsibility is not any one person's alone.