In plain words
Why must we give gratitude? Many people think, “I am an officer. I am educated. I have become a big man. Why should I still honour my parents?” You are a big man, yes. You are highly educated, yes. You have built up a fine body, yes. The father is weak. Do not look at that strength and think, I am the strong one. However great he may be, a son is a son to his father. In that you are not great in the least. Not only that. Your blood, your money, your head: all of it is your parents' gift. “Because of my parents alone I have become what I am”: with that, you must give them your gratitude. If you give gratitude to your parents today, tomorrow your children will show gratitude to you. The parents too are not like that. Fortunately, they are coming into Swami's presence. If you hear Swami's words, grow good qualities you did not have before and serve your parents well in ways that give them joy, their hearts will melt. Only then will their blessing reach you from the heart. Through it you will grow greatly. You must not do anything at all that hurts your parents. Do not do things your parents do not like.
First, having taken a liking: I must marry that girl, whatever happens. Because the parents are old-fashioned, they say, “No; she is not our caste.” Then what must we do? Take time. Argue it out. Explain it well. “My mind is like this. So if I marry against my liking, what happiness will I get in life?” With that, you must try little by little to bring them round. But if you quarrel, go out, marry that girl and live in another house, what becomes of you? No. Do nothing at all that hurts your parents. Win them over and do whatever you wish; well and good. You must correct yourself: “What they do not like, why should I like it?” Take some time. Everything changes. The thoughts that come are all temporary, passing clouds, not permanent clouds. Take time. Only then will you truly find peace of mind. If you quarrel at home and sit in a stranger's house, it is pain for them and pain for you. Two families must not suffer in bonds like these. What happens if you do such things? The purse is shaved, the head is shaved, and there is no need to go to Tirupati. They are in distress. You are in distress. What happiness has come of this? In the matter of marriage you must not be stubborn like this at all. I do not tell you not to marry. Get married. Live happily. Lead an exemplary life. The service you do with two hands, do it with four. There is nothing wrong. But you must not do it by wearing your parents down. And if you do not like it, they must not torment you. Only the harmony of these two is right for true humanness. Only then do we find balance.
Young men! This age is the golden age. At this age we must not waste even half a moment. We must go on doing some work or other. We must do work that helps others. Do not give Ahaṅkāra room with the thought, “I did this work.” We must enter into service so as to destroy our Ahaṅkāra. Many of you are in the Sevādal. If someone is going into a place where one should not go, tell him, “Sir, this is not the way; go by another way”; and at that, “Go, go, what are you telling me?”, they push you and go on. Even then, simply fold your hands to him. “This is not the way, sir; please go this way”: if you fold your hands once or twice and say it with good words, he himself will be ashamed. He will hang his head. Our conduct must be very noble. That is discipline. By our conduct our life will reach a great state in the future. In this way you must bring in many young people. If the young are all one, they can change Bhārata for the good in a few moments. When the whole village is one, they reap the whole field in half a moment. A coming together must happen in us. Unity. Only when there is unity does purity arise. Only when purity comes does divinity arise. When divinity comes, we forget community. We must not take up this community. Whatever the caste, whatever the religion.
Children catch hold of certain phrases, caste of humanity, and he thinks, “Any caste will do; I will marry.” True, caste is one; but culture? You are a brāhmaṇa, and you are marrying a Muslim. You say caste of humanity. Good; you may marry. Tomorrow that girl eats meat; you do not. Either you must become her servant, or she must become yours. There a clash of culture comes about. “I do not like this,” says the lady; “How am I to give it up?” says the gentleman. A Korean war starts. So, along with caste, we must look at culture too. If both are gone, we are beasts! Get married. There is nothing wrong. It is the royal road. Rather than needlessly going this way and that and earning a bad name, marry and lead an exemplary life. Keep certain thoughts with care. Thoughts that make no sense are arising among the young today. We are going off somewhere. Our conduct must be such that before marriage all are sisters. After marriage, one person alone is the wife. As body to body, wife.