In plain words
Students today must develop such faith. We must give fitting honour to this land that is our motherland. We must give this country the honour due to it. Because of Śaṅkara, born long ago in Kālaḍi, the state of Kerala still wins great fame today. Wherever there is goodness, there every kind of fame and honour comes. This goodness is Godness. Without Goodness, it becomes Godless. First of all, ourselves. We ourselves are God. There is nothing greater than God. The Prema in us is the quality of God. This is the human value. We must develop such a human value. When we develop such good qualities as compassion, Prema, forbearance, sympathy and forgiveness, then alone do we earn the name of human beings. He looks like a man, but the human qualities are not to be seen. One may say plainly: he is a man in form, not a man in conduct.
Only when you are near God is the secret of life well understood
Students! The great fame Śaṅkara won at the young age of sixteen shines through the ages and the generations like a ruby that never dims. In the same way, every student must become an ideal student. You must give your parents the joy due to them. You must win a good name for society. You must bring fitting fame to the country. You must make your humanness worthwhile. When I teach Śaṅkara's teachings to students, I hesitate a little. You must not think otherwise. Someone or other may think something of it: ‘Here is Sai Bābā giving teachings from this Bhaja Govindaṃ that will turn the children away from the world!’ Whatever anyone may think, I have no fear. Why should Satya fear? Does detachment come so easily? Impossible. Even in those who have listened for years on end there is not the least change. Will a change come from hearing it just once? Only to some greatly fortunate soul does such a change come.