In plain words
Had there been no such thoughts in him, he would not have had his brothers killed. Had there been no wants, he would not have had his son killed. These wants, attachments and thoughts alone shape man into such a demon.
So there should be one single desire. That is love of God and fear of sin. If we take up these two well, we can become as good as anyone can be. Rāma dedicated himself to Satya. He dedicated himself to Dharma. ‘Satyaṃ vada, dharmaṃ cara.’ He kept speaking the truth. He kept following Dharma. That is why he became good. Though so many thousands of years have passed, even now, at the word ‘Rāma’, he receives honour. Rāma showed the divinity of Mādhava in man. That is goodness. Seeing man in God is not goodness. That is your imagination, your reflection, your resound, your reaction. You live as a man. You think of him as a man. What goodness of yours is there in seeing man in God? No, no. We must see God in man too. That is goodness. We must recognise well the difference between goodness and greatness. We must become good; we need not become great. There may be great wealth. There may be great learning. There may be great strength; there may be power. How long do these last? Only as long as you have power. After that no one, not even those at home, will honour you. If a man is Prime Minister, so long as he holds that post many people keep going round to his house. The very moment he retires from that post, the rickshaw-man: ‘Hey! Hand over the money,’ he says. This greatness is here today. Tomorrow it goes. Goodness stays forever. That is why we must dedicate our life to the good. What is goodness? Abiding by Dharma. Living justly. Loving all. Believing in God. Loving the poor. Caring for the helpless. All these are the marks of goodness. So today we must develop good qualities, sacred qualities.
Nāmasmaraṇa alone is the duty
Young women and young men! Today the inauguration took place. So today, simply as a master plan, let us consider how things must be. Let us talk over how the duties, the work, the responsibilities and the practice you must carry out from now on should be. Of all things, the chief on the spiritual path is nāmasmaraṇa itself. By the Name of God one can attain the One named. So we must increase nāmasmaraṇa greatly. And we must do that nāmasmaraṇa too with Prema.