In plain words
Not one thing of it did he put into practice. That is just why Vālmīki said Rāvaṇa is wicked. Rāma is good, he said. What is the difference between the good man and the wicked one? Rāma gave up everything and handed an ideal to others. Rāma, who was getting ready for His coronation as king, gave it up in that very minute; told He must go to the forest, He made Himself ready. As much joy as He felt at the coronation, so much joy He felt in His life in the forest too. That is precisely “Sukha duḥkhe samekṛtvā lābhā lābhau jayā jayau”. He took pleasure and pain, both, alike. That is exactly why they called Him a good man. Putting it into practice and digesting it, Rāma built up His health. Rāvaṇa wasted away and sank under the disease of indigestion. Eating is no greatness. Digesting is greatness. So whatever we have believed to be good, we must try to put into practice. This is the work students must do. Students are those who lay the royal road to the future. Teachers are those who build the royal highway to the future. We must keep that future life in view. Only then will our learning gain its proper honour. Without faith in the divine principle, a life that wastes its time merely in studies and the like is itself wasted.
Not tapas, not the tīrthas, not the śāstras, nor indeed japa can carry you across the ocean of saṃsāra, without the service of the good.
By this tapas, by this japa, they can reach no high state at all. You must do service to the good. Only then does this bear fruit. So you must not waste time.
Unsteady is life in the world, unsteady are youth and wealth, unsteady are wife, sons and the rest: Satya and good name, these two are steady.
So said Rāma. We must try to keep these two, Satya and good name. Satya itself is the form of God today.