In plain words
Śaṅkarācārya: right next to the Tamil land is Kerala. It was there that Ādi Śaṅkara was born.
Unsteady is life in this world; unsteady are youth and wealth; unsteady are wife, sons and the rest; Satya and fame, these two, are steady.
Satya and fame: these two alone are lasting for us. Earn a good name. Keep speaking Satya as you go. Keep following Satya. Satya alone is your everything.
From Satya all was created; in Satya all creation subsides; search: where is the place without the glory of Satya? This is pure sattva; see it.
The whole world came forth from Satya alone. In turn, it lives on in Satya alone. In Satya alone it subsides.
Born in water, staying in water, the bubble subsides in water; man is the bubble, Nārāyaṇa the water.
The bubble born in water is given up into that very water. But man, born of amṛta, comes to his end in Asatya. He merges into Asatya. This is no fulfilment of humanness at all. What is the use of living such a life, with no fulfilment? They study the branches of learning. They have learned so many subjects. They are building up so many kinds of cleverness. But what is the use? We must show this to society as an example. We must practise every one of our branches of learning and carry it out in every street and every quarter. Those who learn should learn for spreading and teaching it, and not merely for earning money. Learning is for earning Dharma, not for earning money. ‘Dharma is the root of this world.’ The whole world has Dharma as its root. ‘There is nothing higher than Dharma.’