In plain words
In this, first of all you must give up selfishness. Because when there is selfishness, many kinds of desires start up. Take up jobs. Do not put this selfishness to use there. That is why I keep telling you, Fish is better than selfish. Because a fish moves about in water. It eats up the worms in the water; it eats the dirt. It makes the water pure. Fish is better. This selfish one joins society and makes everything dirty. Selfishness lives by getting and forgetting. You must protect selflessness. That itself protects you in every way. Put selfishness far from you. Labour for the country. Uphold the feeling of nationhood. In the students of today the feeling of nationhood is not to be seen at all. Somehow they must get marks in their subjects; they must get a good rank: so they labour for the rank. That is not good. Long ago a disciple called Sārasvata came to the sage Bharadvāja. A fine student. He used to do just as the guru told him. Do you know how many marks it took to pass in those days? Today, if you get 35%, it is a pass. If you get 35% marks, what about 65%. If it is all right to get 65% wrong, that is not proper education. If you do a hundred tasks, you must do all hundred well. It does not matter if one or two go wrong. But if you get 65% wrong, how is that a pass? Within these 35 marks too there are grace marks 5, VC marks 5, education minister marks 5. When there are grace marks in this way, there is no need to study at all. You must not depend on these marks. In those days Sārasvata had passed well. But the guru did not accept it. The sage Bhāradvāja told the disciple, “I cannot give you the degree.” The convocation came. He had to give the degree. But he did not give it. Sārasvata was grieved. The sage said, “I shall give you the degree later, specially; first go about ten miles in the forest, find out which tree is of use for which medicine, and come back.” Sārasvata went about ten miles in the forest, examined the trees and came back. He said, “These trees did not appear to be medicines of use for health.” “Very well, you have failed,” said the sage.