In plain words
The example of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and his mother lived in a hamlet near Calcutta. They were very poor. Even so, he was a man of great virtue. His mother too had very high ideals. She would often sit her son down beside her: “My son! Study done with a selfish outlook is no study at all. You must study what will be of use to others. You must use your learning for the uplift of the country,” she would teach him. Vidyasagar strove to put his mother's ideals into practice. There was no lamp at home, so at night he would sit and study at the bus stand or under the street lamps. Studying hard in this way, with his mother's blessings, he rose in life.
A few days after Vidyasagar took up a job, a fair was held in the village. Many rich people were going to the festival in fine clothes and jewels, while his mother went in an old sari; Vidyasagar saw it and was deeply pained. When his first salary came, he brought the money and placed it at his mother's feet: “Mother! You must buy yourself at least one good sari,” he pleaded. Then she: “My son! I have no need of costly saris and jewels. Rise well in life and make a good name for yourself; that is enough for me. But I do have a few wishes. I will not tell them now, though; I will tell you when the right time comes,” she said.
Step by step he rose to a high position. His salary grew too. One day, to his mother: “Mother! I now have as much money as is needed. Tell me what your wishes are; I will certainly fulfil them,” he said. Then she sat him down beside her: “My son! However great a scholar you may be, to your mother you are still a son. So I am speaking to you with a mother's tenderness. Listen carefully to what I say. Our village is very small. There is not even one small school here, so the children have no chance to learn letters and good sense.