In plain words
You are at the student stage. So you must keep the rules of brahmacarya to the letter. ‘He is a very good brahmacārī,’ society must say of you in praise. Instead, if you wander about wherever the mind goes, just as you please, people will look at you and say, ‘That fellow is a big rowdy.’ Do not earn the name ‘rowdy’. Earn the name ‘good boy’. Only when your thought, word and deed are good will you get the name ‘good boy’.
Along with intelligence, develop good qualities too. Do not be cast down at criticism; do not swell at praise. If anyone criticises loudly, the words dissolve into the air. If they criticise among themselves, the words strike them alone, but they do not reach you. So develop equanimity. You long for God. Conduct yourselves in keeping with that desire. ‘In great souls, thought, word and deed are one.’ Spreading the word about divinity in the world is not enough; first you must experience divinity as oneness. You may attract people by giving grand speeches in fine language. But if you do not prove in deeds the words you speak, what use is it? Not words alone: your deeds too must be great.
Foster devotion to God, and spread it
You must give up the sense of duality and experience oneness with divinity. Whatever anyone says, you need not mind it. Your faith is your own. With unwavering faith you can achieve anything. So pray to God. If you forget the things taught here as soon as you go home, it is of no use. You must keep reflecting on them. If you live in this way, there will be no one more fortunate than you. All of you must stay united like the children of one mother and win a good name. Only then will these colleges have been worth founding. I am always in your home, at your side, as your companion. Believe this truth and foster devotion to God. Spread devotion to God in this world.