In plain words
When the examination results come out, you search the paper: ‘Has my number come or not?’ But you need not search for your number. You must ask your own heart, ‘Did I write the examinations well or not?’ If you have written well, you will surely pass. If your number appears in the paper even though you did not write well, that is nothing for you to be glad about. You should not rest content with getting a first class in the examination. In the examination called life, you must pass as ‘number one’.
Happiness and Śānti come only through control of the senses
This morning our dancing children danced, singing the song ‘We want a son like Rāmayya, we want a daughter like Sītamma...’ If we want a son like Rāmayya, we must have Dharma like Rāmayya's. If we want a daughter like Sītamma, we must have virtue like Sītamma's. When there is in us an evil mind like Rāvaṇa's and wicked qualities like Śūrpaṇakhā's, how can a son like Rāmayya or a daughter like Sītamma be born to us?! Whatever form we wish for, that quality must arise in us. We must cultivate good qualities such as forbearance and calm. Only when we restrain the senses do we gain peace. Otherwise life falls to pieces. Whoever abuses you, whoever strikes you, you must stay calm. If you yourself make a ‘connection’ with those insults, they hit you; otherwise they do not. Someone comes and hits you. ‘That body came and struck this body. It did not strike me. No one has the power to strike me’: if we hold this feeling, then whoever strikes us, whoever abuses us, neither anger nor hatred towards them arises in us. With firm faith in God, we must stay ready for everything.
Praying is not enough; you must offer your heart
Draupadī, a devotee, had to suffer troubles of every kind, yet with great composure and calm she went on worshipping Kṛṣṇa. ‘Kṛṣṇa! Unceasingly I worship You alone, and I rejoice.