In plain words
The people of Kerala, who held the broad ideal “May all the worlds be happy”, are truly the noblest of people.
Students! Goodness always yields nothing but good results. “The mind is witness to the mind. Guṇa is witness to the body. Folly is witness to the fool.” We must not behave foolishly. We must enquire with Viveka. That enquiry must be not merely personal but an enquiry that concerns society. If we behave foolishly, we fall into disrepute. Study well. You must get good marks in your studies. Not in your studies alone: goodness must shine out in your conduct too. Character is real life. Character is real education, so we must attain good character. Children look at one another, fancy something or other and try to imitate it. Imitating in this way is a very bad trait. To foster good character, enter into good company.
From good company comes freedom from attachment; from freedom from attachment, freedom from delusion; from freedom from delusion, the steady principle; from the steady principle, Jīvanmukti.
Tell me your company, I shall tell you what you are. So you must join good company. Only then can you become good. We need not buy goodness from somewhere and bring it home. It is right within us. We must develop it. As much effort as we must make for a small plant to grow into a big tree, so much effort we must make to grow the goodness within us. You must bring a good name to your parents, to your society and to your country. Our land of Bhārata bears the name of the ‘HINDU’ land.
H - Humility
I - Individuality
N - Nationality
D - Devotion
U - Unity
When we shape our conduct to fit these five letters, then alone do we truly become human beings. To wear the human form and behave like animals is a mistake. If any animal qualities rear their heads in you: “I am not a beast. I am a human being,” you must warn yourself. You are a human being. So you must foster human values. In the man of today human values themselves are vanishing; animal traits run riot. Wherever you go, whoever you look at, what all of them want is one thing: money! Money! Money! Everything is bound up with money. What is this money! Money comes and goes but morality comes and grows. So we must foster moral values. Only then do we become true human beings. In this way we must learn goodness, live well and earn a good name. We must journey from goodness to the state of Mādhava. First of all, we must see that the ‘food’ we take is right. Only when the ‘food’ is good will the ‘head’ be good. Only when the ‘head’ is good does ‘God’ appear before us. Only when the food we take is sāttvic does it become possible to attain God. Today ‘pollution’ has grown wherever you look. The air we breathe in, the water we drink, the food that we eat and the work we do: all of these have become polluted. There is only one sādhana we must do to make these pure. That is prayer to God. Only when we root out the pollution and make the heart pure do we become true human beings. Only when we attain ‘purity’ do we gain ‘divinity’. Only where there is ‘unity’ is there ‘purity’. So you must keep in mind the close bond between these three, ‘unity’, ‘purity’ and ‘divinity’. Only when sacred feelings such as these arise in us will our land of Bhārata prosper.