In plain words
As soon as the meeting ended, he went and fell at Vidyāsāgar's feet and begged his pardon. Vidyāsāgar's humility and obedience alone brought him such honour. Even today you read his story in books. Greatness does not lie in the learning we acquire. Our humility and obedience alone bring us greatness. There are many learned people in the world. But what is the use? What good comes to the world through them? Man is ruined by Ahaṅkāra and attachment alone. Only when we give up these two can we become great.
Who has truly renounced all ties?
Once Ādi Śaṅkara held a debate with a great pandit named Maṇḍana Miśra. Maṇḍana Miśra's wife was Ubhayabhāratī. She was rich in every kind of knowledge. So Śaṅkara chose Ubhayabhāratī herself as the arbiter, to decide which of the two of them had won the debate between them. Ubhayabhāratī gave her verdict that her husband had lost and Śaṅkara had won. In keeping with the vow he had made, Maṇḍana Miśra took sannyāsa. His wife Ubhayabhāratī too took sannyāsa. She built herself an āśrama and went on teaching Jñāna to women. One day she was going to the river Gaṅgā with her women disciples. On the way, under a tree, a sannyāsī lay with his water gourd under his head, for fear that someone might steal it. Seeing this, Ubhayabhāratī turned to her disciples: “Aha! By name he has renounced all ties, but he still has not lost his possessiveness over the water gourd,” she said, loud enough for him to hear. Her words made him angry. As they were coming back after bathing in the Gaṅgā, he took that gourd and threw it away. Then Ubhayabhāratī: “I thought there was only one fault in him. But really there are two faults,” she said.