In plain words
Learn from others what is for your good
Do not imitate others, but take up their good qualities. We have to learn some good qualities from others. We put seeds in the earth. We supply them with the soil, the air and the water they need. When that seed becomes a plant, it turns into a great tree. Does it then become soil, or air, or water? It takes in what has been supplied to it and becomes a great tree according to its own nature. May you too act in the same way! There is a great deal that we must learn from others. Gain the higher Vidyā by serving, even one born of a lowly family. Learn from others what is for your good. Take it into yourself according to your own Dharma. But you must not turn into others. This is the Manu Smṛti. This is what students must learn. This is the ‘first Vidyā’. This is the ‘chief Vidyā’.