In the vocabulary of the West, man gives up his 'life'. But in the language of Bharathiyas, man gives up his 'body'. Westerners profess that they have bodies and that the bodies have souls. Bharathiyas do not declare so. They proclaim that man has a soul and that the soul is enclosed temporarily in a body. Therefore, they feel that the civilisations and cultures seeking sensual pleasures and secular glory are built on a foundation of sand, and can shine only for a brief period of time before they collapse.

Students! Imitation can never become culture. You may wear royal robes and act the role, but can you, as a result of this imitation, become a king? A donkey clothed in tiger skin does not become a tiger. Imitation is a sign of cowardice. It cannot further one's progress. In fact the tendency to imitate leads man down, step by step, into frightful shape. You must endeavour to uplift yourselves, as yourselves. You must be proud that you are Bharathiyas; you must be proud of your ancestors. Your commendable heroism lies in your joyous assertion that you are a Bharathiya (a child of Bharath, India). You should not imitate others and copy their attitudes though you may imbibe the good in them.

We have to learn good things from others. We sow seeds in the ground. We provide it with soil, manure and water. The seed sprouts, becomes a sapling and grows into a huge tree. It does not become soil when placed therein, nor manure when it feeds thereon, nor water when it partakes thereof. It only imbibes from each of them whatever it can benefit from them. It grows into what is essentially IT, namely, a huge tree!

May you too grow likewise. You have to learn much from others. Learn the Supreme and the means of attaining it from even the lowest; learn from others how to practise progressive spiritual sadhana and saturate yourselves with it. But do not be transformed into those others. This is the normal teaching for man, the Smrithi of Manu. This is the lesson that students have to understand. This is the first and foremost lesson, the crucial lesson.