On occasions, "people said to me that in spite of my old age, which is over 80, I look like 70 and ask (me) what is the secret. I say, that is my secret and I will not tell you," Dalai Lama said in jest, making the audience burst into peels of laughter.
"But the most important is peace of mind. Internal beauty is more important than external beauty," he said.
Dalai Lama was delivering a lecture on 'Ancient Indian Knowledge in Modern Times', when a question on the secret of his "beautiful skin" was put to him by the anchor woman "on behalf of all the ladies present" in the packed Gauhati University auditorium here.
"Women should take more active role for human compassion. My first teacher was my mother, not anyone else. Females are biologically more stronger," he added.