athāsat-saṅga-doṣāḥ |
asadbhiḥ saha saṅgas tu na kartavyaḥ kadācana |
yasmāt sarvārtha-hāniḥ syād adhaḥpātaś ca jāyate ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.294)
“Now, the faults of asat-saṅga [are described]: Saṅga with the asat, as a result of which the loss of all objects shall occur and downfall ensues, is not to be done at any time.”
dṛṣṭaṁ śrutam asad buddhvā nānudhyāyen na saṁviśet |
saṁsṛtiṁ cātma-nāśaṁ ca tatra vidvān sa ātma-dṛk ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.20)
“Having understood the seen and the heard to be asat, one who shall not meditate repeatedly [on] and shall not enjoy [them], knowing that saṁsāra and loss of the self ensue from them, is a seer of the Ātmā.”
mātrā svasrā duhitrā vā nāviviktāsano bhavet |
balavān indriya-grāmo vidvāṁsam api karṣati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.17)
“One should not have a seat that is unseparated from [even] one’s mother, sister, or daughter. The powerful multitude of senses pulls upon even a knowledgable person.”
athāpi nopasajjeta strīṣu straiṇeṣu cārtha-vit |
viṣayendriya-saṁyogān manaḥ kṣubhyati nānyathā ||
adṛṣṭād aśrutād bhāvān na bhāva upajāyate |
asamprayuñjataḥ prāṇān śāmyati stimitaṁ manaḥ ||
tasmāt saṅgo na kartavyaḥ strīṣu straiṇeṣu cendriyaiḥ |
viduṣāṁ cāpy avisrabdhaḥ ṣaḍ-vargaḥ kim u mādṛśām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.26.22–24)
“Even then [i.e., even though women are disgusting in so far as their bodies are made of flesh, blood, stool, urine, pus, and so forth], a sagacious person should not associate with women or those subjugated by women. The mind is disturbed by contact of the senses with [their] objects and not otherwise [i.e., the mind is not disturbed if such contact does not occur]. Feeling does not arise from unseen or unheard of objects. [Thus,] The mind of one who is non-engaged with the prāṇas [i.e., senses] is still and peaceful. Therefore, association is not to be done by means of the senses with women or those subjugated by women, since the ṣaḍ-varga [i.e., the six senses] even of the wise, much less of myself [i.e., of I who am undiscerning], are untrustworthy.”
yato na kaścit kva ca kutracid vā
dīnaḥ svam ātmānam alaṁ samarthaḥ |
vimocituṁ kāma-dṛśāṁ vihāra-
krīḍā-mṛgo yan-nigaḍo visargaḥ ||
tato vidūrāt parihṛtya daityā
daityeṣu saṅgaṁ viṣayātmakeṣu |
upeta nārāyaṇam ādi-devaṁ
sa mukta-saṅgair iṣito’pavargaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.6.17–18; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 5)
[Translated according to the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā:] “Exceedingly lowly and a toy-animal for the play of women (kāmadṛśāṁ), because of whom the fetter of progeny comes about, no one anywhere at any time is able to fully liberate one’s own self [from family life]. Therefore, O Daityas, from afar completely forsake association (saṅga) with [alt., attachment to] the Daityas, whose minds are [fixed] on objects of the senses, and approach Nārāyaṇa, the Original Deva. He is the final beatitude (apavarga) [alt., liberation] desired by those who are freed from attachment.”
ākārād api bhetavyaṁ strīṇāṁ viṣayiṇām api |
yathāher manasaḥ kṣobhas tathā tasyākṛter api ||
(Śrī Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭaka: 8.25; cited in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.11.11)
“Even the appearance of women and viṣayīs (materialists) should be feared [and so direct association with them all the more]. As disturbance of the mind occurs because of a snake, so also it occurs because of the appearance of one [i.e., as one becomes scared upon seeing a snake and even upon seeing a toy form of a snake or perceiving the appearance of a snake in a rope, so just by seeing viṣayīs and women, or even something resembling the behavior of viṣayīs and the appearance of a woman, the mind becomes disturbed (in the case of people in general and sādhakas)].”
niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya
pāraṁ paraṁ jigamiṣor bhava-sāgarasya |
sandarśanaṁ viṣayiṇām atha yoṣitāṁ ca
hā hanta hanta viṣa-bhakṣaṇato’py asādhu ||
(Śrī Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭaka: 8.24; cited in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.11.8)
“[Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu:] Hā! Hanta! Hanta! For a renunciant intent upon Bhagavad-bhajana and desirous of reaching the far shore of the ocean of material existence, associating with viṣayīs [i.e., those engrossed in material affairs] and women is even more detrimental than drinking poison.”
na sambhāṣet striyaṁ kāñcit pūrva-dṛṣṭāṁ ca na smaret |
kathāṁ ca varjayet tāsāṁ na paśyel likhitām api ||
etac catuṣṭayaṁ mohāt strīṇām ācarato yateḥ |
cittaṁ vikriyate’vaśyaṁ tad-vikārāt praṇaśyati ||
(Nārada Parivrājaka Upaniṣad: 4.3–4)
“One should not converse with a woman, and one should not remember one who was seen previously. One should not speak of them, and one should not even look at a picture of them. The mind of an ascetic who engages in [any of] these four [activities] is certainly disturbed as a result of bewilderment [i.e., the bewilderment that arises as a result of these activities], and as a result of that agitation, he is ruined.”
prabhu kahe—vairāgī kare prakṛti sambhāṣaṇa |
dekhite nā pāri āmi tāhāra vadana ||
durvāra indriya kare viṣaya-grahaṇa |
dāravī prakṛti hare muner api mana ||
mātrā svasrā duhitrā vā nā viviktāsano bhavet |
balavān indriya-grāmo vidvāṁsam api karṣati ||
kṣudra jīva-saba markaṭa-vairāgya kariyā |
indriya carāñā bule prakṛti sambhāṣiyā ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.2.117–120; 119 is found in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.17 and Manu Smṛti: 2.215)
[Śrīman Mahāprabhu explains why he refuses to meet with Choṭa Hari Dāsa:] “Prabhu said, ‘A vairāgī [who] converses with prakṛti [i.e., a woman]—I cannot [even] look at his face. The difficult to subdue senses seize their objects, and [even] a wooden figure of prakṛti captivates the mind of even a sage. “One should not have a seat that is unseparated from [even] one’s mother, sister, or daughter [i.e., let alone other women]. The powerful multitude of senses pulls upon even a knowledgable person.” Base living beings engage in monkey vairāgya and go about grazing the senses [i.e., letting their senses roam and partake of the sense objects without restraint] and conversing with prakṛti.‘”
saṅgaṁ na kuryāt pramadāsu jātu
yogasya pāraṁ param ārurukṣuḥ |
mat-sevayā pratilabdhātma-lābho
vadanti yā niraya-dvāram asya ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.31.39)
“[Kapiladeva:] Neither one desirous of ascending to the highest pinnacle of yoga nor one who has reached realization of the ātma through service to me should become attached to [alt., associate with] women, who the wise say are the door to hell for any man.”
