Asat-saṅga

satyaṁ śaucaṁ dayā maunaṁ buddhiḥ śrīr hrīr yaśaḥ kṣamā

satyaṁ śaucaṁ dayā maunaṁ buddhiḥ śrīr hrīr yaśaḥ kṣamā |
śamo damo bhagaś ceti yat-saṅgād yāti saṅkṣayam ||
teṣv aśānteṣu mūḍheṣu khaṇḍitātmasv asādhuṣu |
saṅgaṁ na kuryāc chocyeṣu yoṣit-krīḍā-mṛgeṣu ca ||
na tathāsya bhaven moho bandhaś cānya-prasaṅgataḥ |
yoṣit-saṅgād yathā puṁso yathā tat-saṅgi-saṅgataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.31.33–35; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.88–90)

“One should never associate with those by whose association truthfulness, cleanliness, grace, quietude, the intellect, wealth, modesty, honor, forgiveness, mental control, sense control, and good fortune are destroyed, and who are restless, foolish, self-destructive, impious, deplorable, and the pet animals of women. A man’s infatuation and bondage do not occur as a result of any other association the way they do as a result of association with women and association with those who associate with them.”

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mātāpy ekā pitāpy ekā mama ca tasya pakṣiṇo

mātāpy ekā pitāpy ekā mama ca tasya pakṣiṇo |
ahaṁ munibhir ānītas sa cānīto gavāśanaiḥ |
ahaṁ munīnāṁ vacanaṁ śṛṇomi gavāśanānāṁ sa śṛṇoti vākyam |
na tasya doṣo na ca me guṇo vā saṁsargajā doṣa-guṇā bhavanti ||
(Unknown Source)

[A parrot explains why he and his brother speak and act very differently:] “Although the other bird and I have the same mother and the same father, I was taken by sages, and he was taken by cow-eaters [from our parents’ nest when we were young]. I hear the speech of sages, and he hears the statements of cow-eaters. So, there is no fault on his part or any quality on my part. Faults and qualities are produced by association.”

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tulayāma lavenāpi na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam

tulayāma lavenāpi na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam |
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.18.13 and 4.30.34; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.284, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.228; Bhakti Sandarbha: 134, 247; Prīti Sandarbha: 31, 112)

[The sages at Naimiṣāraṇya to Sūta Gosvāmī and the Pracetās to Bhagavān:] “We cannot equate Svarga or non-repetition of birth, much less benedictions had by human beings, with even an instant of association with those who are attached to Bhagavān.”

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sādhūnāṁ sama-cittānāṁ mukunda-caraṇaiṣiṇām

sādhūnāṁ sama-cittānāṁ mukunda-caraṇaiṣiṇām |
upekṣyaiḥ kiṁ dhana-stambhair asadbhir asad-āśrayaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.10.18)

“What purpose do sādhus who are of equal mind and desirous [only] of Mukunda’s feet have with those who are proud of wealth, asat, sheltered in the asat, and [thus] fit to be ignored?”

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brahma-hatyā surāpānaṁ steyaṁ gurv-aṅganāgamaḥ

brahma-hatyā surāpānaṁ steyaṁ gurv-aṅganāgamaḥ |
mahānti pātakāny āhuḥ saṁsargaś cāpi taiḥ saha ||
(Manu Smṛti: 11.54)

“Killing a brāhmaṇa, drinking wine, stealing, and intercourse with the guru’s wife are called extreme sins (mahāpātakas), as is association with them [i.e., with persons who commit them].”

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ye māṁ bhajanti dāmpatye tapasā vrata-caryayā

ye māṁ bhajanti dāmpatye tapasā vrata-caryayā |
kāmātmāno’pavargeśaṁ mohitā mama māyayā ||
māṁ prāpya māniny apavarga-sampadaṁ
vāñchanti ye sampada eva tat-patim |
te manda-bhāgā niraye’pi ye nṛṇāṁ
mātrātmakatvān nirayaḥ susaṅgamaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatan: 10.60.52–53; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 16)

“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Rukmiṇī Devī:] The desirous who by means of austerity and performance of rites worship me, the master of apavarga [i.e., mokṣa, or, the bestower of prema-bhakti, the ultimate puruṣārtha beyond even mokṣa], for the sake of matrimony [i.e., to enjoy the pleasures of being married] are deluded by my māyā. O Mānini! Those who desire [material] wealth [even] after attaining [alt., propitiating] me, who am the master of that [i.e., of wealth] and the wealth of apavarga, are unfortunate, since that [i.e., wealth] is present even in hell [alt., in births in lower, hellish species and conditions], and hell is a good condition for [such] persons on account of [their] being fixated upon the elements [i.e., on enjoying pleasures of sense objects].”

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taṁ sukhārādhyam ṛjubhir

taṁ sukhārādhyam ṛjubhir ananya-śaraṇair nṛbhiḥ |
kṛtajñaḥ ko na seveta durārādhyam asādhubhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.19.36′; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 153)

“What grateful person would not worship he who is easily propitiated by persons who are sincere and of undivided shelter yet difficult to propitiate for the unvirtuous [i.e., those who are the opposite]?”

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kalpayitvātmanā yāvad

kalpayitvātmanā yāvad ābhāsam idam īśvaraḥ |
dvaitaṁ tāvan na viramet tato hy asya viparyayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.12.10)

[Translation based on Bhāvārtha-dīpikā:] “As long as the jīva is not capable by means of the ātmā [i.e., by virtue of self-realization, ātma-sākṣātkāra] of determining this [i.e., the body, senses, and so forth] to be a guise [i.e., a mere false appearance], then duality [i.e., perception of distinctions such as, “He is a man; she is a woman,”] does not cease, and certainly thereby one’s misapprehension [i.e., one’s mentality of enjoyment] remains.”

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uṣṭrāṇāṁ ca vivāheṣu

uṣṭrāṇāṁ ca vivāheṣu gītaṁ gāyanti gardabhāḥ |
parasparaṁ praśaṁsanti aho rūpam aho dhvaniḥ ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)

“At the marriages of camels, donkeys sing songs, and they each praise one another, ‘What beauty! What tune! [i.e., the donkeys praise the “beauty” of the camels’ figures, and the camels praise the “tunes” in which the donkeys sing].’”

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