anavasthita-cittasya na jane na vane sukham ।
jane dahati saṁsargo vane saṅga-vivarjanam ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“A person of unsteady mind is happy neither among people nor in the forest [i.e., alone]. Among people, companionship torments [them], and in the forest, [their] abandonment of companionship torments [them].”
santaptāyasi saṁsthitasya payaso nāmāpi na jñāyate
muktākāratayā tad eva nalinī-patra-sthitaṁ rājate |
svātyāṁ sāgara-śuktim adhyapatitaṁ san-mauktikaṁ jāyate
prāyeṇottama-madhyamādhama-daśā saṁsargato jāyate ||
(Nīti-śatakam of Bhartṛhari: 67)
“Water placed on a red-hot iron cannot even be recognized [i.e., it evaporates immediately without a trace and becomes invisible]. When situated on a lotus leaf, [however,] it shines with the appearance of a pearl. And when it falls onto an oyster shell during Svāti [i.e., the lunar mansion during which oysters open their shells], it becomes an actual pearl. Generally [speaking], excellent, moderate, and low conditions [of people] arise from association.”
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].’”
sat-saṅge svarga-vāsa |
asat-saṅge sarva-nāśa ||
(Bengali saying)
“In the association of sādhus, residence in Svarga occurs [i.e., one feels as though one is in Svarga], while in the association of the asat, total ruination occurs [i.e., everything is spoiled].”
saṅgo yaḥ saṁsṛter hetur asatsu vihito’dhiyā |
sa eva sādhuṣu kṛto niḥsaṅgatvāya kalpate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.23.55)
“Association done out of ignorance with non-sādhus is the cause of transmigration [i.e., bondage in saṁsāra], yet with sādhus, it leads to detachment [i.e., liberation from saṁsāra].”
na tathāsya bhaven moho bandhaś cānya-prasaṅgataḥ |
yoṣit-saṅgād yathā puṁso yathā tat-saṅgi-saṅgataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.31.35; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.90)
“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.”
saṅgaṁ na kuryāt pramadāsu jātu
yogasya pāraṁ param ārurukṣuḥ |
mat-sevayā pratilabdhātma-lābho
vadanti yā niraya-dvāram asya ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.31.39)
“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 [atl., associate with] women, who the wise say are the door to hell for any man.”
bhagavad-bhakti-hīnā ye mukhyā’santas ta eva hi |
teṣāṁ niṣṭhā śubhā kvāpi na syāt sac-caritair api ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.301)
“Those who are devoid of bhakti to Bhagavān are certainly the foremost of the impious (asat). Their destiny will never be auspiciousness, even if they are of noble conduct.”
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 ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.31.33–4; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.88–89)
“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.”
asat-saṅga-tyāga ei vaiṣṇava-ācāra |
‘strī-saṅgī’ eka asādhu, ‘kṛṣṇābhakta’ āra ||
(Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta: 2.22.84)
[Śrīman Mahāprabhu to Sanātana Gosvāmī:] “Avoidance of bad association—this is the conduct of a Vaiṣṇava. Someone who is attached to women is one [type of] non-sādhu, and a non-bhakta of Kṛṣṇa is another.”
