Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 22.88-90
Bad Association Deepens Illusion and Bondage
“ ‘By association with worldly people, one becomes devoid of truthfulness, cleanliness, mercy, gravity, spiritual intelligence, shyness, austerity, fame, forgiveness, control of the mind, control of the senses, fortune and all opportunities. One should not at any time associate with a coarse fool who is bereft of the knowledge of self-realization and who is no more than a toy animal in the hands of a woman. The illusion and bondage that accrue to a man from attachment to any other object are not as complete as that resulting from association with a woman or with men too much attached to women.’
What the purport teaches
- Worldly association erodes qualities such as truthfulness, cleanliness, mercy, forgiveness, and control of the mind and senses.
- The passage strongly warns against attachment to women and association with men too attached to women, describing the resulting illusion and bondage.
- The purport explains that bad association gradually leads one into lower species of life. It connects this warning with the symptoms of those devoid of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa.
Try this today
Identify one association that weakens your self-control, and avoid spending optional time in it today.
Ask yourself
Which associations weaken my self-control or deepen my material attachment?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.