Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 22.88-90

satyaḿ śaucaḿ dayā maunaḿ

buddhir hrīḥ śrīr yaśaḥ kṣamā

śamo damo bhagaś ceti

yat-sańgād yāti sańkṣayam

teṣv aśānteṣu mūḍheṣu

khaṇḍitātmasv asādhuṣu

sańgaḿ na kuryāc chocyeṣu

yoṣit-krīḍā-mṛgeṣu ca

na tathāsya bhaven moho

bandhaś cānya-prasańgataḥ

yoṣit-sańgād yathā puḿso

yathā tat-sańgi-sańgataḥ

SYNONYMS

satyam — truthfulness; śaucam — cleanliness; dayā — mercy; maunam — silence; buddhiḥ — intelligence; hrīḥ — modesty; śrīḥ — beauty; yaśaḥ — fame; kṣamā — forgiveness; śamaḥ — controlling the mind; damaḥ — controlling the senses; bhagaḥ — opulence; ca — and; iti — thus; yat — of whom; sańgāt — by the association; yāti — goes to; sańkṣayam — complete destruction; teṣu — among them; aśānteṣu — who are restless; mūḍheṣu — among the fools; khaṇḍita-ātmasu — whose self-realization is spoiled; asādhuṣu — not saintly; sańgam — association; na — not; kuryāt — should do; śocyeṣu — who are full of lamentation; yoṣit — of women; krīḍā-mṛgeṣu — who are like toy animals; ca — also; na — not; tathā — so much; asya — of him; bhavet — there may be; mohaḥ — illusion; bandhaḥ — binding; ca — and; anya — other types; prasańgataḥ — from association; yoṣit-sańgāt — by association with women; yathā — as; puḿsaḥ — of the man; yathā — as well as; tat-sańgi-sańgataḥ — by association with persons attached to women.

TRANSLATION

"'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.'

PURPORT

These verses, quoted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.31.33-35), were spoken by Kapiladeva, an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to His mother. Herein Kapiladeva discusses pious and impious activities and the symptoms of those who are devoid of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. Generally people do not know about the miserable conditions within the womb of a mother in any species of life. Due to bad association, one gradually falls into lower species. Association with women is greatly stressed in this regard. When one becomes attached to women or to those who are attached to women, one falls down into the lower species.

puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi bhuńkte prakṛti-jān guṇān

kāraṇaḿ guṇa-sańgo 'sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu

"The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species." (Bhagavad-gītā 13.22)

According to Vedic civilization, one's association with women should be very much restricted. In spiritual life there are four āśramas — brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa. The brahmacārī, vānaprastha and sannyāsī are completely forbidden to associate with women. Only gṛhasthas are allowed to associate with women under certain very much restricted conditions — that is, one associates with women to propagate nice children. Other reasons for association are condemned.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness