hena tomÄra saá¹…ge mora ekatre bhojana
nÄ jÄni, tomÄra saá¹…ge kaiche haya mana
hena - thus; tomÄra - Your; saá¹…ge - in association; mora - My; ekatre - together; bhojana - eating; nÄ jÄni - I do not know; tomÄra saá¹…ge - by Your association; kaiche - how; haya mana - My mind will turn.
NityÄnanda Prabhu continued, “You are such a monist! And now I am eating beside You. I do not know how My mind will be affected in this way.â€
Saá¹…gÄt sañjÄyate kÄmaḥ (Bg. 2.62). One develops his consciousness according to society and association. As ÅšrÄ«la NityÄnanda Prabhu admits, a devotee should be very careful when associating with those who are not devotees. When asked by a householder devotee what the behavior of a devotee should be, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu immediately replied:
asat-saá¹…ga-tyÄga, — ei vaiṣṇava-ÄcÄra
‘strÄ«-saá¹…gī’ — eka asÄdhu, ‘kṛṣṇÄbhakta’ Ära
(Cc. Madhya 22.87)
A Vaiṣṇava, a devotee, should simply discard intimate association with nondevotees. In his UpadeÅ›Ämá¹›ta, ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« has described the symptoms of intimate relationships in this way:
dadÄti pratigá¹›hṇÄti guhyam ÄkhyÄti pá¹›cchati
bhuá¹…kte bhojayate caiva á¹£aá¸-vidhaá¹ prÄ«ti-laká¹£aṇam
The words bhuá¹…kte bhojayate indicate that one should eat with devotees. One should carefully avoid eating food offered by nondevotees. Indeed, a devotee should be very strict in not accepting food from a nondevotee, especially food prepared in restaurants or hotels or on airplanes. ÅšrÄ«la NityÄnanda Prabhu’s reference in this connection is meant to emphasize that one should avoid eating with MÄyÄvÄdÄ«s and covert MÄyÄvÄdÄ«s like the sahajiyÄ Vaiṣṇavas, who are materially affected.
