PURPORT

Saṅgat sanjayate kamah (Bg. 2.62). One develops his consciousness according to society and association. As Srila Nityananda 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, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu immediately replied:

asat-saṅga-tyaga,-ei vaisnava-acara
'stri-saṅgi'-eka asadhu, 'krsnabhakta' ara

(Cc. Madhya 22.87)

A Vaisnava, a devotee, should simply discard intimate association with nondevotees. In his Upadesamrta [4], Srila Rupa Gosvami has described the symptoms of intimate relationships in this way:

dadati pratigrhnati
guhyam akhyati prcchati
bhuṅkte bhojayate caiva
sad-vidham priti-laksanam

The words bhuṅkte 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. Srila Nityananda Prabhu's reference in this connection is meant to emphasize that one should avoid eating with Mayavadis and covert Mayavadis like the sahajiya Vaisnavas, who are materially affected.