केनायमुपदिष्टस्ते विनाशः पापकर्मणा।
सपुत्रस्य सराष्ट्रस्य सामात्यस्य निशाचर॥
kenāyam upadiṣṭas te vināśaḥ pāpa-karmaṇā
saputrasya sarāṣṭrasya sāmātyasya niśācara
kena = who is; ayam = in this manner; upadiṣṭaḥ = who has instructed [you]; te = you; vināśaḥ = which would lead to destruction; pāpa-karmaṇā = that performer of sinful deeds; sa-putrasya = your sons; sa-rāṣṭrasya = country; sa-amātyasya = and ministers; niśācara = O night-ranger.
O night-ranger, who is that performer of sinful deeds who has instructed [you] in this manner which would lead you, your sons, country and ministers to destruction?
1 In an essay entitled Vaiṣṇava-nindā, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has commented on this verse that association with materialists who appear to be saintly, even if performed without knowledge, certainly leads one to bondage. Rūpa Raghunātha Vāṇī Publications has published an excerpt from this essay with translation and additional notes containing Prabhupāda’s remarks on the verses quoted by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda in that essay. We invite interested readers to go through it.
NOTE. Association is an important principle in Vedic culture. By associating with materialistic persons, one degrades himself while one who associates with spiritualists will elevates himself.
saṅgo yaḥ saṁsṛter hetur asatsu vihito ’dhiyā
sa eva sādhuṣu kṛto niḥsaṅgatvāya kalpate
“Association for sense gratification is certainly the path of bondage. But the same type of association, performed with a saintly person, leads to the path of liberation, even if performed without knowledge.”1 (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.23.55)
Prabhupāda explains the importance of associating with genuine spiritualists thus:
The beginning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is association of persons who are Kṛṣṇa conscious. Such association is spiritual and puts one directly in touch with the Supreme Lord, and, by His grace, one can understand Kṛṣṇa to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. At the same time one can really understand the constitutional position of the living entity and how the living entity forgets Kṛṣṇa and becomes entangled in material activities. By gradual development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in good association, the living entity can understand that due to forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa he has become conditioned by the laws of material nature. He can also understand that this human form of life is an opportunity to regain Kṛṣṇa consciousness and that it should be fully utilized to attain the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord. (Bhagavad-gītā 7.30 purport)