Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 34, Shloka 87
Adhyaya 34 — Madālāsā’s Instruction on Sadācāra (Householder Conduct, Purity, and Daily Rites)
नोद्धूतोन्मत्तमूढैश्च नाविनीतैश्च पण्डितः ।
गच्छेन्मैत्रीं न चाशीलेर्न च चौर्यादिदूषितैः ॥
noddhūtonmattamūḍhaiś ca nāvinītaiś ca paṇḍitaḥ / gacchen maitrīṃ na cāśīlair na ca cauryādidūṣitaiḥ
A learned person should not associate with the arrogant, the mad, the foolish, or the undisciplined. He should not form friendships with the immoral, nor with those tainted by theft and similar vices.
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FAQs
Company shapes destiny: the learned safeguard their discernment by avoiding those dominated by vice, arrogance, or disorder, and by choosing friendships aligned with dharma.
Ancillary dharma instruction, not a cosmological/genealogical lakṣaṇa.
Association is a subtle conduit of guṇas; avoiding vice-laden company is a practical method for protecting sattva and stabilizing the mind.