Avoid the evil person - दुर्जनेन समं सख्यं

दुर्जनेन समं सख्यं वैरञ्चाऽपि न कारयेत् ।

उष्णो दहति चाङ्गारः शीतः कृष्णायते करम् ॥

durjanena samaM sakhyaM vaira~nchA~pi na kArayet |

uShNo dahati chA~NgAraH shItaH kRRiShNAyate karam ||(ITRANS)

durjanena samaṃ sakhyaṃ vairañcā'pi na kārayet ।

uṣṇo dahati cāṅgāraḥ śītaḥ kṛṣṇāyate karam ॥(IAST)

 

 

Do not make a friend or an enemy of an evil person. [Because] a burning coal burns, cold [coal] blackens the hand. (Hitopadesh 1:79)

How should we deal with an evil person? Maybe if we are friends with them, we may get benefits of their evil schemes? Or should we be enemy to them?

A piece of burning coal, cinder, will burn our hands. But a cold coal blackens the hand, makes it dirty. Similarly, making enemy of an evil person will cause us harm. Making friends with them will give us ill-repute. So we should avoid them altogether as much as possible.