In plain words
Iron that lies in the earth gathers rust; put in the fire, the rust leaves the iron. So it goes, through the company a thing keeps. Streams of water sink away into sand; in the dark black soil they stay, and stay sweet. Just so does Bhakti flourish, according to what one has come by.
Students, embodiments of Prema!
Humanness is most sacred. Even so, its good and bad go on changing according to the company it keeps. When iron is laid in the earth, it rusts. But when that same iron is put into the fire, the rust leaves it and it turns bright and soft. Dust, when it joins the wind, flies up as far as the sky. But when it joins water, it settles into the low ground. It has no wings to fly up with. It has no legs to climb down with. Its rising up and its coming down happen only through the influence of the company it keeps. So the harm of company and the good of company, as they are called, depend on the good and bad in those we keep company with.
From good company comes non-attachment; from non-attachment, freedom from delusion; from freedom from delusion, the steady principle; from the steady principle, liberation while still alive.
When we keep good company, it gives us a divinity that is most sacred. When we join bad company, evil ideas and wicked thoughts enter the mind and drive us on to wicked deeds of many kinds. So it is vital that man join good company and develop his humanness. Through good company man can attain divinity. Through bad company he can turn into a beast. The animal nature is the level below man. Divinity is the level above man. Humanness stands at the middle level. We must strive to take this humanness, which stands at the middle level, up to the higher level; no effort at all is needed for one's standing to slide down to the lower level.