In plain words
“Brother! Without my knowing it, some demonic quality entered into me. I spoke against your words. Forgive me,” he prayed. Then Rāma: “Lakṣmaṇa! That is a place where demons roam. That is why, while you were in that spot, demonic tendencies entered into you,” he said.
Make friends with the good, and read good books
Parents long for a son to be born. But what should a son be like? The parents' good qualities must enter into him. What use is the birth of a son without good qualities and good conduct? He keeps bad company. He too becomes just like his friends. We must make friends with good people. We may be friendly with everyone. But we must keep away from those who have bad qualities.
From good company comes detachment; from detachment, freedom from delusion; from freedom from delusion, the steady principle; from the steady principle, liberation while living.
Today people stray onto the evil path through bad company. That is why the Kali age has turned into an age of strife. In man himself there is no fault of any kind. He goes to ruin through bad company alone. Those who are devotees must recognise the faults within them and set them right. Today bad books have multiplied. The books and novels students read only add to the faults in them; they do not purify the heart. When children go to the library, they first of all look for where the bad books and novels are. They pretend to be searching earnestly for some textbooks of theirs. Yet look at what they actually take and read: trashy books! They keep the bad book inside and put a different cover over it. Open it and look, and it is all bad photos and bad matter! Students read such books avidly. No god can change them. Their words are very sweet to hear.