Fourteen Worlds
FOURTEEN WORLDSVedic Cosmology

SB 3.16.5

Devanāgarī

यन्नामानि च गृह्णाति लोको भृत्ये कृतागसि । सोऽसाधुवादस्तत्कीर्तिं हन्ति त्वचमिवामय: ॥ ५ ॥

Text

yan-nāmāni ca gṛhṇāti loko bhṛtye kṛtāgasi so ’sādhu-vādas tat-kīrtiṁ hanti tvacam ivāmayaḥ

Synonyms

yat—of whom;nāmāni—the names;ca—and;gṛhṇāti—take;lokaḥ—people in general;bhṛtye—when a servant;kṛta-āgasi—has committed something wrong;saḥ—that;asādhu-vādaḥ—blame;tat—of that person;kīrtim—the reputation;hanti—destroys;tvacam—the skin;iva—as;āmayaḥ—leprosy.

Translation

A wrong act committed by a servant leads people in general to blame his master, just as a spot of white leprosy on any part of the body pollutes all of the skin.

Purport

A Vaiṣṇava, therefore, should be fully qualified. As stated in the Bhāgavatam, anyone who has become a Vaiṣṇava has developed all the good qualities of the demigods. There are twenty-six qualifications mentioned in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. A devotee should always see that his Vaiṣṇava qualities increase with the advancement of his Kṛṣṇa consciousness. A devotee should be blameless because any offense by the devotee is a scar on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The devotee’s duty is to be always conscious in his dealings with others, especially with another devotee of the Lord.
← SB 3.16.4Chapter 16SB 3.16.6