SB 11.23.16 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यशो यशस्विनां शुद्धं श्लाघ्या ये गुणिनां गुणा: ।

लोभ: स्वल्पोऽपि तान् हन्ति श्वित्रो रूपमिवेप्सितम् ॥ १६ ॥

Verse text

yaśo yaśasvināṁ śuddhaṁ

ślāghyā ye guṇināṁ guṇāḥ

lobhaḥ sv-alpo ’pi tān hanti

śvitro rūpam ivepsitam

Synonyms

yaśaḥ — the fame ; yaśasvinām — of those who are famous ; śuddham — pure ; ślāghyāḥ — praiseworthy ; ye — which ; guṇinām — of those endowed with good qualities ; guṇāḥ — the qualities ; lobhaḥ — greed ; su-alpaḥ — a little ; api — even ; tān — these ; hanti — destroys ; śvitraḥ — white leprosy ; rūpam — physical beauty ; iva — just as ; īpsitam — enchanting.

Translation

Whatever pure fame is possessed by the famous and whatever praiseworthy qualities are found in the virtuous are destroyed by even a small amount of greed, just as one’s attractive physical beauty is ruined by a trace of white leprosy.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Whatever pure fame is possessed by the famous and whatever praiseworthy qualities are found in the virtuous are destroyed by even a small amount of greed, just as one’s attractive physical beauty is ruined by a trace of white leprosy. Śvitraḥ means white leprosy.