Devanagari
यन्नामानि च गृह्णाति लोको भृत्ये कृतागसि ।
सोऽसाधुवादस्तत्कीर्तिं हन्ति त्वचमिवामय: ॥ ५ ॥
Verse 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.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When a servant commits sin using the name of his master, the master gets criticizes and has his fame destroyed, just as a white spot on the skin condemns a person as a leper.
“But how can the Supreme Lord commit offense? Even if you do, who could punish you? How can you restrict yourself?” There can be no punishment. Infamy alone will be the punishment. The fame of a master is destroyed by a servant who performs sinful activating in the name of the master, just as white leprosy destroys the skin. People will criticize a person with a white spot, saying, “This person has leprosy.”
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.