### SB 3.16.5

> यन्नामानि च गृह्णाति लोको भृत्ये कृतागसि ।\
> सोऽसाधुवादस्तत्कीर्तिं हन्ति त्वचमिवामयः ॥५॥

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

*yat*—of whom; *nāmāni*—the names; *ca*—and; *gṛhṇāti*—take; *lokaḥ*—people in general; *bhṛtye*—when a servant; *kṛtāgasi*—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.

**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.**

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.