Devanagari
यद्यदाचरति श्रेयानितरस्तत्तदीहते ।
स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते ॥ ४ ॥
Verse text
yad yad ācarati śreyān
itaras tat tad īhate
sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute
lokas tad anuvartate
Synonyms
yat yat
—
whatever
;
ācarati
—
executes
;
śreyān
—
a first-class man with full knowledge of religious principles
;
itaraḥ
—
the subordinate man
;
tat tat
—
that
;
īhate
—
performs
;
saḥ
—
he (the great man)
;
yat
—
whatever
;
pramāṇam
—
as evidence or as the right thing
;
kurute
—
accepts
;
lokaḥ
—
the general public
;
tat
—
that
;
anuvartate
—
follows .
Translation
The mass of people follow the example of a leader in society and imitate his behavior. They accept as evidence whatever the leader accepts.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Whatever the excellent man performs, the others follow. The people follow whatever he sets as the standard.
The path of dharma will be very quickly covered up.
Purport
Although Ajāmila was not punishable, the Yamadūtas were insisting on taking him away to Yamarāja for punishment. This was
adharma,
contrary to religious principles. The Viṣṇudūtas feared that if such irreligious acts were allowed, the management of human society would be spoiled. In modern times, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to introduce the right principles of management for human society, but unfortunately the governments of Kali-yuga do not properly support the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement because they do not appreciate its valuable service. The Hare Kṛṣṇa movement is the right movement for ameliorating the fallen condition of human society, and therefore governments and public leaders in every part of the world should support this movement to completely rectify humanity’s sinful condition.