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TEXT 21 yad yad acarati sresthas
SYNONYMS  yat--whatever;
yat--and whichever; acarati--does he act; sresthah--a
respectable leader; tat--that; tat--and that alone; eva--certainly;
itarah--common;
janah--person; sah--he; yat--whichever;
pramanam--evidence;
kurute--does perform; lokah--all the world; tat--that;
anuvartate--follow in the footsteps.
TRANSLATION Whatever
action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps.
And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.
PURPORT People in general
always require a leader who can teach the public by practical behavior.
A leader cannot teach the public to stop smoking if he himself smokes.
Lord Caitanya said that a teacher should behave properly even before he
begins teaching. One who teaches in that way is called acarya, or
the ideal teacher. Therefore, a teacher must follow the principles of sastra
(scripture) to reach the common man. The teacher cannot manufacture rules
against the principles of revealed scriptures. The revealed scriptures,
like Manu-samhita and similar others, are considered the standard
books to be followed by human society. Thus the leader's teaching should
be based on the principles of the standard rules as they are practiced
by the great teachers. The Srimad-Bhagavatam also affirms that one
should follow in the footsteps of great devotees, and that is the way of
progress on the path of spiritual realization. The king or the executive
head of a state, the father and the school teacher are all considered to
be natural leaders of the innocent people in general. All such natural
leaders have a great responsibility to their dependents; therefore they
must be conversant with standard books of moral and spiritual codes.
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