If a person, president, cheats his countrymen somehow or other, and why not others?

A President Without Regard

Not above the law

So at the present moment, people are becoming more and more poor, and they are simply educated to gratify senses. So the whole world becoming chaotic, diseased condition. Even in the topmost level, the President of United States, he was also caught dealing very unfavorably, and he was forced to resign. And what to speak of others? He is not a poor man, he is not uneducated, the topmost man, elected President of USA, but there is cheating even there, just see. And what to speak of others? Yad yad acharati shreshthah [Bg. 3.21], in the Bhagavad-gita it is, tat tad eva itarah janah, sa yat pramanam kurute lokas tad anuvartate. If a person, president, cheats his countrymen somehow or other, and why not others? They will also do that. "Oh, president does it. What I am? What can I know?" In this way, the more we are inclined to sense gratification, the more we are becoming sinful. And more we are becoming sinful, the more we must suffer. That is the law of nature. Amayo yash cha bhutanam jayate yena suvrata.

So by this karma... vikarma, rather. Karma means when you act according to the shastra, that is called karma: lawful activities. The lawful activities is very good. But unlawful activities, you are punishable. So the business of sense gratification is unlawful activities. You cannot gratify your senses more than necessity. Everywhere that is the stringent laws of nature. Daivi hy esha gunamayi mama maya duratyaya [Bg. 7.14]. You cannot surpass it. Duratyaya. If you surpass, then you will be punished. There is simultaneous law of nature. The example is that you can eat, say, four ounce or eight ounce foodstuff. If you eat ten ounce, then there will be suffering, indigestion, you cannot eat, there will be dysentery, so many things. That is nature's law. So people are becoming entangled in karma.

Setting an example

TAMAL KRSNA: [reads:] Twenty-one: "Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men will follow in his footsteps. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues [Bg. 3.21]."

PRABHUPADA: This is very important. Therefore leaders must be very ideal men. Then automatically the country or the society becomes nicely situated. Because if the leader of the society is perfect... Therefore formerly, monarchy, monarchy was current, and the king was educated very highly, how to administer state. Just like Maharaja Yudhishthira. Maharaja Yudhishthira, ideal king. Lord Ramachandra, ideal king. Somebody came to Lord Ramachandra and made Him responsible that "How Your kingdom is going that my son in the presence of his father has died?" You see, king was responsible for that. If there is severe cold, the king is responsible for that. If there is severe heat, the king is responsible for that. Just try to understand how much a king was responsible for the happiness of the citizens. They were ideal king, and therefore the citizens also followed. They became Krishna conscious, they became all devotees. And if the leader is a sinful man and doing all impious activities, then how you can expect the citizens to be all good and pious? It is not possible. Therefore here, it is a very important subject matter. "Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men will follow in his footprints." Therefore good leader wanted. You haven't got to educate individually every citizen. If you have got a good leader, then the citizens automatically become good. And whatever standard he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.