Verse 1.14.87

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.14.87:

সে পাপিষ্ঠ আপনারে বোলায ‘গোপাল’ অতএব তা’রে সবে বলেন ‘শিযাল’ ॥ ৮৭ ॥

से पापिष्ठ आपनारे बोलाय ‘गोपाल’ अतएव ता’रे सबे बलेन ‘शियाल’ ॥ ८७ ॥

se pāpiṣṭha āpanāre bolāya ‘gopāla’ ataeva tā’re sabe balena ‘śiyāla’ || 87 ||

se papistha apanare bolaya ‘gopala’ ataeva ta’re sabe balena ‘siyala’ (87)

English translation:

(87) That sinful person advertised himself as “Gopāla,” and people therefore called him a jackal.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The word śiyāla, or śeyāla (from the Sanskrit word śṛgāla) refers to those people of Bengal who are generally afraid, who are prone to run away, who are thieves, who are miscreants, or who speak harsh words.

Although the sinful, hellish, Māyāvādī brahma-rākṣasa of Rāḍha-deśa introduced himself as Gopāla to everyone, the devotees, rather than calling him Gopāla, called him a false logician Māyāvādī jackal. (“Those who cultivate material knowledge take birth as jackals in their next lives.”)

Within a hundred years after the disappearance of Mahāprabhu some foolish atheists rejected their gurus and advertised themselves as incarnations of the Supreme Lord. In this regard, the Gaura-gaṇa- candrika, which is said to be written by Śrīmad Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, states as follows: “Seeing that others have accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Gaurāṅga as the Lord of the universe, some foolish people of Rāḍha-deśa, Bengal, who were devoid of scriptural knowledge, wandered about dressed as the Supreme Lord attempting to convince other fools about their supremacy. Among those imposters was a brāhmaṇa named Vāsudeva, who out of maddness declared, ‘I am Gopāla, the son of Nanda Mahārāja.’ That is why the people of Rāḍha-deśa called this brāhmaṇa a śṛgāla, or jackal, instead of

Gopāla. Another person named Viṣṇudāsa said, ‘I am Lord Rāmacandra, the son of the Raghu dynasty. I have descended from Vaikuṇṭha along with the monkeys. Hanumān is my devotee.’ Due to such offensive statements, he was rejected by the people of Rāḍha-deśa and was addressed as the leader of the monkeys. ‘In order to deliver the people of earth, I, Lord Nārāyaṇa, have appeared from my abode of Vaikuṇṭha.’ Boasting in this way and putting a crown on his head, an ill-motivated brāhmaṇa of Bengal named Mādhava advertised himself as the Supreme Lord in order to get some cheap adoration. Hence the people of Bengal addressed Mādhava as a cūḍādhārī, or one who wears a crown. This Mādhava was the very lusty priest of the śūdras. Therefore he used to imitate the rāsa dance pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. It is heard that this brāhmaṇa was rejected by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the Vaiṣṇavas. Therefore one should not associate with such persons. If one does so, his religiosity will be destroyed, because it is stated in the scriptures: ‘As a drop of oil spreads all over the water, if one touches, converses with, is touched by the breath of, or eats with such a sinful person, then the very sins of that person will be spread to him.’” In the Bhakti-ratnākara (14.163-168, 180-183) it is stated “Someone said, ‘O brothers, the materialists who have turned their faces from Lord Kṛṣṇa are very independent and transgress religious principles. The leader of the materialists has taken the position of Raghunātha in order to cheat people in general. This misbehaved sinner has invented his own philosophy, and claiming to be the king of poets, he preaches in Baṅga-deśa.’ Another person said, ‘I saw some great sinners induce others to glorify them rather than glorify Lord Kṛṣṇa.’ Another person said, ‘There is a degraded brāhmaṇa known as Mallika in Rāḍha-deśa. No one is as wicked as him.

That great sinner calls himself Gopāla. Speaking an illusory philosophy worthy of the rākṣasas, he tricks people in general.’ In Rāḍha-deśa, in the village named Kāṅdarā, is the auspicious and glorious home of Jñāna dāsa. A kāyastha named Jaya Gopāla also lives at that place. That person became evil-minded due to pride of learning. He arrogantly declared that

his guru had no knowledge, and whenever someone inquired from him, he claimed that his parama-guru was his guru. Vīracandra Prabhu tactfully disclosed his position and then rejected him.” In this regard one should refer to the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, Chapter Sixty-six, and the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (5.34), wherein the Dvāpara-yuga pastime of Kṛṣṇa killing Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva, the King of Karūṣa, who worshiped himself and imitated Kṛṣṇa, is described. One should also see the description of Śṛgāla Vāsudeva, the King of Karavīrapura, found in the Hari-vaṃśa, Chapters 99-100, or 2.44-45.

Regarding the acceptance of ahaṅgrahopāsanā, or self-worship—in the form of advertising oneself as the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, or an incarnation

—by the foolish atheists, who are controlled by māyā, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has stated in his Bhakti-sandarbha (276): “In these verses of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam the idea that the individual spirit soul is the worshipable Supreme has been condemned with extreme hatred. An example is seen when Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva sent a servant to Kṛṣṇa with the message, ‘I am Lord Vāsudeva.’ When the pure devotee Yādavas, headed by Ugrasena, heard the crazy words about the artificial attempts of Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva from the mouth of the messenger, they laughed loudly. The reason for this is found in scriptural statements such as the following verse from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (3.29.13), wherein the Lord explains: ‘A pure devotee does not accept any kind of liberation

—sālokya, sārṣṭi, sāmīpya, sārūpya, or sāyujya—devoid of My service, even though they are offered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.’ The mahā-bhāgavata Śrī Hanumānjī also confirms this as follows: ‘Only a fool will give up the service of the Lord and try instead to become the Lord Himself.’ While glorifying the niṣkiñcana devotees, the Supreme Lord has established that niṣkāma-bhakti is the highest abhidheya, or sādhana, in the following words from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.20.34): ‘Because My devotees possess saintly behavior and deep intelligence, they completely dedicate themselves to Me and do not desire anything besides Me. Indeed, even if I offer them liberation from birth and death,

they do not accept it.’”

Those who accept insignificant fallen souls, who are controlled by māyā, as the Supreme Lord, who controls māyā, are extremely fallen; there is no comparison to their lamentable fallen condition. Śrī Caitanyacandra is the Lord of the fourteen worlds as well as Navadvīpa, Vraja, Goloka, Vaikuṇṭha, and Paravyoma beyond the fourteen worlds and is nondifferent from Vrajendra-nandana; and although the atheist sees that He is being glorified and offered prayers as svayaṃ-rūpa, avatārī, sākṣād bhagavān, and parameśvara, he nevertheless falsely tries by imitation to compete with Him; thus there is no limit to his misfortune. It is stated in the Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛta (32): “Condemned are the followers of Vedic ritual! Condemned are the practitioners of severe austerity!

Condemned are the dull-witted fools whose mouths have blossomed with the words ‘I am Brahman’! Why do we lament for these animals in the guise of men intoxicated by the taste of things other than Kṛṣṇa? Alas!

They have not tasted even a drop of the nectar of Lord Gaura!” [The following purport also applies to this verse.]