Verse 1.16.228

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.16.228:

“বড লোক করি’ লোক জানুক আমারে” আপনারে প্রকটাই ধর্ম-কর্ম করে ॥ ২২৮ ॥

“बड लोक करि’ लोक जानुक आमारे” आपनारे प्रकटाइ धर्म-कर्म करे ॥ २२८ ॥

“baḍa loka kari’ loka jānuka āmāre” āpanāre prakaṭāi dharma-karma kare || 228 ||

“bada loka kari’ loka januka amare” apanare prakatai dharma-karma kare (228)

English translation:

(228) “He presented himself as an important person by imitating some religious sentiments.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Like this so-called brāhmaṇa, many atheistic hypocrites with the ill- motive, “People will respect me as ‘great’ or ‘a devotee,’” exhibit various reflections of artificial emotions in order to cheat people. In this regard, one should discuss the definitions of baka-vrata and vaiḍāla-vrata as found in the following verses:

adho-dṛṣṭir naikṛtikaḥ svārtha-sādhana-tatparaḥ śaṭho mithyā-vinītaś ca baka-vrata-paro dvijaḥ

“An imposter brāhmaṇa, the follower of baka-vrata, ‘the vow of the duck,’ is he who always looks down in order to make a show of humility, who is cruel, and who pretends to be submissive.

dharma-dhvajī sadā lubdhaś chādmiko loka-dambhakaḥ vaiḍāla-vratiko jñeyo hiṃsra-sarvābhisandhikaḥ

“One should know that the dharma-dhvajī (who makes a false show of being religious), the person who always desires other’s wealth, the duplicitous person, the person who cheats, the envious person, and the person who blasphemes are hypocritical brāhmaṇas who follow vaiḍāla- vratī, ‘the vow of a cat.’”