17.37-38
eka-dina vipra, nama--’gopala capala’
pasandi-pradhana sei durmukha, vacala
bhavani-pujara saba samagri lana
ratre srivasera dvare sthana lepana
SYNONYMS
eka-dina—one day; vipra—one brahmana; nama—named; gopala capala—of the name Gopala Capala; pasandi-pradhana—the chief of the nonbelievers; sei—he; durmukha—ferocious, using strong words; vacala—talkative; bhavani-pujara—for worshiping the goddess Bhavani; saba—all; samagri—ingredients, paraphernalia; lana—taking; ratre—at night; srivasera—of Srivasa Thakura; dvare—on the door; sthana—the place; lepana—smearing.
One night while kirtana was going on inside Srivasa Thakura’s house, a brahmana named Gopala Capala, the chief of the nonbelievers, who was talkative and very rough in his speech, placed all the paraphernalia for worshiping the goddess Durga outside Srivasa Thakura’s door.
PURPORT
This brahmana, Gopala Capala, wanted to defame Srivasa Thakura by proving that he was actually a sakta, or a worshiper of Bhavani, the goddess Durga, but was externally posing as a Vaisnava.
In Bengal there is perpetual competition between the devotees of Goddess Kali and the devotees of Lord Krsna.
Generally Bengalis, especially those who are meat-eaters and drunkards, are very much attached to worshiping the goddesses Durga, Kali, Sitala and Candi.
Such devotees, who are known as saktas, or worshipers of the sakti-tattva, are always envious of Vaisnavas.
Since Srivasa Thakura was a well-known and respected Vaisnava in Navadvipa, Gopala Capala wanted to reduce his prestige by bringing him down to the platform of the saktas.
Therefore outside Srivasa Thakura’s door he placed various paraphernalia for worshiping Bhavani, the wife of Lord Siva, such as a red flower, a plantain leaf, a pot of wine, and reddish sandalwood paste.
In the morning, when Srivasa Thakura saw all this paraphernalia in front of his door, he called for the respectable gentlemen of the neighborhood and showed them that at night he was worshiping Bhavani.
Very much sorry, these gentlemen called for a sweeper to cleanse the place and purify it by sprinkling water and cow dung there.
This incident concerning Gopala Capala is not mentioned in the Caitanya-bhagavata.