Texts 37-38]
Pastimes of the Lord in His Youth
277
TRANSLATION
Thus the nonbelievers almost burned to ashes and died in envy. To retaliate, they planned various ways to give trouble to Śrīvāsa Thākura.
TEXTS 37-38
একদিন বিপ্র, নাম—‘গোপাল চাপাল’।
পাষণ্ডিপ্রধান সেই দুর্মুখ, বাচাল ॥ ৩৭ ॥
ভবানী-পূজার সব সামগ্রী লঞ্জা।
রাত্রে শ্রীবাসের ঘারে দ্বান লেপাঞ্জা ॥ ৩৮ ॥
eka-dina vipra, nāma—‘gopāla cāpāla’ pāṣaṇḍi-pradhāna sei durmukha, vācāla
bhavānī-pūjāra saba sāmagrī lañā rātre śrīvāsera dvāre sthāna lepāñā
SYNONYMS
eka-dina —one day;  vipra —one  brāhmaṇa ;  nāma —named;  gopāla cāpāla —of the name Gopāla Cāpāla;  pāṣaṇḍi-pradhāna —the chief of the nonbelievers;  sei —he;  durmukha —ferocious, using strong words;  vācāla —talkative;  bhavānī-pūjāra —for worshiping the goddess Bhavānī;  saba —all;  sāmagrī —ingredients, paraphernalia;  lañā —taking;  rātre —at night;  śrīvāsera —of Śrīvāsa Thākura;  dvāre —on the door;  sthāna —the place;  lepāñā —smearing.
TRANSLATION
One night while kīrtana was going on inside Śrīvāsa Thākura’s house, a brāhmaṇa named Gopāla Cāpāla, the chief of the nonbelievers, who was talkative and very rough in his speech, placed all the paraphernalia for worshiping the goddess Durgā outside Śrīvāsa Thākura’s door.
PURPORT
This  brāhmaṇa , Gopāla Cāpāla, wanted to defame Śrīvāsa Thākura by proving that he was actually a  śākta , or a worshiper of Bhavānī, the goddess Durgā, but was externally posing as a Vaiṣṇava. In Bengal there is perpetual competition between the devotees of goddess Kālī and the devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Generally Bengalis, especially those who are meat-eaters and drunkards, are very much attached to worshiping the goddesses Durgā, Kālī, Śītalā and Caṇḍī. Such devotees, who are known as  śāktas , or worshipers of the  śakti-tattva , are always envious of Vaiṣṇavas. Since Śrīvāsa Thākura was a well-known and respected Vaiṣṇava in Navadvīpa, Gopāla Cāpāla wanted to reduce his prestige by bringing him down to the platform