Text 185]
The Lord Travels to Vṛndāvana
101
“O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.” (Bg. 9.13)
In the material world, the word  mahātmā  is understood in different ways by different religionists. Mundaners also come up with their different angles of vision. For the conditioned soul busy in sense gratification, a  mahājana  is recognized according to the proportion of sense gratification he offers. For instance, a businessman may consider a certain banker to be a  mahājana , and  karmīs  desiring material enjoyment may consider philosophers like Jaimini to be  mahājanas . There are many  yogīs  who want to control the senses, and for them Patañjali Rṣi is a  mahājana . For the  jñānīs , the atheist Kapila, Vaśiṣṭha, Durvāsā, Dattātreya and other impersonalist philosophers are  mahājanas . For the demons, Hiraṇyākṣa, Hiraṇyakaśipu, Rāvaṇa, Rāvaṇa's son Meghanāda, Jarāsandha and others are accepted as  mahājanas . For materialistic anthropologists speculating on the evolution of the body, a person like Darwin is a  mahājana . The scientists who are bewildered by Kṛṣṇa's external energy have no relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, yet they are accepted by some as  mahājanas . Similarly, philosophers, historians, literary men, public speakers and social and political leaders are sometimes accepted as  mahājanas . Such  mahājanas  are respected by certain men who have been described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.3.19):
śva-viḍ-varāhoṣṭra-kharaiḥ 
  saṁstutaḥ puruṣaḥ paśuḥ 
  na yat-karṇa-pathopeto 
  jātu nāma gadāgrajaḥ
“Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the transcendental pastimes of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the deliverer from evils.”
Thus on the material platform animalistic leaders are worshiped by animals. Sometimes physicians, psychiatrists and social workers try to mitigate bodily pain, distress and fear, but they have no knowledge of spiritual identity and are bereft of a relationship with God. Yet they are considered  mahājanas  by the illusioned. Self-deceived persons sometimes accept leaders or spiritual masters from a priestly order that has been officially appointed by the codes of material life. In this way, they are deceived by official priests. Sometimes people accept as  mahājanas  those who have been designated by Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura as  ḍhaṅga-vipras  (imposter  brāhmaṇas ). Such imposters imitate the characteristics of Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura, and they envy Haridāsa Ṭhākura, who was certainly a  mahājana . They make great artificial endeavors, advertising themselves as great devotees of the Lord or as mystic hypnotists knowledgeable in witchcraft, hypnotism and miracles. Sometimes people accept demons like Pūtanā, Tṛṇāvarta,