Text 80) The Liberation of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya 231

TRANSLATION

Gopinatha Acarya continued: ‘Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is celebrated as
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Those who are ignorant in this connec-
tion find the conclusion of knowledgeable men very difficult to understand.”

TEXT 80

farasts| Scz,—ta FE Cw AACA’ |
Blots Bex,—faaas HUA-H HE? Wl vo

sisya-gana kahe, — ‘isvara kaha kon pramane’
acarya kahe, — ‘vijfia-mata isvara-laksane’

SYNONYMS

sisya-gana kahe—the disciples of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya said; isvara kaha—
you say the Supreme Personality of Godhead; kon pramane—by what evidence;
4carya kahe—Gopinatha Acarya replied; vijfia-mata—statements of authorized
persons; isvara-laksane—in understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

TRANSLATION

The disciples of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya retaliated: ‘‘By what evidence do
you conclude that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Lord?” Gopinatha
Acarya replied: ‘The statements of authorized acaryas who understand the
Supreme Personality of Godhead are proof.”

PURPORT

Since the appearance of $ri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, there have been many
pseudo incarnations in India who do not present authorized evidence. Five
hundred years ago the disciples of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, being very learned
scholars, were certainly right in asking Gopinatha Acarya for evidence. If a person
proposes that he himself is God or that someone else is an incarnation of God or
God Himself, he must cite evidence from sastra to prove his claim. Thus the re-
quest of the Bhattacarya’s disciples is quite bona fide. Unfortunately, at the pres-
ent moment it has become fashionable to present an incarnation of God without
referring to the sastras. Before an intelligent person accepts someone as an incar-
nation of God, however, he must ask about the evidence. When the disciples of
Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya challenged Gopinatha Acarya, he immediately replied
correctly: ‘We must hear the statements of great personalities in order to under-
stand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Lord Krsna is established as the
Supreme Personality of Godhead by statements from authorized persons like
