eka-dina vipra, nÄma — 'gopÄla cÄpÄla'
pÄá¹£aṇá¸i-pradhÄna sei durmukha, vÄcÄla
bhavÄnÄ«-pÅ«jÄra saba sÄmagrÄ« lañÄ
rÄtre Å›rÄ«vÄsera dvÄre sthÄna lepÄñÄ

 eka-dina - one day; vipra - one brÄhmaṇa; nÄma - named; gopÄla cÄpÄla - GopÄla CÄpÄla; pÄá¹£aṇdi-pradhÄna - the chief of the nonbelievers; sei - he; durmukha - ferocious, using strong words; vÄcÄla - talkative; bhavÄnÄ«-pÅ«jÄra - for worshiping the goddess BhavÄnÄ«; saba - all; sÄmagrÄ« - ingredients, paraphernalia; laÃ±Ä - taking; rÄtre - at night; Å›rÄ«vÄsera - of ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura; dvÄre - on the door; sthÄna - the place; lepÄÃ±Ä - smearing.


Text

One night while kÄ«rtana was going on inside ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura’s house, a brÄhmaṇa named GopÄla CÄpÄla, the chief of the nonbelievers, who was talkative and very rough in his speech, placed all the paraphernalia for worshiping the goddess DurgÄ outside ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura’s door.

Purport

This brÄhmaṇa, GopÄla CÄpÄla, wanted to defame ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura by proving that he was actually a Å›Äkta, or a worshiper of BhavÄnÄ«, the goddess DurgÄ, but was externally posing as a Vaiṣṇava. In Bengal there is perpetual competition between the devotees of goddess KÄlÄ« and the devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Generally Bengalis, especially those who are meat-eaters and drunkards, are very much attached to worshiping the goddesses DurgÄ, KÄlÄ«, ŚītalÄ and Caṇá¸Ä«. Such devotees, who are known as Å›Äktas, or worshipers of the Å›akti-tattva, are always envious of Vaiṣṇavas. Since ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura was a well-known and respected Vaiṣṇava in NavadvÄ«pa, GopÄla CÄpÄla wanted to reduce his prestige by bringing him down to the platform of the Å›Äktas. Therefore outside ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura’s door he placed various paraphernalia for worshiping BhavÄnÄ«, the wife of Lord Åšiva, such as a red flower, a plantain leaf, a pot of wine, and reddish sandalwood paste. In the morning, when ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura 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 BhavÄnÄ«. Very sorry, these gentlemen called for a sweeper to cleanse the place and purify it by sprinkling water and cow dung there. This incident concerning GopÄla CÄpÄla is not mentioned in the Caitanya-bhÄgavata.