TEXT 80
sisya-gana kahe,--'isvara kaha kon pramane'
acarya kahe,--'vijna-mata isvara-laksane'
SYNONYMS
sisya-gana kahethe disciples of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya said; isvara kahayou say the Supreme Personality of Godhead; kon pramaneby what evidence; acarya kaheGopinatha Acarya replied; vijna-matastatements of authorized persons; isvara-laksanein 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 Sri 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 request of the Bhattacarya's disciples is quite bona fide. Unfortunately, at the present moment it has become fashionable to present someone as an incarnation of God without referring to the sastras. Before an intelligent person accepts someone as an incarnation 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 understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Lord Krsna is established as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by statements from authorized persons like Brahma, Narada, Vyasadeva, Asita, Arjuna and many others. Similarly, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is also established as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by evidence from the same personalities. This will be explained later.

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