Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.86.55
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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duṣprajñāḥ
—
those of corrupted intelligence
Compound: duṣ (bad) + prajñā (intelligence). The same root family as Bhagavad-gītā's sthita-prajña — but here the mind is corrupted in the opposite direction. Gauḍīyas mark duṣprajña as the diagnostic of one who cannot see the Lord in the bhakta.
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asūyavaḥ
—
and behave enviously toward
From a + √sūyā (envy). Envy of a brāhmaṇa-bhakta is the gravest aparādha. CC Madhya names it the first nāmāparādha — sādhu-nindā. Bhagavān Himself condemns it here in His own voice.
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ātmānam
—
their own self
Accusative of ātman. The brāhmaṇa is named the very self of the worshiper. Gauḍīyas extend the doctrine: insulting a bhakta is insulting oneself, because Bhagavān is the ātmā of all and the bhakta is dearer to Bhagavān than even His own form.
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arcā-ādaū
—
in the visibly manifest Deity of the Lord
Compound: arcā (Deity-form) + ādi (and so on). Limited vision sees the Lord only in the Deity. Gauḍīyas honor arcā-vigraha as identical with Bhagavān, but warn against arcā-only worship that misses the living Vaiṣṇava.
Those who find fault with the brahmanas (asuyavah) and think that deities are worthy of worship but not the brahmanas, do not know this.
Not knowing the brāhmaṇa is worthy of worship, thinking that the deity form alone should be worshipped, they offend him, though he is guru, the instructor of all beings, since he is a great devotee. They thus offend me since he is non-different from me, since he is my favorite abode, and they thus offend Paramātmā (ātmānam). This is because they are unintelligent, and cannot tolerate seeing others as themselves (asūyavaḥ).
The foolish disrespect the devotee brāhmaṇa because they are envious, since they are ignorant (duṣprajṣāḥ). This is because they think the deity and its garland (ādau) are worshippable, but not the devotee. Or being thus ignorant, thinking only the deity is worshippable, they disrespect the devotees, because they are ignorant and thus envious. They are gurus because it is said varṇānāṁ brāhmaṇo guru: the brāhmaṇa is the guru of the four varṇas. They are me because I reside in them. And they are dearest to me (ātmānam) since they are devotees. By offending the brāhmaṇa, one commits offense against me--the guru, and my devotees. The terms gurum, mām, vipram and ātmānam are successively more excellent. The devotee (ātmānam) is the best of all. Offense to the devotee is the greatest offense.
The fool worships only the visible Deity but neglects the living brāhmaṇa next door. Bhagavān names this aparādha plainly. Worship without sādhu-respect is half-blind worship.
SB 9.4 — Durvāsā, the demigod-sage, offends Ambarīṣa the bhakta-king and is chased by the Sudarśana cakra throughout the universe. The lesson is exactly this verse: Bhagavān defends the brāhmaṇa-bhakta even against great ṛṣis when they offend.
Gauḍīyas treat Vaiṣṇava-aparādha as the most dangerous of the offenses (CC Madhya 19.156 — Bhagavān forgives Bhagavān-aparādha, never Vaiṣṇava-aparādha). The verse here names the very mentality that produces such offense: vision limited to arcā, blind to ātmā in the bhakta.
My note
Source: vedabase.io