Who is a devotee? Gaudiya-kanthahara 3rd Jewel, Vaishnava-tattva

শ্রী গৌड़िয-কন্ঠহার

Gauḍiya Kanṭhahāra:

The Jeweled Necklace of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas

Third Jewel

Definition of a Vaiṣṇava

३.१
गृहीत-विष्णु-दीक्षाको विष्णु-पूजापरो नरः वैष्णवो ऽभिहितो ऽभिज्ञ इरितरो
ऽस्मादवैष्णवः
3.1

gṛhīta-viṣṇu-dīkṣāko viṣṇu-pūjāparo naraḥ vaiṣṇavo 'bhihito 'bhijña iritaro

'smādavaiṣṇavaḥ

One who is initiated into the Vaiṣṇava mantra and who is devoted to worshiping

Lord Viṣṇu is a Vaiṣṇava. One who is devoid of these practices is not a

Vaiṣṇava.
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, 11, quoting from

Padma Purāṇa)

Different Kinds of Vaiṣṇavas

३.२
द्वेधा हि भागवत-सम्प्रदाय-प्रवृत्तिः. एकतः संक्षेपतः श्री नारायणाद्-ब्रह्म- नारदादि द्वारेण.
अन्यत् अस्तु विस्तरतः शेषात् सनत्-कुमार- साण्ख्यायनादि-द्वारेण.
3.2

dvedhā hi bhāgavata-sampradāya-pravṛttiḥ. ekataḥ saṁkṣepataḥ śrī nārāyaṇād-brahma- nāradādi dvāreṇa.

anyat astu vistarataḥ śeṣāt sanat-kumāra- sāṇkhyāyanādi-dvāreṇa.

Vaiṣṇavas are divided into different sampradāyas according to their

inclinations. The first of these has come from

Nārāyaṇa by way of Brahmā, Nārada, and so on. Another sampradāya comes from Śeṣa Bhagavān and has been outlined by the Sanat-Kumāras. (Śrīdhara

Svāmī's commentary on Bhāg.

3.1.1)

Three Kinds of Devotees

(In terms of Arcana Marga, The path of temple worship)

Arcana-mārga and Neophyte Devotees

३.३
शङ्ख-चक्रा-द्यूऋद्ध पुण्ड्र-
धारणाद्यात्मालक्षणम् तन्-नमस्करणैश् चविअर् वैष्णववत्वमिहोच्यते

3.3

śaṅkha-cakrā-dyūṛddha puṇḍra-

dhāraṇādyātmālakṣaṇam tan-namaskaraṇaiś caviar vaiṣṇavavatvamihocyate

In terms of the pañcarātra-viddhi, one whose body is marked with the conch,

lotus, disc, and club of Viṣṇu, who wears Viṣṇu tilāka, and who offers respect to

other Vaiṣṇavas is known by these symptoms as a kaniṣṭha-adhikāri Vaiṣṇava.

(Padma-Purāṇa)

Arcana-mārga and the Intermediate Devotees

३.४
तापः पुण्ड्रं तथा नाम मन्त्रो यागश्च पञ्चमः
अमी हि पञ्च संस्काराः परमैकान्ति-हेतवः

3.4

tāpaḥ puṇḍraṁ tathā nāma mantro yāgaśca pañcamaḥ

amī hi pañca saṁskārāḥ paramaikānti-hetavaḥ 

A madhyama-adhikāri Vaiṣṇava in terms of pañcarātrika-viddhi, is one who has

been purified by the five kinds of purificatory processes (pañca-saṁskāras): 1)

practicing austerity for the sake of Viṣṇu, 2) wearing Viṣṇu tilāka, 3) receiving

the holy name of Viṣṇu, 4) accepting initiation into the gāyatrī-mantra, and 5)

performing yajña for the sake of Viṣṇu. He must also have firm faith in Viṣṇu.

(Padma Purāṇa)

Arcana-mārga and the Advanced Devotee

३.५
तादादि-पञ्च-संस्कारी नवेज्याकर्म-कारकः अर्थ-पञ्चकविद् विप्रो महाभागवतः स्मृतः

3.5

tādādi-pañca-saṁskārī navejyākarma-kārakaḥ artha-pañcakavid vipro mahābhāgavataḥ smṛtaḥ 

A spiritually developed person who has mastered the above-mentioned five

processes of purification (pañca-saṁskāras), who is absorbed in the nine

devotional activities (deity worship, mantra, yoga, yajña, prayers, nāmasaṅkīrtana,

service, and worship of both the Vaiṣṇavas and the Lord) and who

understands the esoteric meaning of these different activities in full, is to be

known as a mahā-bhāgavata, a great devotee of

Viṣṇu, and a topmost Vaiṣṇava. (Padma Purāṇa)

Three kinds of Devotees 

(in terms of Krishna Prema)

The Symptoms of a Neophyte Devotee

३.५
तादादि-पञ्च-संस्कारी नवेज्याकर्म-कारकः अर्थ-पञ्चकविद् विप्रो महाभागवतः स्मृतः
3.6

arcāyām-eva haraye pūjāṁ yaḥ śraddhayehate na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu sa bhaktaḥ prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ

Those who faithfully worship the Deity, but cannot treat devotees properly and

cannot deal properly with the people in general are known as prākṛta-bhaktas,

materialistic or neophyte devotees (kaniṣṭha- adhikāri Vaiṣṇavas).


(Bhāg.11.2.47)

[Note: Śrīla Prabhupāda comments on this verse in

Caitanya-Caritāmṛta: A prākṛta-bhakta, or materialistic devotee, does not purposefully study the śāstra and try to understand the actual standard of pure devotional service.

Consequently, he does not show proper respect to advanced devotees. He may,

however, follow the regulative principles, learn from his spiritual master, or

from his family who worships the Deity. He is to be considered on the material

platform, although he is trying to advance in devotional service. Such a person

is a bhakta-prāya, a neophyte devotee, or bhaktābhāsa when he is a little enlightened by Vaiṣṇava philosophy.]

 Symptoms of a Madhyama-adhikāri

३.७
ईश्वरे तद्-अधीनेषु बालिशेषु द्विषत्सु च प्रेम-मैत्री-कृपोपेक्षा यः करोति स मध्यमः

3.7

īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca
prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ

A madhyama-adhikāri Vaiṣṇava shows love for the Supreme Lord, friendship

for the devotees, mercy towards the innocent and ignorant, and is indifferent

towards the envious. (Bhāg. 11.2.46)

৩.৮
কৃষ্ণ প্রেম, কৃষ্ণ ভক্তে মৈত্রী-আর্চরণ বালিশেতে কৃপা, আর দ্ৱেষী-উপেক্ষণ
করিলেন মধ্যম-ভক্ত শুদ্ধ-ভক্ত হন কৃষ্ণ-নামে অধিকার করেন অর্জন

3.8

kṛṣṇa prema, kṛṣṇa bhakte maitrī-ārcaraṇa bāliśete kṛpā, āra dveṣī-upekṣaṇa

karilena madhyama-bhakta śuddha-bhakta hana kṛṣṇa-nāme adhikāra karena arjana

One who has love for Kṛṣṇa, who makes friends

with the devotees, who shows mercy to the neophytes and ignorant people, and who avoids the envious is a madhyama-bhakta and is considered a pure devotee, a śuddha-bhakta. He is qualified to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. (Harināma Cintāmaṇi, Chapter 8) 

Symptoms of an Uttama-adhikāri

३.९
सर्व-भूतेषु यः पश्येद् भगवद्-भावम् आत्मनः
भूतानि भगवत्य् आत्मन्य् एष भागवतोत्तमः
3.9

sarva-bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyed bhagavad-bhāvam ātmanaḥ

bhūtāni bhagavaty ātmany eṣa bhāgavatottamaḥ 

A person advanced in devotional service sees within everything the soul of souls,

the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Consequently he always sees

Kṛṣṇa everywhere and in everything. He is an uttama-bhāgavata, one on the

topmost platform of devotional service. (Bhāg.

11.2.45)




৩.১০
স্থাৱর-জঙ্গম দেখে, না দেখে তার মূর্তি
সর্ৱত্র হয নিজ ইষ্ট-দেৱ-স্ফূর্তি

3.10

sthāvara-jaṅgama dekhe, nā dekhe tāra mūrti

sarvatra haya nija iṣṭa-deva-sphūrti

The mahā-bhāgavata certainly sees everything mobile and immobile, but he

does not exactly see their forms. Rather, everywhere he immediately sees

manifest the form of the Supreme Lord. (Cc. Madhya 8.274)

to be continued...