The Three Types Of Vaiṣṇavas

The Three Types Of Vaiṣṇavas by Srila BhaktivinodaThakura

The Vaiṣṇava, who is attached to chanting the Holy Name, becomes recognised as a member of Sri Chaitanyas family and dedicated to His lotus feet. The title of Vaiṣṇava is awarded to one who chants the Holy Name occasionally. The devotee who chants incessantly is called a Vaiṣṇava-tara, an elevated Vaiṣṇava, and the Vaiṣṇava who inspires others to chant the Holy Name simply by his presence is a Vaiṣṇava-tama, the most elevated.

These gradations have been explained in the Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 15.111, 16, 72, 74, 75)

ataeva yāṅra mukhe eka kṛṣṇa nāma
sei ta’ vaiṣṇava, kariha tāṅhāra sammāna
kṛṣṇa nāma nirantara yāhāra vadane
sei vaiṣṇava śreṣṭha, bhaja tānhāra caraṇe
yānhāra darśane mukhe āise kṛṣṇa nāma
tānhare jāniha tumi vaiṣṇava pradhāna
krama kari kahe prabhu vaiṣṇava lakṣaṇā
vaiṣṇava vaiṣṇavatara āra vaiṣṇavatama

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu advised:
“One who is chanting the Hare Krishna mahāmantra is understood to be a Vaiṣṇava; therefore, you should offer all respects to him. A devotee who is always chanting the Holy Name of the Lord is to be considered a first class Vaiṣṇava, and your duty is to serve his lotus feet. The most elevated Vaiṣṇava is he whose very presence makes others chant Krishna’s name. In this way, Lord Chaitanya described the characteristics of the different levels of Vaiṣṇava:

Vaiṣṇava,
Vaiṣṇava-tara and Vaiṣṇava-tama.”

It is the duty of every living entity to associate with all three types of saintly devotees. A Vaiṣṇava must at all times be respected; and the Vaiṣṇava-tara and Vaiṣṇava-tama must be served with loving reverence. The householder Vaiṣṇava must celebrate festivals in the company of such Vaiṣṇavas. Whether the Vaiṣṇava is a householder or a renunciant, the devotee should respect him according to his level. When a devotee seeks sādhu-saṅga, saintly association, he must approach a more advanced Vaiṣṇava. As is described in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2. 92, 90):

sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare
śrīmad bhāgavatārthānām āsvado rasikaiḥ saha

“One should associate with devotees who are more advanced than oneself and endowed with a similar type of sentiment and attraction for the Lord. One should relish the purport of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam in the association of pure devotees who are steeped in spiritual life and realisation.”

One must be very cautious not to judge a Vaiṣṇava based on his previous sins, residual sinful reactions, or a sudden fall-down into sinful activity.

Srila Rupa Goswami has warned in the Upadeśamrta (6): na prākṛtatvam iha bhakajanasya paṣyet — “One must not see a Vaiṣṇava as a mundane person.”

One must never discuss others’ sinful activities except with good intentions to help. One must develop the quality of mercy towards all living entities. One is required to see oneself as meek and humble, thus enabling one to be respectful to everyone and not desire respect for oneself. The householder Vaiṣṇavas will accept material things without attachment, but with knowledge of their utility and relationship to Krishna’s service. In this way, they will not be contaminated by materialism and they will be able to submerge themselves in the transcendental relish of chanting the Holy Name. And when the taste for Krishna consciousness increases and correspondingly mundane attraction decreases to nil—then automatically a natural mood of renunciation develops and the anxiety of want disappears. This condition and state of consciousness cannot be achieved in any other way.

— Daśa-mūla-tattva » Translated by Sarvabhāvanadāsa » Chapter Ten – Pure Devotion–The Only Means of Perfection.