Thakura Haridasa in Hari-nama-cintamani:
| jara sraddha haya name sei adhikari jara mukhe krsna-nama, sei se acrai |
"Only one who has sufficient faith in the glories of the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra is eligible to chant it. And only one who actually chants the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra is properly executing the prescribed duties of the human form of life.
| desa-kala-awaucadi niyama sakala sri nama-grahane nai nama se prabhala |
"The Hare Krishna Maha-mantra is so powerful that the chanting does not depend on conditions of time, place, rules, cleanliness and so on.
| dane, yajne, sthane, jape ache ta vicara krsna sankirtane matra sraddha adhikara |
"Pious activities, such as the giving of charity, the performance of sacrifices, the taking of ablutions, or the recitation of Vedic mantras are all regulated by stringent rules. But for the chanting of the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra, the only prerequisite is non-duplicitous faith.
| yuga-dharma harinama ananya-sraddhaya je kore asraya tara sarva labha haya |
Those who take shelter of the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra (the only religion for this age) with unalloyed faith, attain the fulfillment of all their desires."
In the Prema-vivarta, Krishnadasa inquires from Lord Gaura:
| prabhu bale---"sraddha-visvasa sakalera mula visvasa-abhave keha nahi labhe phala" |
Lord Caitanya replied: "Faith and conviction in the glories of the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra is the root cause of success in chanting. Without this faith no one can get the desired results from the chanting process."
| prabhu bale---"antaryami nama-bhagavan visvasanusare phala karena pradana |
The Lord continued: "The Hare Krishna Maha-mantra is the incarnation of Lord Krishna Himself, Who is omniscient. Thus is bestows the benefit to the chanter solely on the basis of one's faith in the chanting process.
| namera mahima purna visvasa na kare namera phala nahi paya nama aparadhe mare |
"Those who do not have complete faith in the glories of the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra will never achieve the desired results from chanting but will be thrown into hell because of their offenses against the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra."
Thakura Haridasa in Hari-nama-cintamani:
| THE DEGREE OF ADVANCEMENT OF A DEVOTEE IS SOLELY BASED ON HIS DEGREE OF ATTACHMENT FOR CHANTING THE HARE KRISHNA MAHA-MANTRA |
| jara jata name rati se tata vaisnava vaisnavera krame ei mate anubhava |
"To the extent one has attachment to the chanting of the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra, to that extent he is to be considered a Vaishnava."
| Purport by Srila Bhaktiratnu Sadhu Swami Gaurangapada |
We can identify four stages in Vaishnavism from the writings of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura:
VAISHNAVA-PRAYA: Neophyte (kanishtha) devotee who chants in namabhasa (negligently) without much faith in the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra and the association of devotees. (Normally around a four-round chanter or lower than sixteen-round chanter with a duplicitous, cheating, sinful, foolish or ignorant mentality).
VAISHNAVA: Between neophyte and intermediate stage, who regularly chants the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra while conscientiously trying to avoid the ten offenses after receiving the Maha-mantra from the Guru who is a pure chanter himself. (Normally a very sincere sixteen-round chanter.)
MADHYAMA-VAISHNAVA: Intermediate stage of devotion when one constantly chants the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra while actually avoiding the ten offenses. (Normally a sixty-four-round chanter or a very serious sixteen-round chanter who has chanted for many many years either in this life or previous lives and has an intense desire to increase their chanting.)
UTTAMA-VAISHNAVA: Perfected and the topmost stage when one chants the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra purely in love of Sri Krishna and simply by whose presence others are inspired to take full shelter of chanting the pure Names. (24-Hours a day chanter. Very rare in this world.)
According to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in Jaiva Dharma, it is compulsory for a Vaishnava-praya and a Vaishnava to associate and chant the Maha-mantra specifically in the association of Madhyama-vaishnavas and Uttama-vaishnavas to advance to the higher stages of chanting and thus achieve perfection. I would like to conclude with a very important statement by Srila Prabhupada in the "Nectar of Instruction, Verse Five, Purport:
"Everyone begins his devotional life from the neophyte stage, but if one properly finishes chanting the prescribed number of rounds of harinama, he is elevated step by step to the highest platform, Uttama-vaishnava."
VAISHNAVA-PRAYA: Neophyte (kanishtha) devotee who chants in namabhasa (negligently) without much faith in the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra and the association of devotees. (Normally around a four-round chanter or lower than sixteen-round chanter with a duplicitous, cheating, sinful, foolish or ignorant mentality).
VAISHNAVA: Between neophyte and intermediate stage, who regularly chants the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra while conscientiously trying to avoid the ten offenses after receiving the Maha-mantra from the Guru who is a pure chanter himself. (Normally a very sincere sixteen-round chanter.)
MADHYAMA-VAISHNAVA: Intermediate stage of devotion when one constantly chants the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra while actually avoiding the ten offenses. (Normally a sixty-four-round chanter or a very serious sixteen-round chanter who has chanted for many many years either in this life or previous lives and has an intense desire to increase their chanting.)
UTTAMA-VAISHNAVA: Perfected and the topmost stage when one chants the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra purely in love of Sri Krishna and simply by whose presence others are inspired to take full shelter of chanting the pure Names. (24-Hours a day chanter. Very rare in this world.)
According to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in Jaiva Dharma, it is compulsory for a Vaishnava-praya and a Vaishnava to associate and chant the Maha-mantra specifically in the association of Madhyama-vaishnavas and Uttama-vaishnavas to advance to the higher stages of chanting and thus achieve perfection. I would like to conclude with a very important statement by Srila Prabhupada in the "Nectar of Instruction, Verse Five, Purport:
"Everyone begins his devotional life from the neophyte stage, but if one properly finishes chanting the prescribed number of rounds of harinama, he is elevated step by step to the highest platform, Uttama-vaishnava."
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