We might, however, wish to limit the stricter definition of Vaishnava to those who pursue the path of suddha-bhakti, not knowingly mixing their theology with karma and jnana.
The following definitions of a Vaishnava are given by Sri Jiva Gosvami in his Bhakti-sandarbha:
The original verse (Anuccheda 202) is as follows:
ete hi vaiSNavAH santo mahattvena san-mAtratvena ca vibhidya nirdiSTAH | san-mAtra-bhede tAratamyaM cAtra yad aviviktaM tad-bhakti-bheda-nirUpaNe purato vivecanIyam | anye tu sva-goSThy-apekSayA vaiSNavAH tatra karmiSu tad-apekSayA
Earlier the greatness of different categories of Vaishnavas was related. Now different kinds of bhakti which were previously described together are discriminated between and compared with each other. Now various classes of Vaishnavas are considered along with fruitive workers.
Then Jiva Gosvami proceeds to cite three verses in defining a Vaishnava.
yathA skAnde mArkaNDeya-bhagIratha-saMvAde - dharmArthaM jIvitaM yeSAM santAnArthaM ca maithunam | pacanaM vipramukhyArthaM jJeyAs te vaiSNavA narAH || ity Adi |
In the Skanda Purana, Markandeya instructs Bhagiratha: "Those people for whom the purpose of life is religion, for whom the purpose of sexual intercourse are children, and for whom the purpose of cooking is to serve the brahmins, they are Vaishnavas."
atra zrI-viSNor AjJA-buddhyaiva tat tat kriyata iti vaiSNava-padena gamyate -- "Thus they who act in awareness of the orders of Vishnu are understood as Vaishnavas."
He continues:
zrI-visNu-purANe ca - na calati nija-varNa-dharmato yaH sama-matir Atma-suhRd-vipakSa-pakSe | na harati na hanti kiJcid uccaiH sthita-manasaM tam avehi viSNu-bhaktam || [ViP 3.7.20] iti |
tad-arpaNe tu sutarAm eva vaiSNavatvam |
In the Vishnu Purana: "He who does not abandon his specific varna-dharma, who is equiposed, who is a well-wisher to his enemies, who does not steal, who does not injure anyone, and who is steady in his mind, he is understood as a Vishnu-bhakta." Thus a simple definition of being a Vaishnava is presented.
yathA pAtAla-khaNDe vaizAkha-mAhAtmye -- jIvitaM yasya dharmArthaM dharmo hary-artham eva ca | aho-rAtrANi puNyArthaM taM manye vaiSNavaM bhuvi || [PadmaP 5.94.8] iti |
In the Patala-Khanda, Vaisakha-mahatmya: "Those who in this world live for the purpose of dharma, and for whom the purpose of dharma is Hari, and who act for the purpose of piety day and night, are known as Vaishnavas.
Thus the concept of Sri Jiva Gosvami is given. Perhaps even more significantly, the Hari Bhakti Vilasa (1.55) states:
gRhIta-viSNu-dIkSAko viSNu-pUjA-paro naraH | vaiSNavo 'bhihito 'bhijJair itaro 'smAd avaiSNavaH ||
"That person who has taken diksa of Vishnu and who does the puja of Vishnu, he is known as a Vaishnava and all others are non-vaishnavas."
kRSNa mantro dvija mukhAd yasya karNaM prayAti ca taM vaiSNavaM jagat pUtaM pravadanti purA vidaH
mantra grahaNa mAtreNa naro nArAyanAtmakaH punAti lIlA mAtreNa puruSANAM zatAm zatAm
NArada PaJcarAtra 1.9.21-22
The knowers of spiritual science call that person a Vaisnava, a purifier of the entire world, who has received a Krsna mantra from the mouth of a twice-born spiritual master. As soon as a person receives a Krsna mantra, he becomes situated on the same platform as Lord Narayana Himself and easily delivers one hundred generations of his family.
Please consider the following words of the great Gaudiya Vaishnava Acaryas Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode and Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakur from their Book "Vaishnavism and Nam-Bhajan". On pages two and three, these two illustrious Chaitanya Vaishnava saints give the following astounding definition of "Vaishnava".
VAISHNAVA
Real Vaishnavism: The word 'Vaishnavism' indicates the normal, eternal and natural condition, functions and devotional characteristics of all individua-souls in relation to Vishnu, the Supreme, the All-pervading Soul. But an unnatural, unpleasant and regrettable sense has been attributed to the word making one understand by the word, Vaishnava (literally a pure and self-less worshipper of Vishnu) a human form with twelve peculiar signs(Tilak) and dress on, worshipping many gods under the garb of a particular God and hating any other human form who marks himself with different signs, puts on a different dress and worships a different God in a different way and designated by the words 'Saiva', 'Sakta', 'Ganapatya', 'Jaina', 'Buddhist', 'Mahomedan', 'Christian' etc.
This is the most unnatural, unpleasant and regrettable sense of the word, 'Vaishnava', which literally and naturally means one who worships Vishnu out of pure love expecting nothing from Him in return.
Vishnu, the Supreme, All-pervading Soul, gives life and meaning to all that is. He is the highest unchallengeable Truth devoid of illusion everywhere and existing through eternity. He is Sat, ever existing, Chit, all-knowing, Ananda, ever-blissful and fully free. He is in jivas and jivas are in Him, as are the rays in the glowing sun and the particles of water in the vast rolling ocean. As nothing but heat and light of the sun, and coldness and liquidity etc. of the sea is found in the constituents of the rays and the particles of water respectively, so nothing but Sat, Chit or free will and Ananda is found in the jiva. The ingredients and attributes of the whole must remain in the part in a smaller degree. So the part it identical with the whole when taken qualitatively and different when taken quantitatively. This is the true and eternal relation between jiva and Vishnu. So He always prevails over jiva who is ever subject to Him. As the service of the master is the fundamental functi on of the servant, so the service of Vishnu is natural and inherent in jiva and it is called Vaishnavata or Vaishnavism and every jiva is a Vaishnava. As a person possessing immense riches is called a miser if he does not display and make proper use of them, so jivas when they do not display Vaishnavata are called Non-Vaishnavas or A-Vaishnavas though in reality they are so."
and from "THE BHAGAVATA" we read on page 18:
"The superiority of Bhagavan consists in the uniting of all sorts of theistical worship into one excellent principle in human nature which passes by the name bhakti. This word has no equivalent in the English Language. Piety, devotion, resignation, and spiritual love unalloyed with any sort of petition except in the way of repentance, compose the highest principle of Bhakti. The Bhagavata tells us to worship God in that great and invaluable principle which is infinitely superior to human knowledge and the principle of yoga.
Our short compass will not admit of an explanation of the principle of bhakti beautifully rising from its first stage of application in the form of brahmic worship in the shape of admiration which is styled the shanta-rasa, to the fifth or the highest stage of absolute union in Love with God, sweetly styled the madhurya-rasa of prema-bhakti. A full explanation will take a big volume which is not our objective here to compose. Suffice it to say that the principle of bhakti passes five distinct stages in the course of its development into its highest and purest form. Then again when it reaches the last form, it is susceptible of further progress from the stage of prema (Love) to that of mahabhava which is in fact a complete transition into the spiritual universe where God alone is the Bridegroom of our soul."
and on page 32:
"The Bhagavata, therefore, allows us to call Vyasa and Narada as saktyavesa avataras of the infinite energy of God, and the spirit of the text goes far to honour all great reformers and teachers who lived and will live in other countries. The Vaishnava is ready to honour all great men without distinction of caste, because they are filled with the energy of God. See how universal is the religion of the Bhagavata. It is not intended for a certain class of Hindus alone, but it is a gift to man at large, in whatever country he is born and in whatever society he is bred. In short, Vaishnavism is the Absolute Love binding all men together into the infinite unconditioned and absolute God. May it, peace, reign forever in the whole universe in the continual development of its purity by the exertion of the future heroes, who will be blessed according to the promise of the Bhagavata with powers from the Almighty Father, the Creator, Preserver and the Annihilator of all things in Heaven and Earth."
Srila Bhaktivinode, born in 1838, also said (page 32): "Plato looked at the peak of the Spiritual question from the West and Vyasa made the observation from the East."
Regarding divisive sectarianism or the 'party spirit' he also wrote in "THE BHAGAVATA":
"The true critic is a generous judge, void of prejudices and party spirit. One who is at heart the follower of Mohammed will certainly find the doctrines of the New Testament to be a forgery by the fallen angel. A Trinitarian Christian, on the other hand, will denounce the precepts of Mohammed as those of an ambitious reformer. The reason is simply that the critic should be of the same disposition of mind as the author whose merits he is required to judge. Thoughts have different ways. One who is trained up in the thoughts of the Unitarian Society or of the Vedanta of the Benares school, will scarcely find any piety in the faith of the Vaishnavas. An ignorant Vaishnava, on the other hand, whose business it is to beg from door to door in the name of Nityananda, will find no piety in the Christians. This is because the Vaishnava does not think in the way in which the Christian thinks of his own religion. It may be that both the Christian and the Vaishnava will utter the same sentiment, b ut they will never stop their fight with each other only because they have arrived at their common conclusion by different ways of thought. Thus it is that a great deal of ungenerousness enters into the arguments of the pious Christians when they pass their imperfect opinion on the religion of the Vaishnavas."
and finally Srila Bhaktivinode has lamented...
"Oh! What a trouble it is to get rid of prejudices gathered in unripe years!"
Chanting a holy name once (with faith) makes one a Vaisnava
prabhu kahe,—"yanra mukhe suni eka-bara
krsna-nama, sei pujya,—srestha sabakara
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied, "Whoever chants the holy name of Krsna just once is worshipable and is the topmost human being."
purport: Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura says that a person who simply chants the holy name of Krsna once becomes perfect and should be regarded as a Vaisnava. This is confirmed by Srila Rupa Gosvami in his Upadesamrta (5): krsneti yasya giri tam manasadriyeta. With such faith in the holy name one may begin a life of Krsna consciousness. But an ordinary person cannot chant the holy name of Krsna with such faith. One should accept the holy name of Krsna to be identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Transcendence Himself. As the Padma Purana states, "The holy name of Krsna is identical with Krsna and is like a cintamani gem, a touchstone. That name is Krsna personified in sound and is therefore perfectly transcendental and eternally liberated from material contamination." Thus one should understand that the name "Krsna" and Krsna Himself are identical. Having such faith, one must continue to chant the holy name. ... (CC 2.15.106, p.)
ataeva yanra mukhe eka krsna-nama
sei ta’ vaisnava, kariha tanhara sammana
One who even once chants Krsna’s name is described as a Vaisnava; therefore you should offer all respects to him. (CC 2.15.111)
"Whoever says the holy name even once is considered a Vaisnava, and the householder should be careful to respect such a person. But one who is constantly chanting the holy name of Krsna is even a better Vaisnava, being endowed with all good qualities. And one who, by his very presence can make others chant the name in devotion, is the highest Vaisnava. Now describe to Me exactly all the ways that the living entities take up this name of Krsna." (Harinama Cintamani ch. 2)
"It is concluded that one who is solely devoted to Krsna and sings His name is known as a sadhu. Other than the devotees of Krsna, no one else is considered to be a sadhu. One who considers himself a sadhu is filled with material pride. But one who thinks himself to be the lowest rascal, humbly takes shelter of Krsna and sings Krsna's name, is the real sadhu. Knowing himself to be less than a blade of grass, considering himself like a tree of tolerance, not expecting honor for himself and giving honor to all other living entities, he chants the name and attains attraction for Krsna.
"If a person of the above qualities chants the holy name even once, he is considered a Vaisnava, and should be respected. The Vaisnava is the friend and spiritual leader of the universe; he is an ocean of mercy to all living entities. Whoever criticizes such a Vaisnava goes to hell birth after birth; for there is no path for real liberation other than bhakti, and bhakti is obtained only by the mercy of the Vaisnavas." (Harinama Cintamani ch. 4)
"This/that is not Vaisnava" phrase in Vedabase
Search for the above phrases in Vedabase turned up these quotes (actually few more but they were of the same content):
If you have taken a wife for grhastha life, why are you neglecting? That is not Vaisnava. Vaisnava means he is very much responsible, and if he is householder, then he must be responsible. I cannot give sannyasa to any devotee who has not proven himself to be responsible in all respects. Better you prove yourself first by being ideal householder and forget all this nonsense. (letter to Mahatma, London, July 16, 1972)
So I have given you the guiding principles, it is not that I must be consulted with every small detail, that is the business of the in-charge, but if no one is there who can manage in the right way, what can I do? Now if you have got the right idea how to do it, you may go there again and take some responsible post for correcting the situation, that will be your real duty, not that there is some disagreement and I go away disgusted, no. That is not Vaisnava standard. Standard should be that, never mind there is some difficulty, my spiritual master has ordered me to do like this, now let me do it, that's all. (letter to Bhanutanya, Hyderabad, November 18, 1972)
One devotee, he requested Caitanya Mahaprabhu, "My Lord, You have come. Please liberate all the people of this universe. And if they are sinful, so all their sins, I may take, but they may be delivered." This is Vaisnava philosophy. "Others may be delivered by the grace of the Lord. I may rot in the hell. That doesn't matter." Not that, "First of all I go to the heaven, and others will rot." This is not Vaisnava philosophy. Vaisnava philosophy is, "I may rot in hell, but others may be delivered." Patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah. (SB lecture 1.2.16, Vrndavana, October 27, 1972)
Sarve sukhino bhavantu. Vaisnava desire is not exploitation. Vaisnava desire is that "How others will be happy, how they will understand Krsna, how they will get happiness in this life and next life." This is Vaisnava. Satisfied, in any condition. Not that "I must have all these things; then I'll be satisfied. Otherwise, I'm going from the temple." (laughter.) No, this is not Vaisnava qualification. You must live with the devotees, even if you are not satisfied. Any condition, you should be satisfied. Because as soon as you leave the company, you become again rogues, again demons. (SB lecture 2.3.13-14, Los Angeles, May 30, 1972)
Visnur aradhana means one must become a Vaisnava, and Vaisnava means regulated life, not destroyed everything, finished, to become hogs. That is not Vaisnava. Vaisnava means regulated, end—to, how to satisfy Visnu. (BG lecture 1.43, London, July 30, 1973)
So we should have firm faith, niscaya. Niscayat..., utsahad dhairyat niscayat. But niscayat; at the same time, you should not sit idly. You should work according to the direction of the spiritual master. Tat-tat-karma-pravartanat. "Now Krsna has given me assurance. Now let me sleep. Everything will come automatically." No. Tat-tat-karma-pravartanat. The spiritual master says, "You must do this. You must do that." That is called tat-tat-karma-pravartanat. Not that "Now I am initiated and..." That is going on in so many places. The guru says, "You think of me. Everything will be all right." I do not wish to name, but a very big ashram, they simply sit idly, and the guru has advised that "Think of me," that's all. This is not Vaisnava principle. Vaisnava principle is you must act according to the order of spiritual master. That is also an order. But the Vaisnava spiritual master orders according to the sastra. Sadhu-sastra-guru-vakya. Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, cittete koriya aikya, ar na koriho mane asa. This is the instruction of our acarya. (SB lecture 3.26.30, Bombay, January 7, 1975)
So actually, all the Vaisnava acaryas, Madhvacarya, Ramanujacarya, Nimbarka, and Visnu Svami, there is no difference of opinion, but they have explained the Absolute Truth more vividly in their own angle of vision. Otherwise there is no difference. They never say that God and the living being are one. They will never say that. That is not Vaisnava philosophy. That is Mayavada philosophy. (lecture of Science of Krsna, Hyderabad, April 14, 1975)
Vaisnava does not approach Krsna directly. That is not Vaisnava. This is impudency. You cannot approach Krsna. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has taught us, gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasa-dasanudasah [Cc. Madhya 13.80]. This is the process. (SB lecture 7.9.28, Mayapur, March 6, 1976)
Vaisnava is always humble, meek and humble. That is Vaisnava. Vaisnava is powerful, but still he is very meek and humble. So here is the sign. Prahlada Maharaja is so qualified that immediately Lord Nrsimhadeva put His hand on the head: "My dear child, you have suffered so much. Now be pacified." This is Prahlada Maharaja's position—immediately accepted by the Lord. But he's thinking, "I am so lowborn in the family of passionate family." Ugra-jateh. He's not proud that "Now Nrsimhadeva has touched my head. Ah. Who is like me? I am the greatest personality." This is not Vaisnava. (SB lecture 7.9.8, Mayapur, February 28, 1977)
"Actually," Prabhupada said, "this is a fact. One has to be blessed by a devotee to become a devotee. And he who is the servant of the servant of the servant—one hundred times removed—is not worse than one who directly serves the guru. If one thinks, 'Because I am direct servant, I am better than others,' then he is not a Vaisnava. To offer one's respects to Guru and not to his disciples, this is wrong. This is not Vaisnava. One has to be humble and try to serve all Vaisnavas—not some and not others." (Hari Sauri Dasa, A Transcendental Diary 1 - November 1975 - April 1976. TD 1-9: Sri Dhama Mayapur. January 28th, 1976.)
Summary:
Vaisnava is _not_ characterized by
- material irresponsibility (neglecting duties of one's asrama)
- spiritual irresponsibility (giving up one's service in difficulties)
- selfishness (thinking only of one's own liberation)
- materialism (wishing for material happiness outside vaisnava sanga)
- unregulated life
- passivity (not acting according to the order of spiritual master)
- attachment to Mayavada
- trying to approach Krsna directly, not through His devotees
- considering oneself the greatest after receiving the mercy of the Lord
- making differences among vaisnavas based on their physical proximity to the guru; respecting guru but not his disciples [the ritvik premise]
pUrvaM kRtvA tu sammAnam
avajJAM kurute tu yaH
vaiSNavAnAM mahI-pAla
sAnvayo yAti saGkSayam
"O ruler of the world, one who first respects a Vaishnava and then later insults him is vanquished along with his family." (Skanda Purana)
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