Bhaktivinoda Thakura on qualifications of a pure Vaisnava

Expressions researched:
"Bhaktivinoda" |"pure Vaisnava"

Notes from the compiler: Vedabase query: bhaktivinod* "pure vaisnava*"

CC Adi-lila

Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura describes that a pure Vaiṣṇava, as the proprietor of Kṛṣṇa and love of Kṛṣṇa, can deliver both to anyone and everyone he likes.

CC Adi 11.59, Translation and Purport:

All these devotees had unlimited strength to deliver unobstructed, unceasing love of Kṛṣṇa. By their own strength they could offer anyone Kṛṣṇa and love of Kṛṣṇa.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung, kṛṣṇa se tomāra, kṛṣṇa dite pāra, tomāra śakati āche. In this song, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura describes that a pure Vaiṣṇava, as the proprietor of Kṛṣṇa and love of Kṛṣṇa, can deliver both to anyone and everyone he likes. Therefore to get Kṛṣṇa and love of Kṛṣṇa one must seek the mercy of pure devotees. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura also says, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ’pi: "By the mercy of the spiritual master one is blessed by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. Without the grace of the spiritual master one cannot make any advancement." By the grace of a Vaiṣṇava or bona fide spiritual master one can get both love of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa Himself.

CC Antya-lila

The pure Vaiṣṇava has no desire for material enjoyment. That is the basic qualification of a pure Vaiṣṇava.

CC Antya 6.198, Translation and Purport:

"Although your father and uncle are charitable to brāhmaṇas and greatly help them, they are nevertheless not pure Vaiṣṇavas. However, they are almost like Vaiṣṇavas."

As stated by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya, some people, usually very rich men, dress like Vaiṣṇavas and give charity to brāhmaṇas. They are also attached to Deity worship, but because of their attachment to material enjoyment, they cannot be pure Vaiṣṇavas. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11). The pure Vaiṣṇava has no desire for material enjoyment. That is the basic qualification of a pure Vaiṣṇava. There are men, especially rich men, who regularly worship the Deity, give charity to brāhmaṇas and are pious in every respect, but they cannot be pure Vaiṣṇavas. Despite their outward show of Vaiṣṇavism and charity, their inner desire is to enjoy a higher standard of material life. Raghunātha dāsa’s father, Govardhana, and uncle, Hiraṇya dāsa, were both very charitable to brāhmaṇas. Indeed, the brāhmaṇas from the Gauḍīya district were practically dependent upon them. Thus they were accepted as very pious gentlemen. However, they presented themselves as Vaiṣṇavas to the eyes of people in general, although from a purely spiritual point of view they were ordinary human beings, not pure Vaiṣṇavas. Actual Vaiṣṇavas considered them almost Vaiṣṇavas, not pure Vaiṣṇavas. In other words, they were kaniṣṭha-adhikārīs, for they were ignorant of higher Vaiṣṇava regulative principles. Nevertheless, they could not be called viṣayīs, or blind materialistic enjoyers.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says that anyone who desires to merge into the existence of the Lord cannot be a pure Vaiṣṇava, but because Rāmadāsa Viśvāsa was a great devotee of Lord Rāmacandra, he was almost a Vaiṣṇava.

CC Antya 13.92, Translation and Purport:

Rāmadāsa Viśvāsa was very learned in all the revealed scriptures. He was a teacher of the famous book Kāvya-prakāśa and was known as an advanced devotee and worshiper of Raghunātha (Lord Rāmacandra).

Commenting on the word parama-vaiṣṇava, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says that anyone who desires to merge into the existence of the Lord cannot be a pure Vaiṣṇava, but because Rāmadāsa Viśvāsa was a great devotee of Lord Rāmacandra, he was almost a Vaiṣṇava. In those days, no one could distinguish between a pure Vaiṣṇava and a pseudo Vaiṣṇava. Therefore Rāmadāsa Viśvāsa was known as a Vaiṣṇava because he worshiped Lord Rāmacandra.