One who is faithful is a proper candidate for devotional service. In terms of one’s degree of faith in devotional service, one is a first-class, second-class or neophyte Vaiṣṇava.
CC Madhya 16.72, Purport: The Māyāvādīs look on Viṣṇu and Vaiṣṇavas imperfectly due to their poor fund of knowledge, and this is condemned. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.46), the intermediate Vaiṣṇava is described as follows:
- īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca
- prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ
“The intermediate Vaiṣṇava has to love God, make friends with the devotees, instruct the innocent and reject jealous people. These are the four functions of the Vaiṣṇava in the intermediate stage.” In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.64) Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī is taught:
- śraddhāvān jana haya bhakti-adhikārī
- ‘uttama’, ‘madhyama’, ‘kaniṣṭha’—śraddhā-anusārī
“One who is faithful is a proper candidate for devotional service. In terms of one’s degree of faith in devotional service, one is a first-class, second-class or neophyte Vaiṣṇava.”
- śāstra-yukti nāhi jāne dṛḍha, śraddhāvān
- ‘madhyama-adhikārī’ sei mahā-bhāgyavān
“One who has attained the intermediate stage is not very advanced in śāstric knowledge, but he has firm faith in the Lord. Such a person is very fortunate to be situated on the intermediate platform.” (Cc. Madhya 22.67)
- rati-prema-tāratamye bhakta-taratama
“Attraction and love for God are the ultimate goal of devotional service. The degrees of such attraction and love distinguish the different stages of devotion—neophyte, intermediate and perfectional.” (Cc. Madhya 22.71) An intermediate devotee is greatly attracted to chanting the holy name, and by chanting he is elevated to the platform of love. If one chants the holy name of the Lord with great attachment, he can understand his position as an eternal servant of the spiritual master, other Vaiṣṇavas and Kṛṣṇa Himself. Thus the intermediate Vaiṣṇava considers himself kṛṣṇa-dāsa, Kṛṣṇa’s servant. He therefore preaches Kṛṣṇa consciousness to innocent neophytes and stresses the importance of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. An intermediate devotee can identify the nondevotee or motivated devotee. The motivated devotee or the nondevotee are on the material platform, and they are called prākṛta. The intermediate devotee does not mix with such materialistic people. However, he understands that the Supreme Personality of Godhead and everything related to Him are on the same transcendental platform. Actually none of them are mundane.
