Verse 17: ᴋᴀɴɪṣᴛ̣ʜᴀ-ᴀᴅʜɪᴋᴀ̄ʀɪ̄, arcāyām eva haraye

 

Śʟᴏᴋᴀ Sᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴇᴇɴ: Wʜᴏ ɪs ᴀɴ ᴋᴀɴɪṣᴛ̣ʜᴀ-ᴀᴅʜɪᴋᴀ̄ʀɪ̄?

arcāyām eva haraye 

pūjāṁ yaḥ śraddhayehate

na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu 

sa bhaktaḥ prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ 

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.47) 

① arcāyām – in the ritualistic process of worship; eva – certainly; haraye – unto Śrī Hari; ② pūjām – offering worship; yaḥ – who; śraddhayā – with faith; īhate – endeavours; ③ na – not; tad- bhakteṣu – to Śrī Hari’s devotees; ca – yet; anyeṣu – to other beings; ④ saḥ – he; bhaktaḥ – devotee; prākṛtaḥ – a material; smṛtaḥ – considered. 

A person who endeavors whole heartedly in the ritualistic worship of the Deity form of Śrī Hari according to worldly faith yet does not worship the devotees of Śrī Hari whose bodies are also temples of Śrī Hari, nor offer respect to other living entities, is known as a materialistic, or kaniṣṭha, devotee. 

 

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Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad recites the whole verse and discussed it alongside Verse 17 in a lecture from February , 1967 in San Francisco. You can hear him recite the whole verse at  3:16 .

There are three kinds of devotees: kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, madhyama-adhikārī and mahā-bhāgavata, bhāgavata, or those who are in the lower status, those who are in the middle status and those who are in the highest status. Those who are in the lower status are beginners, devotees. For them, the description is that:

arcāyām eva haraye

yaḥ pūjām śraddhayehate

na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu

sa bhaktaḥ prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ

(SB 11.2.47)

"In the lower stage, a devotee goes to the temple or to the church or to the mosque, with great devotion and faith offers prayers to the Lord, but he has no knowledge about other devotees," na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu, "and he does not know the duty to others."

A devotee should not be satisfied simply by elevating himself in spiritual advancement. He has got other duties also. What is that other duties? That those who are innocent, those who are not interested . . . everyone is interested, but there are persons who have forgotten his relationship with God. Therefore it is the duty of the devotee to enlighten others. That is required.

Just like Lord Jesus Christ, he also preached the sense of God, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is the duty of devotee. It is the duty of good son of God, but the . . . those who are in the lower status, they have not developed such consciousness that, "I have to preach the philosophy of God consciousness or Kṛṣṇa consciousness to others." They are simply satisfied themself. They go to the church or mosque or temple, offer their prayers in devotion. That's all. So the next stage is one who is advanced spiritualist, he has got four visions.

īśvare tad-adhīneṣu

bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca

prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā

yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ

(SB 11.2.46)

"A person who knows what is God, and knows also who is a devotee, and knows also who is innocent, and knows also who is atheist . . ." there are four kinds of people. So atheist, innocent, devotee and, er, yes, three classes, and God. God, God's devotee. One, God; second, God's devotee; third, innocent persons; and fourth, atheist.

So a person who has elevated himself to the second stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he has got four kinds of dealings. First thing is, because he knows God, therefore he loves God, prema. His only lovable object is God, or Kṛṣṇa. And the second is the . . . he makes friendship with the devotees of God. First thing is, because he loves God, therefore he makes friendship with the devotees of God. But God is the center. If you love God, then you can love others also very perfectly.

For example . . . of course, in your country I do not know, but in our country, suppose a girl is married to a boy, and the boy has got father, mother, brothers and so many other relatives. As soon as the girl comes to the house of her husband, the father of the husband becomes the father-in-law, or the mother of the husband becomes mother-in-law. So he has got . . . she has got some duty to the father-in-law, to the mother-in-law, to the brother-in-law; but before marriage, she had no connection with these, all these people.

Similarly, as soon as you make your connection revived . . . the connection is permanent. Your relationship with Kṛṣṇa, or God, is eternal, but we have forgotten. So as soon as it is revived, "Oh, I am the part and parcel of the Supreme," or "I am son of the Supreme," then your relationship with other sons of God becomes clear. That is universal brotherhood. 

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In another San Francisco lecture in March 1967, Srila Prabhupad said about this verse

: "In the beginning stage, he offers respect to the Deity in the church or in the temple or in the mosque, according to different religious conception, but he has no idea who is actually devotee, and what is his duty towards other. He does not know. This is the first stage. But he has got good faith in religion and in God. That is the beginning."

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In a Lecture in Mayapur in February 1977, Srila Prabhupad said, 

Kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, madhyama-adhikārī and mahā-bhāgavata, or uttama-adhikārī. Kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, in the beginning they have to be taught how to worship the Deity very perfectly. According to the instruction of the śāstra, according instruction of the guru, one must learn how to worship Deity.

arcāyām eva haraye yaḥ

pūjāṁ śraddhāyehate

na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu

sa bhaktaḥ prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ

(SB 11.2.47)

But one must make advance. This is advancement of devotional service. By simply we remain stuck up in Deity worship, we do not feel for others—na cānyeṣu na tad-bhakta—you do not know who is devotee, how to worship him, then we remain kaniṣṭha-adhikārī. And madhyama-adhikārī means he must know his position, others' position, devotee's position, God's position, and that is madhyma-adhikārī. Īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca (SB 11.2.46). He'll have four kinds of vision: Bhagavān, īśvara; tad-adhīneṣu, he's one who has taken shelter of Bhagavān—that means devotee—īśvare tad-adhīneṣu; baliśu, innocent children, just like these children, baliśa, arbhakaḥ; and dviṣatsu, envious. A madhyama-adhikārī can see these four different persons, and he deals with them differently. What is that? Prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā. Īśvara, to love God, Kṛṣṇa, prema. And maitrī. Maitrī means to make friendship. One who is devotee, we should make friendship with him. We should not be envious; we should make friend. Maitrī. And innocent, just like these children, kṛpa—to show them mercy, how they'll become devotee, how they'll learn chanting, dancing, give them food, give them education. This is called kṛpa. And last, upekṣā. Upekṣā means those who are envious, don't take; don't associate with them. Upekṣā. "No, let him . . ."

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During a morning walk in New Braj in 2007, Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayan Maharaj had Sripad Padmanabha Maharaj recite this verse and then had this discussion

Aniruddha dasa: Can a kanistha Vaisnava preach properly?

Srila Gurudeva: What will he preach? He barely knows anything about siddhanta. He should serve madhyama-adhikari Vaisnavas and hear from them. Then he will be able to preach properly.

Devotee: Didn't Srila Svami Maharaja Prabhupada use only kanisthas to spread Krsna consciousness all over the world?

Srila Gurudeva: He used to tell them that preaching means distribution of books, reading, and associating with higher classes of Vaisnavas. How can a kanistha Vaisnava preach properly if he only knows arcana and worship of his Gurudeva? What can he preach if he doesn't factually understand the other limbs of bhakti, if he cannot differentiate between the uttama, madhyama, and kanistha-adhikari, and if he does not properly understand bhakti-siddhanta?

Devotee: Even though we were kanistha, we always said we were madhyama – because we preached.

Srila Gurudeva: Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja wanted to somehow engage all those who came to him. He wanted them to develop a taste for bhakti. He considered that by doing the services he gave them they would advance in Krsna consciousness. This was his motive.

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In one of his last lectures in Mayapur, February, 1995, Srila Gour Govinda Swami said

In this connection we'll also speak about who is a kanishta-adhikari:

arcayam eva haraye

pujam yah sraddayehate

na tad-bhaktesu canyesu

sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah

(Bhag. 11.2.47)

A kanistha-adhikari is one who offers worship to the Deity form of Lord Hari, arca-vigraha, according to laukika-sraddha (ordinary faith), not sastriya-sraddha (faith based on sastra). It is a question of sraddha. Two types of sraddha are there, sastriya-sraddha and laukika sraddha. When we speak of sraddha we mean sastriya-sraddha. One should develop sastriya-sraddha, not laukika sraddha. And, na tad-bhaktesu canyesu sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah, one who doesn't pay respect to hari bhakta, the devotee of Lord Hari, and isn't compassionate toward other living entities in whom Lord Hari is present, he is a kanistha-bhakta.