Vaisnava ninda

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“To murder a Vaisnava, to blaspheme a Vaisnava, to despise a Vaisnava, to

not welcome a Vaisnava properly, to display anger towards a Vaisnava and to

not be pleased upon seeing a Vaisnava, these six are the cause of falldown.”

(Skanda Purana)

 

Being envious of a Vaisnava and criticizing him is called vaisnava-ninda. We

should never criticise a Vaisnava, even unknowingly or due to carelessness.

If we become aware that a Vaisnava is engaged in some misconduct, we should

remember this verse from the Bhagavad-gita (9.31): ksipram bhavati

dharmatma, by the potency of his exclusive bhajana these anomalies will soon

disappear from his conduct. We should offer pranama to him but not associate

with him. We can respect him externally but not internally; in other words,

we should not listen to what he says or emulate his behavior. If we

blaspheme such a devotee, we should beg forgiveness from him. And if we

blaspheme a pure Vaisnava, then we are finished. We should never do this,

even unknowingly or due to carelessness. Sometimes to please one devotee we

criticize another devotee who is not friendly with him. Beware we should not

do this. Suppose two Vaisnavas have quarreled over a trifle. We meet with

one of them and please him by criticising the other, then we meet with the

other and please him by criticizing the first devotee. This is usually how

it happens. We should be very careful not to do this because it will

definitely be the cause of our fall-down. Very few people offend their guru

because it is so plainly forbidden in all the scriptures, but we may harbor

offensive feelings towards other Vaisnavas. We should remain very careful

about this because of its seriousness, and that is why it is at the top of

the list of the ten types of nama-aparadha.

 

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