Once a person begins to worship the Deity of the Lord with a trace of bhakti it is to be understood that he has sown the seed of his own food fortune and that he is free from corrupt ideologies.
After hours of scouring thru two large books by Bhaktivinode Thakur-Jaiva Dharma and Caitanya siksamrita-I finally found the one quote I was looking for-and that would be the above one.These two books are literally a gold mine of nectar and I wish I could read and remember them both verbatim-
“Unless one is under the shelter of a realized spiritual master, his understanding of the Supreme is simply foolishness” quote from TLC
LA July 13 1971—Prabhupāda: Unless one is prepared that “I am accepting somebody as my spiritual master. I must accept whatever he says,” if there is any doubt, that “I cannot accepthis words verbatim,” then one should not accept him as spiritual master. That is hypocrisy
Chapter 8, Jaiva Dharma-Nitya Dharma and Vaisnava Behavior-translated by Sarvabhavana das starting at pg. 110
He begins this chapter by quoting Manu samhita 6.92 with the 10 characteristics of religiosity. Contentment, forgiveness, not revenging a wrong, self control, remaining in control of the mind in spite of the presence of allurements, honesty, cleanliness, withdrawing the senses from sense objects, scriptural knowledge, education, knowledge of the soul, trutfulness, awareness of reality and freedom from anger, to be not angered when provoked.Of these, 6 are characteristics directed to oneself and 4 are obligations to others. However the duty or worshipping the Supreme Lord Sri Hari is not clearly delineated in any of these 10 characteristics.
Then he quotes SB 2.3.19 which states that “men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the transcendental pastimes of Sri Krsna, the deliverer from evils.”This is meant to distinguish ordinary moral persons, who are on the material level, from Vaisnavas who are not in the material world. A huge gulf of difference between the two. Now he begins to make the distinctions between kanistha (3rd class), madhyama (2nd class) and Uttama (1st class) devotees.
SB 11.2.47—Arcayam eva haraye, pujam yah sraddhayehate, na tad bhaktesu canyesu, sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah.A materialistic devotee does not purposefully study the sastra and try to understand the actual standard of pure devotional service. Consequently he does not show proper respect to advanced devotees. He may however follow the regulative principles he has learnt from his spiritual master or family tradition and worship the Deity in the temple. He is to be considered as being on the material platform although he is trying to advance in devotional service.Such a person is bhakta praya or bhakta abhasa, a neophyte devotee for he is but a little enlightened about the Vaisnava philosophy. One who worships the Deity of the Lord with faith, but neither respects the created living creatures of the Lord nor worships and serves His devotees with devotion is a prakrta-bhakta…To worship the Deity of the Lord with sraddha is certainly bhakti, but without worshipping and serving the devotee of the Lord, one cannot execute suddha –bhakti. This position of serving the Lord but not His pure devotee can be described as being at best a step inside the portals of the realm of bhakti.
Now the Thakur quotes SB 10.84.13—“One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus bile and air who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image of the land of his birth are worshippable, or who see a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth-such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.”The purport of these verses is that without worshipping the Deity of the Lord, ones bhakti cannot even begin . If one rejects the personal Deity form and enters into argumentitive debate in a futile attempt to attain spiritual knowledge, then the heart becomes dry and hardened and the true goal of bhakti is lost in bewilderment. However the worship of the Deity should be performed with ever increasing suddha cinmaya buddhi, transcendental consciousness….If Deity worship is conducted with sambandha-jnana, then the consequent transcendental understanding will naturally stimulate bhakta-seva, spiritual service to the Lords devotees, and the transcendental esoteric perception and service of the Deity.When there is a perfect marriage of sraddha with transcendental understanding then this is called sastriya-sraddha, faith based on proper scriptural conclusions. ..One who has been initiated with the Visnu mantra in accordance with the regulations of scripture and is worshipping the Deity of Sri Visnu is considered a Vaisnava by the learned scholars. All others are non-Vaisnavas. Kanistha Vaisnavas or prakrta bhaktas are those who have received initiation from hereditary kula gurus, family tradition or those who feel sentimentally inspired upon seeing others worshipping the Deity of Sri Visnu and so then worship the Deity in imitation, or those who have accepted initiation into Visnu mantra with laukika sraddha (immature faith). These unrefined devotees are on the level of chaya-bhakti-abhasa, a shadow like semblance of bhakti. However they are above those who take a reflective distorted semblance of bhakti which is offensive in nature and devoid of actual Vaisnavism. A person elevated to chaya bhakti abhasa is immensely fortunate because from thispreliminary stage he may be eventually promoted to the madhyama Vaisnava and uttama Vaisnava platforms.These immature practitioners of chaya bhakti abhasa however are certainly not pure devotees. They worship the Deity with sentimental faith and their behavior in society is inspired by the 10 religious characteristics mentioned earlier. The scriptural injunctions that direct the conduct of an actual devotee are not meant for these kanisthas, for they cannot even discriminate between a devotee and a non devotee.
SB 11.2.46-Madhyamas—“isvare tad-adhinesu, balisesu dvbisatsu ca, prema maître krpopeksa, yah karoti sa madhyamah”An intermediate or second class devotee called a madhyama offers his love to the Lord, is a sincere friend to all the devotees of the Lord, shows mercy to the ignorant people who are innocent, and disregards those who are envious of the Lord and His devotees. Naimittika-dharma (materialistic dharma) is not addressed in this verse. The standards of devotional behavior in this verse are part of nitya dharma.(eternal religion) In the life of a madhyama these 4 practices are the ideal and essential conduct, and other etiquettes that are not contrary to the above 4 practices may be adopted where necessary. The conduct of the madhyama vaisnava is differently directed towards the 4 categories of persons-the Lord, his devotees, the ignorant and persons inimical to the Lord and His devotees. The Mahyama directs his prema –love, towards the Lord, his maître, friendship to the devotees, his krpa, compassion to the ignorant and upeksa is indifferent towards the envious.As described in the verse, the first characteristic of the madhyama is his prema for Isvara. Prema also implies suddha bhakti to Sri Krsna.“Anyabhilasita sunyam, jnana-karmady anavrtam, anukulyena krsnanu silanam bhaktir uttama. “One should render transcendenental loving service to the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. This is pure bhakti.These symptoms of bhakti just described are first seen in the sadhana practices of the madhyama adhikari vaisnava and extend up to the level of bhava and finally into the blossoming of prema. Worship of the Deity form of the Lord with immature sraddha is the only characteristic of the kanistha practitioner. Such a person does not display the symptoms of suddha bhakti which are anyabhilasita sunyam, freedom from material aspiration, jnana karmady anavrtam, freedom the inebriations of impersonalism and fruitive desire, and anuykulyena krsnanu silanam absorption in the desire to serve Krsna favorable with transcendental love. As soon as the kanistha progresses to manifest these symptoms in his heart, then he is considered to have become a madhyama vasinava and thus a genuine vasinava. Prior to this he is a prakrta bhakta. The word krsnanu silanam refers to krsna prema and is qualified by the word anukulyena, favorably. Thus this combination refers to practices that are conducive to the growth of Krsna prema. These are, as we have said, maître, friendship with ones fellow devotees, krpa, mercy to the ignorant and upeksa indifference to the inimical, which are also the hallmarks of a madhyama adhikari Vaisnava. Now to the topic of the second characteristic-friendly attitude towards his fellow surrendered devotees of the Lord.-those who are blessed by suddha bhakti. The kanistha is not on the platform of suddha bhakti-that is to say he does not serve and satisfy the pure devotees. Therefore maîtri can only be properly extend by the madhyama to his fellow madhyama vaisnvavas and the higher level Uttama Vaisnavas.
In the Caitanya Caritamrta Sri Caitanya is asked by a devotee from Kuliya grama-tell us who is actually a Vaisnava and what are his symptoms? In response Sri Caitanya describes the characteristics of various levels of Vaisnavas. As we have explained, the true practice of suddha bhakti is absent in the kanistha vaisnava who is solely engaged in Deity worship with immature sraddha devoid of sambandha jnana. The three types of Vaisnavas worthy of service as desribed by Sri Caitanya are within the pure realms of madhyama and uttama Vaisnavas. Pure Hari nama does not manifest on the tongue of the kanistha vaisnava because his chanting is on the level of chaya namabhasa, the shadow form of Harinama and therefore the kanistha vaisnava does not warrant service. Sri Caitanya instructed the madhyama vaisnava grhastha to serve these three types of pure Vaisnavas-Vaisnava–one who has chanted harinama purely once: Vaisnava-tara-one who constantly chants harinama, and: Vaisnava tama– one whose presence spontaneously inspired others to chant hari nama. These three grades of Vaisnava alone are worthy of his worship. The madhyama is instructed to serve only these three, who chant pure harinama, not the kanistha vaisnava who chants only the shadow form of harinama and is therefore not a suitable object of service. Only the madhyma and uttamaVaisnavas who utter suddha nama are fit to be served.Service to the Vaisnavas should be in accordance with their respective levels of advancement. The word mairti encompasses association, discussion and services. When one sees a suddha bhakta one must greet him and offer respects immediately, give full hospitality affectionately, discuss Krsna conscious topics with him and care for all his needs. One should serve him properly in all these ways. One must be extremely cautious not to envy a suddha bhakta. He should not be shown irreverence or criticized even inadvertently and must not be disregarded because of some physical deformity or ailment.
The third practice of the madhyama is the bestowal of krpa upon the ignorant. The word balisa implies an ignorant person without spiritual knowledge or an idiot, fool, etc. Gross uneducated materialists whose false ego and strong material attachements do not allow them to cultivate sraddha to the Lord are balisa. The balis are without correct spiritual guidance yet fortunately they are uncontaminated by false philosophies such as impersonal mayavada. Thus their saving grace is that they have no antipathy towards bhakti or bhaktas. Even a so called highly learned scholar who has of yet failed to achieve sraddha in the Lord, may be accurately characterized as a balisa, an ignoramus. In addition there is the kanistha adhikari. Though he is at the doorstep of bhakti, he lacks the proper grasp of sambandha jnana-thus he is deprived of suddha bhakti. As long as this condition persists, he is also known as a balisa. When he faithfully acquires sambandha tattva, and begins to chant pure harinama in the association of pure devotees, his balisatva, ignorance is dissipated and he is elevated to the level of madhyama. These are some of the different kinds of balisa and it is very essential for the madhyama vaisnava to show mercy to them. The madhyama vaisnava must deal graciously with the balis, he must ensure that the balisa develops sraddha in pure bhakti and a taste for chanting harinama. The unknowing balisas are uneducated in the teachings of the scriptures and so are susceptible to falling prey to the lures of bad company. The madhyama offers his association to instruct them. An ailing person cannot treat himself, he needs a doctor. Just as the angry and frustrated outbursts of a sick patient are excusable, the misdemeanors of the balisa are also to be forgiven. That is indeed an act of mercy.The balisa may be easily diverted from bhakti at any time, his consciousness being clouded with misconceptions such as believing in karma kanda, being somewhat drawn to speculative knowledge, worshipping the Deity with ulterior motives, having faith in the yoga process, being indifferent to association with pure Vaisnavas-something which would actually be beneficial for him, being attached to the rules and regulations of varnashram and so on. By administering his association, compassion and spiritual instructions, the madhyama vaisnava can correct the wrong views of the kanistha vaisnava and promote him to the level of madhyama adhikari Vaisnava.Once a person begins to worship the Deity of the Lord with a trace of bhakti it is to be understood that he has sown the seed of his own food fortune and that he is free from corrupt ideologies. If for no other Vaisnava characteristic then it is for being free from the abomination of the mayavada doctrine that the kanistha adhikari has been awarded the status of prakrta-Vaisnava, a neopohyte materialistic Vaisnava. On the strength of his minuscule Vaisnava quality and through the mercy of a pure devotee he is eligible to rise to the perfectional stage of bhakti. However the genuine mercy of the madhyama adhikari pure devotee is indispensable for the further progress of the kanistha vasinava and by such mercy his Deity worship and chanting can quickly become purified of their tainted shadowy nature and acquire the true transcendental character.