arcÄyÄm eva haraye
pÅ«jÄá¹ yaḥ Å›raddhayehate
na tad-bhakteá¹£u cÄnyeá¹£u
sa bhaktaḥ prÄká¹›taḥ smá¹›taḥ
arcÄyÄm - in the temple worship; eva - certainly; haraye - for the pleasure of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; pÅ«jÄm - worship; yaḥ - anyone who; Å›raddhayÄ - with faith and love; Ä«hate - executes; na - not; tat-bhakteá¹£u - to the devotees of the Lord; ca anyeá¹£u - and to others; saḥ - he; bhaktaḥ - a devotee; prÄká¹›taḥ - materialistic; smá¹›taḥ - is considered.
“ ‘A prÄká¹›ta-bhakta, or materialistic devotee, does not purposefully study the Å›Ästra 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 learned from his spiritual master or from his family who worships the Deity. He is to be considered on the material platform, although he is trying to advance in devotional service. Such a person is a bhakta-prÄya [neophyte devotee], or bhaktÄbhÄsa, for he is a little enlightened by Vaiṣṇava philosophy.’
This verse is also from ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (11.2.47). ÅšrÄ«la Bhaktivinoda ṬhÄkura says that one who has full love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead and who maintains a good friendship with the Lord’s devotees is always callous to those who envy Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa’s devotees. Such a person is to be considered an intermediate devotee. He becomes a first-class devotee when, in the course of advancing in devotional service, he feels an intimate relationship with all living entities, seeing them as part and parcel of the Supreme Person.
