Verse Five

kṛṣṇeti yasya giri taṁ manasādriyeta
dīkṣāsti cet praṇatibhiś ca bhajantam īśam
śuśrūṣayā bhajana-vijñam ananyam anya-
nindādi-śūnya-hṛdam īpsita-saṅga-labdhyā

Honour within the mind those who chant Krishna’s Name, honour with obeisance those who are initiated and serve the Lord, and honour with service those who are expert in devotion, who are exclusively devoted, whose hearts are free from the duality of criticising and praising others, and who are the most desirable association.

Bhasya by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur

asat laksana-hina gaya krsna-nama
manete adara ta̐te kara avisrama [1]

Always honour within the mind those who are free from bad qualities and chant the Name of Krishna.

labdha-diksa krsna bhaje yei mahajana
pranami’ adara ta̐re kara sarva-ksana [2]

Always honour with obeisance great souls who are initiated and serve Krishna.

bhajana-chatura yei ta̐ra kara seva
krsnamaya sabe dekhe suvaisnava yeba [3]
satru mitra sad asat kichhu na vichare
sarvottama sanga bali’ sevaha ta̐hare [4]

Serve those who are expert in devotion. Consider the association of such great Vaisnavas, who see Krishna within everything and do not conceive of enemies and friends or good and bad, to be the best of all and serve them.

Piyusa-varsini-vrtti by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur

isvare tad-adhinesu balisesu dvisatsu cha
prema-maitri-krpopeksa yah karoti sa madhyamah
(Srimad Bhagavatam: 11.2.46)

[“Those who love the Lord, befriend the devotees, are merciful to the innocent, and ignore the inimical are intermediate devotees.”]

According to this teaching, as long as a practitioner remains in the stage of an intermediate devotee, they should serve the devotees. Because advanced devotees see Krishna’s presence everywhere, they make no distinctions between friends and enemies, devotees and non-devotees, and so on. Intermediate devotees engage in service. In this fifth verse, their behaviour towards devotees has been prescribed. Intermediate devotees should keep away from those who associate with women and other nondevotees, and thus remain free from their faults. But because less intelligent beginners lack understanding of their relationship of the Lord (sambandha-jnan), intermediate devotees should know them to be innocent and be merciful to them. Upon hearing the Name of Krishna from their mouths, intermediate devotees should honour them within the mind according to their relationship with them. If initiated persons (beginners) engage in the service of the Lord, then intermediate devotees should honour them with obeisance. Intermediate devotees should gratefully honour great devotees who are free from the tendency to criticise others, knowing them to be most desirable association. Serving the Vaisnavas in this way is the source of all perfection.