Verse Text
tatra kaniṣṭhaḥ—
yo bhavet komala-śraddhaḥ sa kaniṣṭho nigadyate ||19||
Translation
The definition of the kaniṣṭhādhikārī is as follows: He who has weak faith because of even less knowledge of scriptures than the madhyamādhikārī is called the kaniṣṭha.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Other persons using scriptural logic can defeat a person with tender faith. However, the person is not completely unconvinced, because in that case the person would not even be considered a devotee. “Weak faith” in the verse means temporary unsteadiness of the heart when defeated by strong materialistic opponents. Later the person regains faith in what the guru has taught by his own judgment.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
This person is not at all conversant with scriptures (anipuṇah). The phrase śāstrādiṣv anipuṇaḥ should be supplied from the previous definition. The person’s faith is just conviction in the meaning of the scriptures (without knowing much). Anipuṇaḥ in this case means a little knowledgeable (less than the madhyama). Having weak faith (komala-śraddhā) means that it is possible to break his faith by different scriptural reasoning.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
The neophyte or third-class devotee is one whose faith is not strong and who, at the same time, does not recognize the decision of the revealed scripture. The neophyte’s faith can be changed by someone else with strong arguments or by an opposite decision. Unlike the second-class devotee, who also cannot put forward arguments and evidences from the scripture, but who still has all faith in the objective, the neophyte has no firm faith in the objective. Thus he is called the neophyte devotee.