Answer
When Śrīla Prabhupāda uses the term “Vaiṣṇava,” it is used in a positive and elevated sense, not in the negative or narrow sense that people sometimes associate with sectarianism or fanaticism. In modern usage, people may think a sectarian person is someone with a narrow-minded or rigid approach toward religion or a particular belief system. But that is not the meaning here.
A Vaiṣṇava refers to a follower of the teachings of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, and other authentic Vedic scriptures, whose worshipable Lord is Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa. This is the proper understanding of the term “Vaiṣṇava.”
At the same time, Viṣṇu is not understood as a sectarian God. Viṣṇu is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Absolute Truth. Therefore, the term is used in a universal and positive sense. It is not limited to a small group of believers or followers of a particular denomination.
Actually, a Vaiṣṇava is anyone who understands that the jīvātmā is an eternal part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu, and who has become situated in his or her proper constitutional position — that of an eternal loving servant of the Supreme Lord, engaged in a loving relationship with Him. This is the true understanding of devotion and Vaiṣṇavism.
