In his Upadesamrta Srila Rupa Gosvami says: pranatibhis ca bhajantam isam. This means that madhyama-adhikari devotees should exchange obeisances between themselves.

The word nirantara, meaning "without cessation, continuously, constantly," is very important in this verse. The word antara means "interval." if one has desires other than a desire to perform devotional service-in other words, if one sometimes engages in devotional service and sometimes strives for sense gratification-his service will be interrupted. A pure devotee, therefore, should have no other desire than to serve Krsna. He should be above fruitive activity and speculative knowledge. In his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, Srila Rupa Gosvami says:

Another meaning of antara is "this body." The body is an impediment to self-realization because it is always engaged in sense gratification. Similarly, antara means "money." If money is not used in Krsna's service, it is also an impediment. Antara also means janata, "people in general." The association of ordinary persons may destroy the principles of devotional service. Similarly, antara may mean "greed," greed to acquire more money or enjoy more sense gratification. Finally, the word antara may also mean "atheistic ideas" by which one considers the temple Deity to be made of stone, wood or gold. All of these are impediments. The Deity in the temple is not material-He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. Similarly, considering the spiritual master an ordinary human being (gurusu nara-matih) is also an impediment. Nor should one consider a Vaisnava a member of a particular caste or nation. Nor should a Vaisnava be considered material. Caranamrta should not be considered ordinary drinking water, and the holy name of the Lord should not be considered an ordinary sound vibration. Nor should one look on Lord Krsna as an ordinary human being, for He is the origin of all visnu-tattvas; nor should one regard the Supreme Lord as a demigod. Intermingling the spiritual with the material causes one to look on transcendence as material and the mundane as spiritual. This is all due to a poor fund of knowledge. One should not consider Lord Visnu and things related to him as being different. All this is offensive.

In the Bhakti-sandarbha (265), Srila Jiva Gosvami writes: namaikam yasya vaci smarana-patha-gatam ityadau deha-dravinadi-nimittaka-'pasanda'-sabdena ca dasa aparadha laksyante, pasandamayatvat tesam.

The Mayavadis look on Visnu and Vaisnavas imperfectly due to their poor fund of knowledge, and this is condemned. In Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.2.46), the intermediate Vaisnava is described as follows: