Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura says that the word pasandi refers to one who considers the living entity under the control of the illusory energy to be equal with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is transcendental to all material qualities. Another kind of pasandi is one who does not believe in the spirit soul, the superior potency of the Lord, and therefore does not distinguish between spirit and matter. While describing one of the offenses against chanting the holy names, an offense called sruti-sastra-nindana (blaspheming the Vedic literature), Jiva Gosvami states in his Bhakti-sandarbha: yatha pasanda-margena dattatreyarsabha-devopasakanam pasandinam. Worshipers of impersonalists like Dattatreya are also pasandis. Concerning the offense of aham-mama-buddhi, or dehatma-buddhi (considering the body to be the self), Jiva Gosvami states: deva-dravinadi-nimittaka-'pasanda'-sabdena ca dasaparadha eva laksyante, pasandamayatvat tesam. "Those who are overly absorbed in the conception of the body and the bodily necessities are also called pasandis." Elsewhere in Bhakti-sandarbha it is stated:

"A pasandi is one who considers the demigods and the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be one; therefore a pasandi worships any kind of demigod as the Supreme Personality of Godhead." One who disobeys the orders of the spiritual master is also considered a pasandi. The word pasandi has been described in many places in Srimad-Bhagavatam, including 4.2.28, 30, 32; 5.6.9 and 12.2.13, 43.