B. The Gṛihasthas
The grihasthas (householders) are the laity of the sect. They are the main body of its adherents, ordinary Hindu folk of various castes. They are the disciples of the Gosvāmīs.
The Vaiṣṇavism of many of these who compose the rank and file is not always a clear-cut sectarian faith. Often enough it is a mixed affair, compounded of other elements in the prevalent Hinduism about them
Sometimes the Vaishnava element may be hardly more than the vegetarianism which persists so surprisingly in family tradition.
Often enough it is the women of a home who maintain the Vaishnava worship, the men more easily sharing in the Śakta rites - of their neighbours.
One of my student friends, who comes of a Vaishnava home, told me that his father worshipped both Krishna and Śiva, and that his grandfather was a Śaivite.
On the other hand, there are doubtless many homes still where much of the earlier sectarian feeling is maintained, to which every name of rites and symbols of the Śakta cult is an abomination. It appears, however, that this sharpness of outline is largely a thing of the past among the laity of the sect today.
It should be perfectly clear that, as far as the domestic life of these householders is concerned, they have not departed from orthodox Hinduism:
They observe the Smārta rites that control all Hindu domestic life. Indeed, even in Chaitanya’s day, Vaishnavas never broke away from Smārta rules.
Their sectarianism is a matter of religious worship, and does not affect their domestic usage. They are regular caste Hindus, following more or less generally in matters of religion the way of worship and devotion associated with the name of Chaitanya.
Modern education has had an inevitable effect on this group, particularly in loosening the bonds of their discipleship to the Gosvāmīs:
Gurus persist in a family generation after generation, but, as individuals in the family become educated, the hold of the guru in such a home is greatly weakened, and he no longer meets with the superstitious reverence of the past.
The more obsequious forms of veneration are discarded, and the ignorance of so many of the Gosvāmīs puts them at a disadvantage with educated disciples.
Many such, indeed, refuse utterly to recognise the claims of their family gurus to superiority, and pay them no veneration whatever.