¹ Should or shouldn’t Vaiṣṇavas perform śrāddha for their departed fathers and so on? It depends on whether he is a svaniṣṭha, pariniṣṭhita or a nirapekṣa. (See note to Rāmāyaṇa 1.1.35 for a description of these three types of Vaiṣṇavas.) In his edition of Navadvīpa-dhāma-māhātmya, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has categorized his followers as svaniṣṭhas, pariniṣṭhitas and nirapekṣas. In his Vidvad-rañjana commentary on the Gītā, he has noted that svaniṣṭha devotees should become pariniṣṭhita devotees and then become nirapekṣa devotees, and that spiritual progress can be rapidly accomplished through appropriate association. Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣana explicitly notes in his commentary to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.5.36 that svaniṣṭha devotees can become pariniṣṭhita devotees by associating with them. In his commentary to Bhagavad-gītā 18.66, he states that before becoming nirapekṣas, practitioners of bhakti need to engage in varṇāśrama-dharma; this indicates that they would have been pariniṣṭhitas (or svaniṣṭhas and then pariniṣṭhitas) before becoming nirapekṣas through sādhu-saṅga. Since śrāddha rituals are part of varṇāśrama-dharma, svaniṣṭhas and pariniṣṭhitas are required to perform them whereas the nirapekṣas avoid them. Till date, staunch practicing Vaiṣṇavas of the Madhva- and Rāmānuja-sampradāyas perform śrāddha rituals while remembering Lord Viṣṇu and while praying to Him for eternal service unto His lotus feet. Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas are expected to function as nirapekṣas or at least become nirapekṣas during their lifetime.