Q: Should one be a goṣṭhānandī or bhajanānandī?
A: Neither. One should try to be an uttama bhakta.
Q: I don’t understand. A goṣṭhānandī is the topmost devotee?
A: Show me evidence from the Goswamis’ books that one should aspire to be a goṣṭhānandī. I am not aware of any such term in their works.
Q: What does the word mean?
A: That, you will have to ask those who propagate these ideas. The word goṣṭha can mean an assembly. So one who takes pleasure or ananda in talking or in being an assembly could be a goṣṭhānandī. People who propagate these ideas, take a goṣṭhānandī to mean a preacher. A bhajanānandī would be one who takes pleasure in bhajan.
Q: We should not try to be a goṣṭhānandī?
A: An uttama bhakta does not do bhakti for his or her own pleasure or ānanda. An uttama bhakta does bhakti to give pleasure to Bhagavān. Why should a bhakta aspire to take pleasure in talking or preaching? Why should a bhakta seek pleasure in bhajan? If that is the bhakta’s defining quality, then the bhakta does not fit the definition of uttamā bhakti. The bhakta is focused on his or her own pleasure.
Q: What is wrong with feeling happy about doing bhakti?
A: Happiness is not the goal of bhakti. We do not do uttamā bhakti like chanting to become happy. We do uttamā bhakti because we want to make Bhagavān happy. Happiness is an inevitable outcome of bhakti. When Bhagavān is happy, we become happy.
Q: Maybe we can take goṣṭhānandī to mean someone who takes pleasure in serving Bhagavān by preaching.
A: As I mentioned above, these classifications do not fit into the definition of uttamā bhakti. They are irrelevant.
These concepts are Ixkcon concoction 🙂