Śrīla Advaita Ācārya Appearance Day

Fasting times

We fast till noon on the appearance of Śrīla Advaita Ācārya and break our fast with grain prasādam.

Identity in the spiritual world

bhaktāvatāra ācāryo’dvaito yaḥ śrī-sadāśivaḥ [Śrī Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā 11].

Advaita Ācārya is the incarnation of Sadāśiva.

Excerpt from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā Introduction

In the first eleven verses of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī thus discusses Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Lord Nityānanda as Balarāma, the first expansion of Kṛṣṇa. Then in the twelfth and thirteenth verses he describes Advaita Ācārya, who is another principal associate of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu's and an incarnation of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Thus, Advaita Ācārya is also the Lord, or, more precisely, an expansion of the Lord. The word advaita means "nondual," and His name is such because He is nondifferent from the Supreme Lord. He is also called ācārya, teacher, because He disseminated Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In this way He is just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Although Lord Caitanya is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, He appeared as a devotee to teach people in general how to love Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, although Advaita Ācārya is the Lord, He appeared just to distribute the knowledge of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Thus, He is also the Lord incarnated as a devotee.

Excerpt from a class given by Śrīla Prabhupāda on April 5, 1975, in Māyāpur about Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.12

mahā-viṣṇur jagat-kartā

māyayā yaḥ sṛjaty adaḥ

tasyāvatāra evāyam

Advaita Ācārya īśvaraḥ 

[Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.12]

So there are three principles---the īśvara principle and the māyā principle and the jīva principle---these three principles. So Advaita Ācārya is īśvara principle. He belongs to the īśvara group.

So Advaita, Advaita Ācārya, did it. He inaugurated this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. When He saw that the people are so much misled that simply they are busy for the bodily necessities of life and completely have forgotten Kṛṣṇa, He became sympathetic.

Then if you are really inquisitive to learn the Absolute Truth, they will explain, as here it is explained that here Advaita Ācārya is īśvara, He's incarnation of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Sometimes Advaita Ācārya is called Sadāśiva avatāra. The Sadāśiva is also expansion of Mahā-Viṣṇu. So, either way you say, incarnation of Sadāśiva or Mahā-Viṣṇu, it doesn't matter. But Advaita Ācārya is īśvara-tattva. He's not śakti-tattva. He's īśvara-tattva. And we are all śakti-tattva; therefore, there is difference. Śakti-śaktimān. Although there is no difference abhinna, but still, śakti-tattva is superior, er, śaktimān tattva is superior than śakti-tattva.

Loud cries of Śrī Advaita Ācārya

Excerpt from Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa, 2.80-84

Śrī Advaita Ācārya would enthusiastically worship Kṛṣṇa with tulasī-mañjarīs and Ganges water. The Gautamīya-tantra is quoted in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (11.110) as follows:

tulasī-dala-mātreṇa jalasya culukena vā vikrīṇīte svam ātmānaṃ bhaktebhyo bhakta-vatsalaḥ

“Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is very affectionate toward His devotees, sells Himself to a devotee who offers merely a tulasī leaf and a palmful of water.” Tulasī-mañjarī is a mahā-bhāgavata and tadīya-vastu, that which is related to the Supreme Lord. Gaṅgā-jala refers to the nectar emanating from the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa or the ingredient used in worshiping Kṛṣṇa. Various foodstuffs are offered to Kṛṣṇa with tulasī-mañjarīs, which are dear to Kṛṣṇa, and Ganges water, which purifies the world. Śrī Advaita Prabhu began to continuously worship Kṛṣṇa with such ingredients in order to amend the polluted form of Dvāpara-yuga worship practiced at the time. His intention was that living entities would give up sense gratification and become devotees by seeing the behavior of pure mahājanas.

He loudly called for Kṛṣṇa in great spiritual ecstasy. That sound vibration pierced the covering of the universe and was heard in the Vaikuṇṭha planets. Śrī Advaita Ācārya Prabhu was a plenary incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu, therefore by His great endeavor and influence His chanting of Kṛṣṇa’s names crossed beyond the enjoying realm and sensual perception of the material world and echoed in the supreme abode of Viṣṇu, the transcendental Vaikuṇṭhalokas, which are composed of pure goodness. Within this universe there are fourteen planetary systems, among which Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapaloka, and Satyaloka are situated at the top of the three worlds. Śrī Advaita Ācārya Prabhu engaged in Lord Hari’s service by chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa, which crossed beyond these planets born of the material modes of nature and entered into the transcendental realm of Vaikuṇṭha, which is free of all anxiety.

On hearing Advaita Prabhu’s cries of love, Lord Kṛṣṇa personally appeared, for He is controlled by the love of His devotees. Therefore, Advaita Ācārya is the best of all Vaiṣṇavas. There is no comparison to His devotional service in the entire universe.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu beat Advaita Ācārya

Excerpt from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 17.68

Advaita Ācārya was a disciple of Mādhavendra Purī, Īśvara Purī’s spiritual master. Therefore Īśvara Purī, the spiritual master of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, was Advaita Ācārya’s Godbrother. In view of this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu treated Advaita Ācārya as His spiritual master, but Śrī Advaita Ācārya did not like this behavior of Lord Caitanya, for He wanted to be treated as His eternal servant. Advaita Prabhu’s aspiration was to be a servant of the Lord, not His spiritual master. He therefore devised a plan to antagonize the Lord. He began to explain the path of philosophical speculation in the midst of some unfortunate Māyāvādīs, and when Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard about this, He immediately went there and in a very angry mood began to beat Advaita Ācārya. At that time, Advaita Ācārya, greatly pleased, began to dance, saying, “Just see how My desire has now been fulfilled! Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to treat Me honorably for so long, but now He is treating Me neglectfully. This is My reward. His affection for Me is so great that He wanted to save Me from the hands of the Māyāvādīs.” Hearing this statement, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was somewhat ashamed, but He was very pleased with Advaita Ācārya.

Lessons from the life of Advaita Ācārya

1. Pray hard: If you just pray in the best possible way you can, even if you cannot muster the best kind of prayer, you make a connection with Kṛṣṇa. When living entity turns to Kṛṣṇa, He is waiting. Then He says I am in you, and you are in Me. Prayers bring us to that point. When I am praying hard, Kṛṣṇa notices. Intense prayer to Kṛṣṇa, expressing oneself from deep level, is very effective.

2. Don’t be the doer: Be a submissive servitor. Have the sense, ‘don’t let me do it; let Kṛṣṇa do it.’ And this is the key to success. We can be extremely effective as instruments, as Kṛṣṇa can use us in many ways. We work for Him and let Him work through us. When one is in a service mood, in a submissive mood, that I want to be a conduit, I want to be open to passing on this message so that it becomes clear and beneficial to all, it’s a wonder what Kṛṣṇa can do. When we get in the mood as an instrument, we get empowered. This is the amazing aspect of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

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