On February 14, 2026, the Governing Body Commission (GBC) of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) will convene in Mayapur. One of the topics of discussion will be the recent end of the three-year moratorium period on Vaishnavis offering diksha initiation. This moratorium, first instituted by the GBC at its November 2, 2022, meeting, halted all further appointments of and initiations by Vaishnavi diksha gurus while regional concerns—especially from leadership in India—were explored through dialogue and committee review. The GBC will hear a proposal from a joint committee composed of GBC members and India Bureau members on the issue that will affect current policies.

Recently, online videos by ISKCON members have been released addressing differing perspectives on Vaishnavi diksha gurus (VDG). These include videos from former GBC and GBC Emeritus members Sivarama Swami and Hridayananda Goswami, and one by Pranada Devi Dasi, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and noted Vaishnavi author. Links to the videos are provided below to help readers better understand the range of views within the discussion.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/as-the-gbc-prepares-to-meet-in-mayapur-a-look-back-at-the-vaishnavi-diksha-guru-debate/

By Atma Tattva Das,

Public voting is now open for the Bhakti Song Contest, a grassroots initiative aimed at exploring the use of music and emerging technologies in Krishna-conscious outreach. Three devotional songs have been submitted and are available for listening and voting on the Bhakti Song site.

ISKCON News first reported on the Bhakti Song Contest in September 2025 when the initiative was introduced by Isvara Krisna Dasa of Bhaktivedanta College in Budapest, along with Bhakta Szabolcs Tárkányi, a media and marketing professional and long-time member of the Budapest congregation.

The project was conceived as an experiment to encourage sincere devotional creativity, using artificial intelligence solely as an initial creative prompt. In the early stages, the organizers generated a small set of AI-assisted songs to explore how such tools might be thoughtfully engaged in service.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/public-voting-opens-for-bhakti-song-contest/

The Canberra temple deities of Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra Devi and Sri Gaura Nitai were away for nearly one month being repainted by Bhakti DD from Melbourne.

On the auspicious occasion of Lord Advaita Acharya’s appearance day the deities revealed Themselves back on the temple altar. The devotees were ecstatic chanting and dancing in front of Their beloved Lordships. The occasion was celebrated with fire yajna, puspa abhisekha, arati and grand feast.

Source: https://ramaiswami.com/canberra-temple-festival/

Excerpt from the lecture by HH Nirañjana Swami

Baltics Winter Festival, January 17, 2014

The following is a partially-edited transcription of an excerpt of a lecture given on January 17, 2014, at the Baltics Winter Festival – Chanting with Feeling

Today I wanted to read and speak from a few quotes about the Holy Name. Some of them I have read recently and found a lot of significance to them, not only to myself but those with whom I shared them. A lot of times the devotees struggle to make their chanting relevant. The previous speaker, Dhīra-śānta Prabhu was using the word ‘mechanical’, and he was explaining how to avoid being mechanical.

The quotes I am going to present today are from Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, and he is quite incisive in his presentation. The one thing I’ve really noticed when reading a lot of these references given by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta is that he is cutting and very clear. When I use the word ‘cutting’, I mean he really makes it very clear what is bhakti, and what is not bhakti. Sometimes he presents it in a way ‘what is useful’ and ‘what is useless’. Sometimes, if we are not careful in our own discrimination, we may not be able to see something as useless, the way he sees it. We may gravitate towards a certain understanding about bhakti, which may be compromised. And it’s compromised because we can’t fully surrender, and when we hear about full surrender, it’s disappointing because of our own limitations. Or, it may not be disappointing, but it may also be fearful.

As Dhīra-śānta Prabhu was saying before, “Kṛṣṇa is Hari – One who takes away.” When we hear that, sometimes we think, “Why should I let Kṛṣṇa take these things away?” And we become a little fearful about what could possibly happen if we chant too sincerely. We have this sense that if I chant too sincerely, Kṛṣṇa may take something away – and I am not ready for that! But although Kṛṣṇa is Hari (One who takes away), when one cultivates firm faith in Kṛṣṇa and in His Name, one finds that Kṛṣṇa not only takes away our obstacles but He also takes away our fear!

And that’s encouraging. When that begins to happen, then a devotee actually experiences progressive advancement in his faith. That’s why Kṛṣṇa very clearly states in the 18th chapter of Bhagavad-gītā‘surrender and don’t fear’. He says, mā śucaḥ for a verygood reason. [Bhagavad-gītā 18.66] Generally we think, “Surrender is going to bring us a fearful state”, and that’s why Kṛṣṇa says, “Don’t fear. Don’t worry”.

We were recently reading a verse from the 4th Canto of the Bhāgavatam, where the Lord is addressed as Hari-īśvara. Śrīla Prabhupāda was breaking down these 2 words to hari and īśvara, with īśvara meaning ‘controller’. He says, “Because the Supreme Lord is the supreme controller, He can give full protection. He can also eradicate all the obstacles on the path of devotional service.” He also says, “Hari means ‘the Lord who takes away’.”

So, Kṛṣṇa not only takes away obstacles on the path of devotional service, which are generally our attachments, but He takes away our fear of losing them. And when a devotee experiences that freedom from fear, it’s liberating. When that happens, the devotee actually feels encouragement and gratitude towards the Lord.

Sometimes Kṛṣṇa puts His devotee in a very difficult situation, and the devotee begins to ask, “What did I do to deserve this?” But as we know, the Lord minimizes the suffering of His devotee. Sometimes the devotees have a false understanding, or false conception, to think, “If I am surrendered to Kṛṣṇa means I shouldn’t have to suffer.” And then they become doubtful, “Is Kṛṣṇa really protecting me? Why is Kṛṣṇa doing this to me? I am suffering! I surrendered so much to Kṛṣṇa – why should I have to suffer?”

But, the Lord minimizes the suffering. And minimization of the suffering means that we deserve a lot more than what we got. But minimization also means that whatever suffering the devotee has to experience now, presently, is actually burning up his previous reactions to sinful life, so that his future is bright – and in that way also Kṛṣṇa is minimizing the suffering of a devotee. That’s why Kṛṣṇa says mā śucaḥ… “Don’t fear! Your future is bright! Why are you fearful?”

When a devotee has firm faith in Kṛṣṇa’s words, he understands, “Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He is giving me just a small token in comparison to what I deserve. I have the faith that whatever Kṛṣṇa does is always for my benefit. And my fear goes away!” Mā śucaḥ… “Do not fear! I will relieve you from these sinful reactions.” But it doesn’t necessarily mean that the reactions are gone now. They are minimized by the grace of the Lord. The future is bright!

Therefore, as Bhāgavatam states, the devotee always goes on glorifying Kṛṣṇa, and he goes on serving Him with his body, mind and words. And then certainly, mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.8], he becomes a bona fide candidate for liberation.

So when Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā 18.66, “Surrender unto Me, and I will deliver you from sinful reactions”, the components of that surrender, as explained by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, are given in the previous verse.

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te
pratijāne priyo ’si me

“Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.”[Bhagavad-gītā 18.65]

That is our surrender. “Just Remember Me. Worship Me. Offer your homages unto Me.” And what else does He say? “Your future is bright! Surely you will come to Me.” Therefore He says, “When you surrender in this way, and when you abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender your mind to Me, then you have no reason to fear – you will come to Me.”

And that is the activity of Lord Hari, when that fear is taken away by remembrance of the Lord. Lord Hari is the ‘One who takes away’, but He also takes away our fear because generally, it’s the fear which is the cause of so much anxiety. As Śrīla Prabhupāda explains, ‘fear’ means to not know what lays in the future. That’s why we fear. “If I do this, what’s going to happen? If I get on the plane, is it going to land?” Fear comes from the anticipation of the unknown. Not only that, but when we hear, according to the statements from śāstra, that every living entity has a stockpile of reactions, where some are prārabdha(manifest) and some are aprārabdha (not yet manifest), sometimes we become anxious. “When is that going to happen? When is that disruption to my life going to appear?” But Kṛṣṇa says, mā śucaḥ… “Don’t fear. Just surrender and remember Me. I’ll take care of you.”

Surrender can be a fearful state, but it also can be a very joyful state. Because when that fear goes away, one feels so relieved that Kṛṣṇa is there. “Kṛṣṇa is protecting me. Kṛṣṇa is giving me His assurance that my future is bright. And I can see how wonderful my future can be, if I simply remember Him. Because if I am remembering Him now, and I feel so joyful, just imagine what it will be if I go on and continue remembering Him.” So, the devotee loses his fear by remembrance of the Lord.

As we were saying before, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Thakura can be very cutting. What he says can almost instill fear, because in some of his quotes that we are going to read, he really draws the line: what is bhakti, and what is useless. Sometimes we don’t like to hear that something that we thought was useful, all of a sudden is useless.

There is a verse in the 3rd Canto of the Bhāgavatam, spoken by Devahūti,

“Anyone whose work is not meant to elevate him to religious life, anyone whose religious ritualistic performances do not raise him to renunciation, and anyone situated in renunciation that does not lead him to devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, must be considered dead, although he is breathing.” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.23.56]

And Prabhupāda says in the commentary, “If all of our activities do not lead to devotional service, they are useless.” Here Devahūti is saying, “Anyone whose work does not lead to the religious life…”, so we may think, “Well, religious life – that’s auspicious! Especially if our religious life brings us to the platform of renunciation! That’s so auspicious!” But then she says if your renunciation doesn’t lead you to bhakti, you are like a dead body, although you are breathing.

Bhakti is what gives life. It gives validity to religion and renunciation. But if our religion and renunciation don’t lead us to bhakti – it’s useless. Therefore, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta draws the line what is bhakti, and what is not bhakti. But before I read these though, I wanted to read something from Śrīla Prabhupāda, because Prabhupāda has also spoken on this topic, about feelingly praying.

He says, “Our chanting should be relevant.” He makes it very clear that if there is no feelings, it’s not so relevant. He talks about this in his commentary to the verse in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where Queen Kuntī is praying,

janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir
edhamāna-madaḥ pumān
naivārhaty abhidhātuṁ vai
tvām akiñcana-gocaram

“My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.”

(Partial Purport) “…It is said in the śāstras that by once uttering the holy name of the Lord, the sinner gets rid of a quantity of sins that he is unable to commit. Such is the power of uttering the holy name of the Lord. There is not the least exaggeration in this statement. Actually the Lord’s holy name has such powerful potency. But there is a quality to such utterances also. It depends on the quality of feeling. A helpless man can feelingly utter the holy name of the Lord, whereas a man who utters the same holy name in great material satisfaction cannot be so sincere. A materially puffed up person may utter the holy name of the Lord occasionally, but he is incapable of uttering the name in quality…” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.26]

Prabhupāda goes on to explain how such chanting is inferior. Materially satisfied man may even occasionally chant the Holy Name – not just uttering the Holy Name once – but Prabhupāda says he can’t be so sincere. Sincere chanter is one who chants with quality, with feeling.

What is that feeling? We want to read a few of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta’s quotes about what that feeling is, and here is the first such quote, which is an answer to the question “Whose offering does Lord Kṛṣṇa accept?” Here Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta draws the line! Pffffffshhhhh! [Guru Maharaja make sharp sound like drawing the line] Let me show you what that line is.

“ ‘O Kṛṣṇa! I do not want from You any happiness for myself. Whatever You want from me, I will obey without fail. Even if I have to suffer in doing Your will, that suffering will be my pleasure. You are the all-auspicious Lord, and as such, Your arrangements can never be inauspicious.’

“If a servant of Kṛṣṇa prays to Him with such faith and feelings, the Lord will certainly accept his offerings. Without these feelings and faith, the Lord will not accept that which is offered.”[“Amṛta Vāṇī: Nectar of Instructions of Immortality” by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswati]

In the first part Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta is actually speaking this as if it’s a prayer. “O Kṛṣṇa! I do not want from You any happiness for me.” Are we ready to say that? “Kṛṣṇa I don’t want from You any happiness for me. Please, spare me of that. I don’t want it. Whatever You want from me, I will obey without fail! Even if I have to suffer in doing Your will, that suffering will be my pleasure.” In other words, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta is making it clear that a devotee only wants service. That’s all he asks for.

In the second part, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta draws the line. Pffffffshhhhh! If one doesn’t have these feelings, Kṛṣṇa doesn’t hear! Kṛṣṇa doesn’t listen!

Oftentimes we quote a verse from Prahlāda Mahārāja, where he’s speaking to his friends, classmates in the school, sons of the demons.

“My dear friends, O sons of the demons, you cannot please the Supreme Personality of Godhead by becoming perfect brāhmaṇas, demigods or great saints or by becoming perfectly good in etiquette or vast learning. None of these qualifications can awaken the pleasure of the Lord. Nor by charity, austerity, sacrifice, cleanliness or vows can one satisfy the Lord. The Lord is pleased only if one has unflinching, unalloyed devotion to Him. Without sincere devotional service, everything is simply a show.” [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.7.51-52]

Here is where Prahlāda Mahārāja draws the line. Who does Kṛṣṇa look at? Who gets Kṛṣṇa’s attention? Those who have unflinching faith in the Lord. Not by dint of their austerities, not by dint of their sacrifices, or their acceptance of vows. These things in themselves do not capture the Lord’s attention. That’s why Kṛṣṇa says,

“Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform – do that, O son of Kuntī, as an offering to Me.” [Bhagavad-gītā 9.27]

Somebody may perform very severe austerities. Hiraṇyakaśipuwas very austere! Many people perform very severe austerities for other reasons, but Kṛṣṇa says, “Do it for Me!” So, Prahlāda Mahārāja is saying that if one doesn’t have this unflinching, unalloyed devotion to Kṛṣṇa, than whatever one does is simply a show! It’s meant to get somebody else’s attention. But Kṛṣṇa is not looking. His attention doesn’t go there. Kṛṣṇa’s attention only goes to those places where devotees have firm faith in Him.

That’s why it’s always recommended that we should associate with, and hear from, and faithfully serve those who have faith, because if we don’t have that unflinching, firm faith, how are we going to get Kṛṣṇa’s attention? We cannot be waiving our hands, “Hey Kṛṣṇa! Look at me! I am here!” No. It’s devotion which draws Kṛṣṇa’s attention.

Therefore Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta is saying that if a servant of Kṛṣṇa prays to Him with this faith and these feelings, then Kṛṣṇa will certainly accept his offering. Without these feelings and faith, the Lord does not accept the offering.

Who does the Lord listen to? Those who are not asking for anything, except for His service. Because they have firm faith that service is everything. The opportunity to serve Kṛṣṇa is the safest place. “Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He accepts me. He takes notice and gives me service.” When the devotee sees that kind of recognition, his faith increases.

Sometimes devotees ask a question, “What can I do? They don’t give me any service!” But what are we thinking service is? We think, “Service is what I’ve selected for myself to do! And no one gives me any service (that I want)!”

But when the devotee is sincerely chanting – feelingly! – he thinks, “Please, my only shelter is service! I can’t live without an opportunity to serve You. That’s all I want!” Lord Caitanya is teaching us,

na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ

kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye

mama janmani janmanīśvare

bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi

“O Almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor to enjoy beautiful women. Nor do I want any number of followers. What I want only is the causeless mercy of Your devotional service in my life, birth after birth.”[Śikṣāṣṭaka, verse 4]

This should be the sincere prayer of a devotee praying to Kṛṣṇa, “Please, engage me in Your service.” Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta says, that is a proper mood to chant the name of the Lord. Then one who feels deprived of service can chant with feelings. Then it can become very relevant. “I feel deprived of service. Kṛṣṇa please, give me service, because without service there is no meaning to my life.”

Just a few days ago, I was listening to a lecture where Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying, “Living entity who has no service to Kṛṣṇa, is like the finger that’s been cut off from the hand.” Has no purpose. It’s useless. Finger’s usefulness is only when it’s connected to the hand. Similarly, a devotee’s usefulness is when he is connected to Kṛṣṇa’s service.

In another lecture, given in 1973, Prabhupāda says, “Even if a devotee can’t serve to his full capacity, even if he wants to serve, Kṛṣṇa accepts that ‘wanting to serve” as a service! And his life becomes successful.” In another words even if there are obstacles to service, but if we want to serve, then Kṛṣṇa accepts that desire of ‘wanting to serve’ as service.

Prabhupāda is explaining in the Upadeśāmṛta that devotional service is a cultivation of desire: we simply have to cultivate the desire to serve Kṛṣṇa, and not our senses. And when we look at our own hearts and see our non-capacity for doing that, we should feel something. We should feel that we need help. That’s what Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta is going to say in the next quote, which is an answer to the question “How should we call the Supreme Lord”.

“Sri Gaurasundara taught us that in order to chant the Lord’s holy names, we must become lower than the straw in the street. Unless we consider ourselves insignificant, we cannot call upon another for help. Only when we pray for another’s help do we consider ourselves helpless. In such a state of mind we think that without another’s help we will be unable to do anything. We will understand that it is impossible to do alone that which is meant to be done by five people. Sri Gaurasundara has instructed us to chant the Lord’s names. We get this information from our spiritual master. To chant the Lord’s names means to take His help. But while chanting, if we consider Him our servant or expect Him to do our work, then there is no question of our living in the conception, “I am lower than the straw in the street.” [“Amṛta Vāṇī: Nectar of Instructions of Immortality” by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswati]

How often do we think, “I got everything under control: I got my life together, I know exactly what I am doing.” But, we have to feel insignificant. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswati says, “Unless we consider ourselves insignificant, we cannot call upon another for help. Only when we pray for another’s help do we consider ourselves helpless.” Are we praying for help? If we are, what are we praying to help us with? “Kṛṣṇa help me with my wealth… Kṛṣṇa help me with my anxiety… Kṛṣṇa help me with my distress, with my suffering… Help me get a job…” So many things we can ask from Kṛṣṇa. But Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta says, “No, we should not engage Kṛṣṇa in our service.”

Our prayer should be, “Kṛṣṇa, help me be Your servant! I need Your help, because when I look in my own heart and I see all the things my mind is filled up with, unless You help me, I will never be able to remember that I am Your servant.”

Uh-oh! What does that mean? Is Kṛṣṇa going to do something that can be a cause for fear again? Do we have enough courage to ask Kṛṣṇa like that? Again, mā śucaḥ… Don’t fear! If we simply sincerely pray, Kṛṣṇa will take away that fear! “Kṛṣṇa help me, I am helpless. I look in my heart, I see lust, greed, the desire for prestige. I see so many things which are dragging me away from Your service. Help me be Your servant and remove these obstacles which are preventing me from serving You. I cannot do that alone.”

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta says, “In such a state of mind we think that without another’s help we will be unable to do anything.” Then he goes on to speak about being lower than the straw on the street, and the proper mood of humility, which I will skip reading, because we are running out of the time. Bhaktisiddhānta ends this quote with saying.

“… We often think we are doing the Lord a favor by offering Him prayers; that we could have engaged in some other activity instead. Such a mentality is an example of a lack of tolerance. We need someone to protect us from such a mentality, someone to help us become lower than the straw in the street. We certainly need to take shelter of a person who will deliver us from sinful motives. Śrīla Narottama Ṭhākura says, “Lord Kṛṣṇa does not reject those who worship Him under the shelter of the spiritual master. Others who do not do this simply live and die uselessly.” [continued “Amṛta Vāṇī: Nectar of Instructions of Immortality” by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswati]

Thank you very much. Jay Śrīla Prabhupāda!

From Back to Godhead

“From the viewpoint of eternity, a life span of five thousand years is the same as that of five years: both are a flash, both temporary.”

Two summers ago when the Reforestation Department of the Sequoia National Park in California gave away excess baby Sequoia trees, I got four and planted them on our nine-acre property in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Sequoias don’t produce useful things like fruits or flowers. They simply live—for thousands of years. And they grow—hundreds of feet high.

Sometimes I’d sit next to my favorite of the four – foot-high trees, quietly chanting the names of God -Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. And I’d think how this sapling’s parent or grandparent was present when Lord Krishna was on earth five thousand years ago, and when Lord Caitanya was here five hundred years ago.

Over the next few months, as the baby tree took root, spread its graceful limbs, and grew, my thoughts shifted to where I would be as the tree reached its full height and girth. A few decades from now, when my body would become decrepit and useless, this tree would still be in its childhood. And when I, the soul, would leave this body to enter a new one—who knows what type of body or where?—my memory of this nine-acre plot, my house, my family, and my Sequoias would all be left behind. Yet this tree would be right there, growing silently century after century. And century after century I’d be passing from one body to another, from one universe to another, in body after body. Both types of embodiment—the tree’s and my imagined future ones—seemed futile. (At least the giant Sequoia, though, would be providing shelter for birds and animals. Who knows what I’d be doing?)

What attracted me to this tree over the hundreds of others that decorate our property? Its extraordinary ability to survive. I realized that although I hear and use the word eternal often, its actual import is alien to me; otherwise, why would I be impressed with a life span of a mere five thousand years? From the viewpoint of eternity, a life span of five thousand years is the same as that of five years: both are a flash, both temporary. Either way, the body disintegrates and the soul moves on.

Longevity attracts me because I’m an eternal spiritual being, an imperishable soul. In my natural state I don’t transmigrate. So, since I’m not meant to be helplessly, traumatically dragged from one body to another, I crave permanence in this life. But I don’t really want the permanence of a giant Sequoia. Although by comparison to mine, the length of its life is awe-inspiring, to stand in one place, immobile and incommunicative, would be awful. I’m not meant for that.

I’m meant to serve Krishna, without interruption and without motivation. By such devotional service I’ll rejoin Him eternally in His eternal home in a blissful, eternal, spiritual body.

Unfortunately, my present service to God is both interrupted and motivated. So I don’t qualify to regain an eternal body. I’m stuck with temporary ones unavoidably accompanied by birth and death.

My attitude reminds me of that of my two-year-old, who blithely answers “no” to the most reasonable requests: “Sit down and eat your dinner.” “No.” “Let’s put your shoes on.” “No.” And so forth. “No” to her is an easy answer that saves her the trouble of stopping whatever she’s doing to do something else—even something better.

Similarly, when Krishna says, “Give up sense gratification and follow Me,” I respond with her mentality: “No.” “Always think of Me.” “No.” And so forth.

Now if I could get out of the two-year-old stage and enter the stage of cooperation and surrender to the Lord, I could, conceivably, avoid having to take more material bodies after this one is finished. And even if I’m not completely successful, whatever advancement I make will stay with me as I transmigrate from body to body. If in some future body I continue to advance, I’ll be adding to the progress I’ve already made. So even if finishing up this temporary-body business in this lifetime is a long shot, it’s one that’s supremely worthwhile.

Srila Prabhupada explains, “One should be captivated by this information. He should desire to transfer himself to that eternal world and extricate himself from this false reflection of reality. For one who is too much attached to this material world, it is very difficult to cut that attachment, but if he takes to Krishna consciousness there is a chance of gradually becoming detached. One has to associate himself with devotees, those who are in Krishna consciousness. One should search out a society dedicated to Krishna consciousness and learn how to discharge devotional service. In this way he can cut off his attachment to the material world.” (Bhagavad-gita 15.6, purport)

Since the Sequoias are on our property, we can protect them from being cut. And the attachments and rebellions that have grown up in my mind I can cut down, especially by learning from the examples of my godbrothers and godsisters. By their inspiration, one day I may be qualified for a body that outlives even innumerable giant Sequoias.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=4065

Appearance of Bhishmadeva

Geneology:
From Vishnu were descended in the following order - Brahma-Atri-Candra-Budha - Pururavas - Ayus - Nahusha- Yayati - Puru - Janamejaya - Prachinvaa - Pravira - Namasyu - Vitabhava - Shundu - Bahuvidha - Samyati - Rahovadi - Raudrasva - Matinara - Santurodha - Dushyanta - Bharata - Suhotra - Gala - Gardda - Suketu - Brhatksetra - Hasti - Ajamidha - Riksha - Samvarana - Kuru - Jahnu - Suratha - Vidaratha - Sarvabhauma - Jayatsena - Ravyaya - Bhavuka - Chakroddhata - Devatithi - Riksha - Bhima-Pratipa-Shantanu-Bhishma.

Birth and Boyhood:
Bhishma's name in his boyhood was Devavrata. He was the eighth son of Shantanu, a king of the lunar dynasty and Gangadevi. This boy was the human embodiment of Dyau, one of the Ashthavasus. Shantanu, his father was the re-birth of another king, Mahabhisheka. The story concerning this is given in the Mahabharata as follows:

King Mahabhisheka after his death, attained Vishnuloka. Once he went to visit Brahma at Satyaloka. At that time Ganga devi was also present in Brahma's assembly. In that pious atmosphere, a gentle breeze began to blow and Gangadevi's clothes were slightly deranged. Just at that moment Mahabhisheka took a stealthy glance at her and she also returned that glance. This was noted by Brahma who turned both of them into human beings by a curse. Gangadevi begged pardon and Brahma lifted the curse and blessed her that the Ashthavasus would come to the earth to be born as her sons and that afterwards she could come back to heaven. After that Gangadevi was born as a mortal woman in the world under the name Ganga and she spent her days in the forests near the Ganga river valleys.

In those days the ruler of the lunar dynasty was a king named Pratipa. Having no children he went to the bank of the Ganga and performed tapas there. Gangadevi who was moving about in the forests nearby, saw the king deeply absorbed in tapas. She approached him and sat on his right thigh. She wanted the king to be her husband. He explained to her that the right thigh is the proper seat of the daughter-in-law and so she would become his son's wife in due course. In due course of time, Pratipa has a son, Shantanu, born to him. When Shantanu grew up into a young man, one day he went for a hunt to the Ganga-valley and there he met Gangadevi. He fell in love with her at first sight and courted her. Gangadevi agreed to become his wife on the condition that he should not say anything to displease her and if he violated that condition she would leave him. The king accepted the condition and they became man and wife.

At about that time, the wife of Dyo, one of the Ashthavasus, happened to see the sacrificial cow of the sage Vasishtha and wished to have it. She expressed her desire to her husband, Dyo. Dyo with the other seven vasus went and took away by force Vasishtha's cow. Vasishtha in his anger cursed the Ashthavasus to be born as mortals. they repented and begged pardon from Vasishtha. The sage told them that all of them would be born as the sons of Gangadevi and all except Dyo, who actually stole the cow, would return to heaven at the time of birth itself. As for Dyo, he would continue to live in the world for a long time, as an adventurous hero.

 

Gangadevi became pregnant and gave birth to her first child. She carried the child to the river Ganga and threw it into the river. Shantanu who followed her up to the river bank, did not say anything against her, remebering his promise.

Seven children were born to her and she threw all of them into the river in this way. When she gave birth to the eighth child Shantanu insisted that he would not allow her to throw away that child in the river. As he had violated the conditions of his promise, the angry Gangadevi left the palace with her child. She named it Devavrata and brought him up in the forest. The sage Vasishtha and Gangadevi taught him all branches of knowledge. Thirtytwo years later, the king went to the same forest for hunting. He saw a handsome by stopping the flow of the river Ganga. Getting interested in the boy, the king approached him. But by that time he had disappeared. The king prayed to Gangadevi to give back the child. She appeared with the child and after handing over the child to him vanished. The king returned to the palace with the child (Mahabharata, Adi Parva, Chapters 95-100.)


The name of Bhishma:
Devavrata was anointed, as heir-apparent. One day king Shantanu reached the forest near the Ganga river valley, for hunting. As he was hunting absorbed in the beauty of the forest scenery, he felt the perfume of musk filling the air in the forest. He wondered from where it could come. He went on and on trying to find out the source of this smell until he reached the cottage of a fisherman. The fisherman had a daughter named Satyavati. It was from her that the fragrance of musk spread all around (Satyavati's original name was Kali. The fisherman got her from the stomach of a fish. Since she had a smell of a fish she got the name Matsyagandhi.

When Devavrata knew about hism father's condition, he called the Ministers and asked them about it. They told him everything in details. At once, without informing even his father, Devavrata went to the fisherman's cottage on the bank of the river Ganges and begged for Satyavati on behalf of his father. the fisherman repeated his former condition. Devavrata agreed that Satyavati's son shall be given the right of kinship. The fisherman pointed out that disputes were likely to arise between Devavrata's sons and Satyavati's children regarding the right of succession to the throne. At once Devavrata stood up and made a solemn pledge (drdavrata) that he would remain a bachelor for life. The fisherman gave Satyavati to Devavrata to be taken to the king. Devavrata took her to the palace and presented her to his father.

Lord Advaita Acharya is the incarnation of Maha-Vishnu, whose main function is to create the cosmic world through the actions of maya.

Because He is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is called Acharya. He is the Lord and the incarnation of the Lord’s devotee. Therefore I take shelter of Him.

Sri Advaita Acharya is indeed directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. His glory is beyond the conception of ordinary living beings.

Maha-Vishnu performs all the functions for the creation of the universes. Sri Advaita Acharya is His direct incarnation.

That purusha [form of the Supreme] creates and maintains with His external energy. He creates innumerable universes in His pastimes.

By His will He manifests Himself in unlimited forms, in which He enters each and every universe.

Sri Advaita Acharya is a plenary part of that purusha and so is not different from Him. Indeed, Sri Advaita Acharya is not separate but is another form of that purusha.

He [Advaita Acharya] helps in the pastimes of the purusha, with whose material energy and by whose will He creates innumerable universes. CC Adi 6.4-13

Texts 29-33

Since He has no other occupation than to teach devotional service, His name is Advaita Acharya.

He is the spiritual master of all devotees and is the most revered personality in the world. By a combination of these two names, His name is Advaita Acharya.

Since He is a limb or part of the lotus-eyed Supreme Lord, He also bears the name Kamalaksha.

His associates have the same bodily features as the Lord. They all have four arms and are dressed in yellow garments like Narayana.

Sri Advaita Acharya is the principal limb of the Supreme Lord. His truths, names and attributes are all wonderful.

Texts 34-43

He worshiped Krishna with tulasi leaves and water of the Ganges and called for Him in a loud voice. Thus Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared on earth, accompanied by His personal associates.

It is through Him [Advaita Acharya] that Lord Caitanya spread the sankirtana movement and through Him that He delivered the world.

The glory and attributes of Advaita Acharya are unlimited. How can the insignificant living entities fathom them?

Source: https://ramaiswami.com/sri-advaita-acharya-appearance-4/

Live From Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir!
Date: January 30th, 2012 Topic: Sri Advaita Acarya’s Appearance day Verse: C. C. Adi 6.5 Speaker: H. H. Bhakti V. V. Narasimha Swami

So today being the occasion of the appearance of Advaita Acarya we will speak on the pastimes, some of the significant events in relation to Advaita Acarya. This is from Adi Lila, chapter 6 – The Glories of Advaita Acarya, text 6.

advaitam harinadvaitad acaryam bhakti-samsanat bhaktavataram isam tam advaitacaryam asraye

TRANSLATION: Because He is non-different from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is called Acarya. He is the Lord and the incarnation of the Lord’s devotee. Therefore I take shelter of Him. [CC Adi 6.5]

So this is one of the two verses which are used in the beginning of Caitanya-caritamrta by Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami to introduce us to Advaita Acarya. The chapter then goes on to explain how Advaita Acarya is the second branch of the tree of Caitanya Mahaprabhu – the first branch of course being Lord Nityananda and the main trunk being Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself. So Advaita Acarya is the second branch of the tree. And from this branch there are many sub branches of the followers of Advaita Acarya. Then we are told how Advaita Acarya had six sons but from his six sons only three were followers and the other three were deviants and were rejected by him.

Prabhupada then in the purport goes on to explain something of the history of Gaudiya Math and their entanglement in legal affairs, legal disputes because they did not properly work together according to the order of the spiritual master.

yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau tasyaite kathita hy arthah prakasante mahatmanah

That, for those who have implicit faith in the Lord and the spiritual master and who follow their instructions then all the purports of the scripture are revealed. (Svetasvara Upaniñad 6.23)

Srila Prabhupada explains to us that you can understand who is a faithful follower of the spiritual master by the results which they achieve. When the branch is connected to the tree then the branch will produce flowers and fruits. But if a branch is disconnected from the tree then the branch will dry up. The leaves will wither and dry up.

In the same way in propagating Krishna consciousness or the message of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu should be properly spread according to the instructions of the previous acaryas. And if we keep the instructions of the previous acaryas always in the forefront then we can be successful. Srila Prabhupada tells us how he himself always kept his own spiritual masters instruction in mind that whenever he got money use it to print books. This was how Srila Prabhupada explained to us his own success in spreading the message of Lord Caitanya.

In the case of Advaita Acarya there was some controversy. Just as we see controversy, disputes within our own Krishna consciousness movement from time to time there arises some dispute or some different opinions. So similarly some five hundred years ago in the time of Advaita Acarya there was also this problem – difficulties to work together.

Originally there was one idea but in course of time there was some split. Different opinions came out. There was some misunderstanding or different opinions of who was actually the supreme Lord. Who was svayam bhagavan. Some of the followers of Advaita Acarya were claiming that he was the svayam bhagavan. But Advaita Acarya himself had never given that instruction. Rather he always claimed that he was the servant of the Lord. He was the servant of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We see this brought out in many different pastimes involving Advaita Acarya.

The Caitanya-caritamrta describes to us how Advaita Acarya was first of all responsible for the Lord to descend from the spiritual world, from Vaikuntha. Advaita Acarya was lamenting the fallen condition of the world. He was seeing how the people were all engaged in the worship of demigods for material benefits and how they were spending all their wealth on arranging the marriages of their children and they had no interest in the message of Srimad-Bhagavatam or Bhagavad-gita. They were not concerned to take up the process of devotional service.

So although Advaita Acarya is Maha-Visnu Himself and he does the work of creating the material world he did not consider himself competent to deliver the people of the world. Therefore he thought the Lord Himeself, the Supreme Lord, svayam bhagavan, Lord Sri Krishna Himself has to come and deliver them. In this way he remembered a verse from the Gautamiya Tantra which said that if one worships the Lord with devotion offering Him water of the Ganges and Tulasi leaves then the Lord becomes purchased by that devotee and He becomes his servant.

In this way Advaita Acarya residing at his home in Santipur began to offer Tulasi leaves and Ganga water and called to the Lord to come and deliver the world. His calling did not go in vain. Later on Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu would remind Advaita Acarya that, “You were the one that woke Me up. I was sleeping peacefully in the milk ocean but your loud calling disturbed Me and brought Me here. So Advaita Acarya was responsible for the Lord to descend.

Initially the Lord did not reveal Himself to Advaita Acarya. Caitanya-bhagavat describes how when the Lord was ready to reveal Himself to the devotees, at that time He sent the brother of Srivas Pandit, Ramai to go to the home of Advaita Acarya and bring him. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was in the home of Srivas Pandit. He had sent Ramai. Ramai did not know who wasAdvaita Acarya. He did not know where to go. He was simply guided by the Lord’s inspiration. Somehow or the other he found his way to Santipur and to the home of Advaita Acarya.

When he finally got there he did not know what to say but Advaita Acarya could understand everything. He said, “I know why you have come here. I know who has sent you. Tell me what do you want.” Ramai asked him, “The Lord is calling you. You please come.” Advaita Acarya was questioning him, “Where in the scriptures does it say that the Supreme Lord will appear in Navadvip? Is it in any scriptures you know?” He said, “Your brother Srivas knows my religious principles. Why is he doing this to me?” In this way Advaita Acarya was challenging Ramai but at the same time he said, “I will come with you but I will not come immediately to see Caitanya. We will first go to the home of Nandanacarya and I will wait there. You go to Nimai Pandit and you tell him that I am not coming and see what He says.”

In this way Rami was sent back to Srivas Pandits home and he told Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu that, “Advaita Acarya said he is not coming.” But Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu showed His ominscince. He said, “You cannot trick Me. I know this person. He is always trying to trick Me. He is always playing games with Me. I know he is at the home of Nandanacarya. You go and tell him to come here now. I am waiting for him.”

So in this way Advaita Acarya when he heard the words of Lord Caitanya He was very happy and he came to Srivas Pandit’s home. Lord Nityananda had already appeared and Advaita Acarya was united with Them. So They were together and could begin to have Their kirtan and chant the holy names. In this way Lord Caitanya became more and more ecstatic in enjoying the pleasure of kirtan experiencing more and more ecstasy.

On one particular occasion all of the devotees requested him. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was giving benedictions to different devotees. He was blessing them with krsna-prema. So Srivas said to Him, “What about Mother Saci. You should give Mother Saci krsna-prema also.” But when Lord Caitanya heard this He changed. He became very serious, very grave looking and He said, “I cannot give krsna-prema to Mother Saci. She cannot get krsna-prema.” All the devotees were shocked. “Mother Saci! She is the mother of the universe! You cannot give her krsna-prema? Why You cannot give to her?” The devotees said, “If You cannot give her krsna-prema we will have to give up our lives. We cannot tolerate.” Lord Caitanya said, “I cannot give Mother Saci krsna-prema because she has committed vaisnava-aparadha. She has offended the devotee.” All the devotees were shocked. “What devotee Mother Saci could have offended?” Lord Caitanya revealed that, “She has offended Advaita Acarya. Instead of calling him Advaita she called him Dvaita.”

It was revealed that Mother Saci was disturbed because her eldest son Visvarupa had left home. Her eldest son Visvarupa used to regularly go to the home of Advaita Acarya. And in the association of Advaita Acarya he would hear all the revealed scriptures particularly Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita. So at some particular point Mother Scai and Jagannath Misra were planning to arrange the marriage of Visvarupa. Visvarupa understood so he left home and became a sannyasi. He never returned.

After some time Lord Caitanya was also going to the home of Advaita Acarya and Lord Caitanya was not showing any interest even in His beautiful wife, Laxmipriya. He was simply going to the home of Advaita Acarya. Every day he would spend His time there in the company of Advaita Acarya. When Mother Saci saw this then she said, “This Advaita Acarya pretends like he is a friend of our family but actually he is Dvaita. He is putting me in a net of maya. He is entangling me in a net of illusion. He will do the same with my other son. He has already had one son go and take sannyas. Now Nimai will also want to leave home and become a sannyasi. So he is not Advaita. He is Dvaita.”

For this reason which was not really an offense but Lord Caitanya in order to instruct all the devotees on the importance of not committing vaisnava-aparadha He enacted this pastime among the devotees saying He will not give Mother Saci krsna-prema. So all the devotees were telling Mother Saci, “You have to come and get forgiveness from Advaita Acarya. You have to come and touch his feet and get forgiveness.”

Some other devotees went and brought Advaita Acarya and they were telling him, “Mother Saci has committed and offence against you. You have to forgive her.” And Advaita Acarya, “What? Mother Saci offended me? How is that possible? She is the Mother of the universe. I worship her lotus feet. She could never ever commit and offense against me. I am the offender of her. I can never forgive her offenses against me. It is me who should be forgiven if I have offended her. In this way Advaita Acarya became more and more ecstatic thinking of Mother Saci and as he became ecstatic he lost consciousness. He became ecstatic just thinking of Mother Saci.

When he lost consciousness the devotees rushed Mother Saci, “Quick! Now is the time. Go and get the dust from his lotus feet. Otherwise he will never allow you to touch his feet.” So Mother Saci came. She took the dust from the feet of Advaita Acarya. Then she became unconscious. [Laughter] Mother Saci became unconscious thinking of Advaita Acarya and Advaita Acarya was unconscious thinking of Mother Saci. So this is the loving dealings between the Lord and His devotees.

So Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is instructing all of us in the importance of avoiding offences. Advaita Acarya had recounted this pastime later on. When he was in Jagannath Puri Advaita Acarya had gone to visit Caitanya Mahaprabhu and at that time one of the servants of Advaita Acarya – like the secretary of Advaita Acarya named Kamala Kanta Visvasa also got some problem. Kamala Kanta Visvasa it is mentioned in Caitanya-caritamrta that he had come to Jagannath Puri along with Paramananda Puri. And it is recorded there in the Caitanya-caritamrta.

Kamala Kanta Visvasa was assisting Advaita Acarya in his duties and at some point he had written a message, a note. Therein he requested Maharaj Prataparudra to liquidate a debt of some three hundred rupees which Advaita Acarya owed. So in the note Kamala Kanta Visvasa had stated that Advaita Acarya is the Personality of Godhead but he is in debt for three hundred rupees! [Laughter] He was requesting Maharaj Prataparudra to kindly liquidate this debt.

Somehow this note came to the hands of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and when Mahaprabhu saw this note He was pleased in some ways because He thought, “This is very good. He understand Advaita Acarya is the Personality of Godhead. But it is not good that he has said that he is in debt for three hundred rupees.” He said, “This person Kamala Kanta Visvasa is a buliya
-meaning one who does not know things as they are.” Then Lord Caitanya instructed His servant, “From today on I don’t want to see his face. He should not come in my presence. So when this news came to Kamala Kanta Visvasa he was very disturbed that he could no longer have darsan of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He felt very bad.

Advaita Acarya however felt very happy. He said, “Oh you are very fortunate. This is very good. You have been punished by the Lord. The Lord is always equal. Whatever He does is always for our good. If He rewards us or punishes us it is always good. You should not worry.” Advaita Acarya remembers how Mukunda had also been punished and then Advaita Acarya recounts, “I was also punished by the Lord.”

Advaita Acarya was also punished by the Lord. He said, “Previously Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu always used to treat me like His father.” Advaita Acarya was about fifty years of age or so when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared. So Advaita Acarya was a contemporary of His father, Jagannath Misra. So Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu would always respect Advaita Acarya as His senior. Advaita Acarya was also a disciple of Madhavendra Puri. Madhavendra Puri was also the guru of Isvara Puri. And lord Caitanya took initiation from Isvara Puri. Therefore Lord Caitanya always respected Advaita Acarya like His spiritual master or like His father.

Caitanya-Bhagavat also describes that when Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyas He came to the house of Advaita Acarya and Advaita Acarya’s young son Acyutananda at that time was five years old. Caitanya-Bhagavat describes that Lord Caitanya took the naked little boy on His lap and told him that, “Advaita Acarya is like my father. So you and I are brothers.” In this way Lord Caitanya was disturbing the mind of Advaita Acarya because He was offering him so much respect and reverence as His senior.

Advaita Acarya was thinking, “I brought the Lord here. I did not want Him to worship me. I want to worship Him. He is the Lord. I want to worship Him but He comes and worships me.” So Advaita Acarya devised a plan by which he could change the situation. He decided that he would begin preaching impersonalism. He took the book ‘Yoga Vasista’ and in this book they give all importance to the impersonal Brahman and the process of speculative knowledge. So Advaita Acarya began preaching from this book that the goal of life is to get mukti and you have to achieve it by speculative knowledge and this is how you will achieve perfection. There is no other way.

When news of this came to Lord Caitanya He was not happy and He set out to come to Santipur along with Lord Nityananda. When Lord Caitanya came into the presence of Advaita Acarya He immediately challenged him. “So which is the better process, devotional service or speculative knowledge?”

Advaita Acarya looked at Him and said, “Speculative knowledge is the best process.” [Laughter] Lord Caitanya immediately dragged him out of his chair, dragged him onto the floor out of the house and began to beat him on his back. Advaita Acarya’s wife, Sita Mata came running saying, “He is a Brahmin. You will kill him. It is very sinful. You get severe reactions for killing a Brahmin. Be careful.”

In this way Advaita Acarya was rejoicing that, “Now I am feeling some pleasure.” [Laughter] “This is very nice. Please give me more of this kind of dealing.” Advaita Acarya then heard Lord Caitanya describe to him that actually, “I am that person that killed Kamsa, Ravan. I also killed Hiranyakasipu. Now I have come to deliver the holy name to everyone and to bless everyone with pure devotion.” Advaita Acarya was very happy to hear these words.

Lord Caitanya requested him to ask for a blessing but Advaita Acarya said, “Blessing? No I am already blessed but if you want to please me then give prema bhakti to those people who are low born, to the sudras and to the women, to the ignorant and the uneducated but do not give Your prema bhakti to those who are proud of their birth, who are proud of their wealth and who are proud of their great knowledge and education and who have no interest in devotional service and who are offensive to the devotees. Do not give Your bhakti to them.”

We see also how this wish of Advaita Acarya is enacted. Ever since then Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s teachings have been embraced by people especially in the lower levels of society. Whereas those people who are born in the high class brahminical families are much against the Vaisnava culture.

Advaita Acarya was born in a brahmana family. He was the head of the Brahmins of Santipur but he had no regard for the social culture at that time. He never concerned himself with what was proper and what was not for a Brahmana. He allowed Haridasa Thakura to come and live at his place. He made a home for Haridasa Thakura nearby his own home and everyday he would have food with Haridasa Thakura. When Advaita Acarya’s father disappeared Advaita Acarya performed the sraddha ceremony and with the sraddha ceremony it is customary to give the offering to the most elevated of the Brahmanas. And at that time Advaita Acarya brought the sraddha plate and gave it to Haridasa Thakura

Haridasa Thakura felt embarrassed and uncomfortable that, “I am born in a Muslim family. I am low class and low born. You are a high class Brahmana. Why you feeding me?” But Advaita Acarya said, “By feeding you I am satisfying millions of Brahmanas. You are more elevated than any of these so called Brahmanas. One who is a devotee of the Lord and who is engaged in the Lord’s service even though he may be born in a family of dog eaters is better than the non devotee brahmana who knows all the Vedas.” So Advaita Acarya exemplified this kind of thinking in his life. Although he is a high class smarta Brahmana he has no regard for these smarta traditions and he is interested in preaching Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita. He spent his time doing that.

He was so happy with the appearance of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He could spread the sankirtan movement. We were telling about Kamala Kanta Visvasa – how he had written this message and Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not want him to come again into His presence. So Advaita Acarya then went to see Caitanya Mahaprabhu and he challenged Him that, “You have given more mercy to Kamala Kanta Visvasa than to me. I never got mercy like that. You have told him not to come in Your presence. You only beat me but You never told me that I could not come in Your presence. Why You give him more mercy than me? What has he done to get the greatest mercy?”

Caitanya Mahaprabhu was appreciating Advaita Acarya’s arguments. Caitanya Mahaprabhu then called Kamal Kanta Visvasa and He explained to him his mistake that, “You must be very careful that the Supreme Lord is not a poor man first of all.” And most importantly He also warned all of His devotees that by accepting charity from materialistic people we become contaminated. It is customary for people to give charity to Brahmanas and to sannyasis. But by accepting charity from people we also accept something of their karma. And certainly if a person is materialistic and sinful then it is very dangerous to accept charity from them.

Prabhupada warned us about going to people’s homes that if they are not vegetarian you don’t want to take any food in their home. You can only take uncut fruit but don’t eat any food. If you eat grains then certainly you will accept also their sinful activities. So it is very important accepting charity. As representatives of the Krishna consciousness movement how do we apply this? Of course we accept charity from so many sinful people but we do not accept it on our own behalf for our own maintenance or subsistence. We accept it on behalf of the Krishna consciousness movement for propagating Krishna consciousness around the world. That is not a problem if we accept money for the service of Krishna consciousness, to spread Krishna consciousness then there is no problem for us and there is only benefit also for the people who are giving charity. So accepting charity is there if it is done with the right mood for the service of Krishna.

Advaita Acarya’s home was in Santipur. One time Srila Prabhupada was considering having his world head quarters in Santipur. Srila Prabhupada used to regulary visit Santipur even before he took sannyas. As a grhasta he used to visit Santipur and he would sit there and chant the holy name. He would spend hours there chanting the holy name. The pujari, one of the priests in Santipur remembers how this man used to come in his white khadhi. He would come and sit ther and chant the holy name and before leaving he would come and see the pujari and thank him for serving the Deity.

Then the pujari describes how he did not see this man for many, many years. Then after many, many years he saw this man and he was in a sannyasi dress. He had become a sannyasi and he was again chanting the holy name as he used to very intently for hours. Then he understood that this is the same person who used to come. Previously he was in white. Now he is a sannyasi. He noticed as he was chanting he was shedding tears and the pujari describes how he had spoken to Prabhupada and asked him what was the cause of all of his shedding tears and Prabhupada had explained to him that, “I have been given the mission to go to the west. My Guru Maharaj has ordered me that I have to go to the west and spread Krishna consciousness and it is impossible but I have to do it. So I am just chanting here and praying for some mercy that I can take on this task.”

It was many years later when the devotees came back to Mayapur and that pujari was able to reveal all of this to the devotees. So Santipura is a very important place. We go there every year of course. We go there on the appearance day of Madhavendra Puri because Madhavendra Puri also came to Santipura. And just like Advaita Acarya was lamenting the fallen condition of the world and how there are hardly any devotees anywhere and the people are all absorbed in sense pleasure, Madhavendra Puri was similarly wandering the earth thinking how hopeless it is and how difficult it is to try to preach. He was thinking to go and live in the forest and at that time he came to Santipur and he met Advaita Acarya.

When Advaita Acarya met with Madhavendra Puri then they both rejoiced. They were both so happy they could understand that they had a common interest in topics of Krishna and hearing and chanting Srimad-Bhagavatam and the holy name of the Lord and in this way they passed many, many days together. From that time on every year Advaita Acarya would observe the appearance day of Madhavendra Puri. He had accepted Madhavendra Puri as his spiritual master and he organized a very big festival. The Caitanya-bhagavat explains in great detail ho Advaita Acarya would fill rooms and rooms with provisions for the festival and people would come from everywhere.

Of course in the present time we are trying to continue that tradition in a similar way. We don’t cook with as much variety as Advaita Acarya did. Usually it is only kitchri in Santipur but we do have a nice festival.

Some years back the descendants of Advaita Acarya came and requested the Iskcon devotees to help them again to take up that festival as Advaita Acarya used to perform – offering so much food stuffs and distributing prasadam for all of the thousands of people who lived around that area.

So Advaita Acarya’s home was in Santipur. Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda would regularly come there and visit him. A nice pastime is described – some of the joking words which used to take place between Caitanya and Nityananda are revealed to us in the Caitanya-caritamrta. Krsnadasa Kaviraja describes how on a particular occasion or maybe it was just after Caitanya Mahaprabhu had taken sannyasa. Lord Nityananda tricked Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu to come into Santipura. Lord Caitanya was eager to go to Vrindavan but in His ecstacy He could not recognise where He was going and Lord Nityananda tricked him and brought Him back to Santipur.

When Advaita Acarya appeared Lord Caitanya was surprised and said, “What are you doing in Vrindavan?” [Laughter] Advaita Acarya then replied, “Wherever You are that is Vrindavan.” Wherever Caitanya Mahaprabhu is that is Vrindavan because Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna and Krishna never goes out of Vrindavan. So in this way Lord Caitanya was pacified. He went to take bath. Then Advaita Acarya requested Him saying, “Please come to my home. I have prepared some very simple food – just a palm full of rice and a few liquid vegetables – very suitable for a sannyasi.” [Laughter]

So Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu thought, “Well all right. Just a palm full of rice and a little liquid vegetable, that is okay.” And when He came and He saw the worship was going on and the food was on the altar and He saw so many preparations – hundreds of vegetables and all different sweets and cakes and rice covered with ghee. It was so opulent and the whole thing was covered in Tulasi manjaris. Lord Caitanya was so pleased. He said, “Whoever is worshipping the Lord in this way I take the dust from their feet. They are doing so nicely. Such nice worship!”

Advaita Acarya brought the plates over and said, “Here, this is Yours. One is for Lord Nityananda.” [Laughter] And when Lord Caitanya understood that He was supposed to eat all of these things then He objected. “Common I am a sannyasi I cannot eat like this.’ But Advaita Acarya reminded Him saying, “Common I know Your identity. You eat fifty four times a day at Jagannath Puri. [Laughter] And every time there are hundreds of preparations also. What is this! This is just a mere morsel for You.” Lord Caitanya was coerced to sit down and to begin to eat. As He would eat Advaita Acarya would come and refill everything. Lord Caitanya would eat and again Advaita Acarya would come and refill. In this way it was going on.

Lord Nityananda was joking. He said, “I have been fasting for three days. This is a mere morsel. This would not satisfy My hunger.” Actually They had been travelling for three days. They come from Katwa. Lord Caitanya had taken sannyasa in Katwa. It took Then three days to come to Santipur. So Lord Nityananda was saying, “I have been fasting for three days. What is this? This will not satisfy My hunger.”

Advaita Acarya said, “I am a poor brahamana. You have come to my home. Please kindly accept whatever I offer You.” Lord Nityananda said, “Look you invited Me. You should give Me whatever I want. This is hardly anything. This will not satisfy My hunger.” Anyway Advaita Acarya was persuading Him to sit down Advaita Acarya also rebuked Him saying, You are reject paramhamsa.” By calling Him reject paramahamsa actually Advaita Acarya was not insulting Him. He was glorifying Him because Lord Nityananda is actually paramahamsa. He is an avadhutta. Lord Nityananda is avadhutta and he was on the highest stage of life. He was a paramahamsa. As a paramahamsa one may wear the dress of the sannyasi or one may not. He may sometimes wear the dress of a grhasta. He is not obliged to any particular attire. This is the position of paramahamsa.

So Lord Nityananda is famous as avadutta. Advaita Acarya is glorifying Him that this is His exalted position. We see amidst some of our devotees we have to also sometimes take that risk that you have to put on the civilian dress to get into some country to travel and preach. In certain countries – if you go to Islamic countries, some places where we are not legal you may have to put on civilian dress in order to preach.

I was with some people and someone said, “I will never go there if you have to do that.” But this is a risk we have to take. It is certainly a great risk. If you are Lord Nityananda it is no risk. He is paramahamsa. He is avadhutta. We are imitating when we do that. Very dangerous! Be careful.

So Advaita Acarya was serving the food to Lord Nityananda and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. After sometime They finished eating. Lord Nityananda stood up and said, “This food has not satisfied Me. I am not going to take a mere portion of it. It is not sufficient for Me.” He took some rice in an angry mood and He threw it and it hit the body of Advaita Acarya. And when the food hit Advaita Acarya then Advaita Acarya began to dance. Then Lord Nityananda said to Advaita Acarya that, “This food is prasadam. It has been offered to Lord Krishna. You have committed an offense by having it touch your body like that and dancing on it. Now you have to feed a hundred sannyasis in order to get relief from the offence.” However Advaita Acarya said, “I will never invite another sannyasi to my house.” [Laughter]

Actually this pastime shows the potency of prasadam. That because Lord Nityananda was taking prasadam, the remnants of the devotee is so powerful. It simply just touches the body of Advaita Acarya and he danced in ecstasy. This is prasadam that it is so powerful, so purifying that even if it touches the body then it is purifying.

So Advaita Acarya was imitating the smarta brahmana – one who is in the position of being an orthodox brahmana. But he was showing how by coming in contact of Lord Nityananda, the Vaisnava, he was being delivered from this position.

Advaita Acarya performs many wonderful pastimes in the association of the Lord. Later on in Jagannath Puri we also saw the son of Advaita Acarya who was brought back to life by the grace of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. One of his sons, Gopal was asked Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu to dance in the kirtan. But while he was dancing at a certain point Gopal fell down and fainted. His father and all of the devotees surrounded him and when they saw that he was no longer breathing, they were all shocked. They thought, “How to revive him?” They were chanting the names of Lord Nrsimhadev. They were calling to the Lord. Nothing could revive him. They began to cry. They began to weep. They though he has left the body, he has given up his life but then Lord Caitanya came. He out His hand on his chest and loudly shouted, “Gopal, get up and dance.” And Gopal came back to consciousness and stood up and began to dance. This is the loving dealings of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu with Advaita Acarya.

Advaita Acarya was responsible for the appearance of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and he was also responsible for Lord Caitanya to leave this world, to complete His pastimes in this world. Jagadananda Pandit had gone to Navadvip to meet Mother Saci and to bring prasadam for her and to associate with all of the devotees in Navadvip. At that time Advaita Acarya had given a poem or a sonnet which he had written and he had asked, “Please give this to lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.” So the meaning of this sonnet could not be understood by ordinary people. Jagadananda Pandit brought it back. When he delivered this message to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu then Caitanya Mahaprabhu greatly intensified His mood of bhava and His feelings of separation for the Lord and became totally like a mad man.

The sonnet simply said that all of the stores already have sufficient supply of rice. There is no longer anymore need to supply. So in this way Caitanya Mahaprabhu took this as a signal for Him to complete His pastimes in this world. So Advaita Acarya is certainly non-different from the Lord and as he is described in this verse he is also acarya – teacher by example. He teaches us the example to be the servant and not to be the master. He gave up any of those persons who wanted to put him in the position of being the master. He rejected them. Even his own sons were rejected for wanting to put him in the position of being the master.

It was described that Caitanya Mahaprabhu was saying that He wanted to deliver everyone. Advaita Acarya pointed out to Lord Caitanya that one who will worship the servant without worshipping the master is doomed. He gave examples. He said, “Just like Satrajit worshipped the sun-god and he was killed. Dhuryodhana although he was a disciple of Balaram he could never be successful. Hiranyakasipu worshipped Lord Brahma. Neither could he be successful. Similarly Ravan also was a devotee of Siva. He was also slain.” Another example is also given of Sudaksana, the son of the King of Kasi, he was also a great devotee of Siva and he produced a fearful demon. He performed a yajna which produced a great asura but Sudaksana requested this demon to go and burn Dvaraka. The demon went to Dvaraka and then surrendered to Sudarsan. Then Sudarsan sent the demon back to kill Sudaksana.

All of these different examples were given by Advaita Acarya to remind all of his followers that, “If you ever separate Me from Lord Gauranga then you will never be successful. If you are actually my follower then you must also surrender yourself to Lord Gauranga. You cannot just simply worship me.” Advaita Acarya also established himself as the servant of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Not as the master! It would have been easy for him to claim to be the master but that was not his mood. He came in the mood as a servant of the devotee. So, all of these different pastimes which he enacted are there for our education to enlighten us. We will stop now. Thank you. Hare Krishna. [Applause] If there are any questions or comments we can take them. [No questions.] Okay thank you. Hare Krishna. Srila Prabhupada Ki! Jai! [End] [To receive Mayapurlive lectures by email, write to mayapurlive@pamho.net]

Sri Advaita Path

House of Sri Advaita Acarya at Shantipur

Sri Advaita Acarya is avatar of Sadashiva, the original Siva of the spiritual world and Maha Vishnu, the original purusha of the universal creation. That same personality descended into this world to assist Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu by accepting the role of the servant of the servant. It was only because of Advaita Acarya’s deep compassion and fervent loud crying and prayers to Lord Krishna for us conditioned souls of Kali Yuga who are been glided in the materialistic ocean of darkness bereft of forgetfulness of Lord Krishna, that He made Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to appear to spread the holy name of Krishna and save us from clutches of maya.

At Shantipur, amidst the groves of beautiful mango trees is the house of Sri Advaita Acarya. Shantipur is 1 hour from Sri Mayapur Dhama and lies just off of the main road to Kolkata in Ranaghat area. It is here in Santipur that Advaita Acarya made the vow to make Lord Krishna advent to this world in Kali-yuga as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to deliver us fallen souls by taking up the chanting of Lord Krishna's name and to spread pure unalloyed devotion. The deity of Sri Madan Gopal and the saligrama-sila that Advaita Acarya worshipped to invoke the advent of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu are there at Santipur temple. Several wonderful pastimes took place in Shantipur including meeting of Haridas Thakura and Advaita Acarya, pastimes of Nityananda Prabhu and Lord Caitanya, Lord Caitanya’s arrival at Santipur after His sannayasa and the first meeting of Srila Raghunatha dasa Thakura with Lord Caitanya. Srila Madhavendra Puri, the spiritual master of Advaita Acarya’s also visited here while he was visiting Jagannatha Puri to get sandalwood for his Gopal in Govardhana. Every year on the disappearance day of Srila Madhavendra Puri, which comes just before Gaura Purnima, thousands of Gaudiya Vaishnavas assemble in the holy land of Santipur, and a big feast is served to everyone. Great importance and speciality of this day is that every Vaishnava that comes to Shantipur on this day, makes sure to do at least little service to serve the maha-prasadam to other Vaishnavas.

Srila Prabhupada visited Shantipur during his grihastha days and the day before departing to USA on Jaladhuta in 1965, he again came here chanting Hare Krishna japa deeply and weeping bitterly praying for the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu and Advaita Prabhu. The pujari of Shantipur temple had seen him coming since 1940s & 1950s coming here and now it’s been several years that he come back again. Pujari asked him, “Who are you? I remember you coming for so many years.” Srila Prabhupada responded, “My name is Abhaya Charanavinda Bhaktivedanta Swami, and I am a disciple of that empowered soul, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada, who has come to deliver world. I have been coming here because my gurudeva has given me an impossible mission to perform. He has ordered me to take the message of Lord Caitanya and the Holy Names of Krishna across the ocean to spread all over the world. I have no qualification, no ability, people in the western world have never heard the name of Krishna or who is Radharani. How to convince them? Therefore, for all these years, I have been coming here. Because this is the place that Advaita Acarya, Lord Caitanya, and Nityananda Prabhu are eternally present. They are planning to take the Holy Names all over world. I have been coming here, praying to Them to empower me to fulfil my guru’s order. Tomorrow I am taking a cargo ship to New York City. But I don’t know what I will find there. I don’t know how I will do it. So I am crying to my gurudeva and to the Supreme Personality of Godhead to empower me.”

Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Adi-lila chapter 6 describes: “Advaita Acarya is the incarnation of Maha-Visnu, whose main function is to create the cosmic world through the actions of maya. Because He is non-different from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is called Acarya. He is the Lord and the incarnation of the Lord’s devotee. His glories are beyond the conception of ordinary living beings. Maha-Visnu performs all the functions for the creation of the universes. Sri Advaita Acarya is His direct incarnation.”

Among many important festivals of Bengal, Ras Yatra in Shantipur is very ancient. This festival was started by Mathuresh Goswami, the grandson of Sri Advaita Acarya. The principle deity of the town is Sri Radharaman in the family of Baro Gosai descending from the lineage of Mathuresh Goswami. The deity was originally installed as 'Dol Govinda' in Orissa by king Indradyumna. Later, due to some threats over there, king Basanta Roy brought the Deity to Yashohar (Jessore in Bangaldesh). Mathuresh Goswami was the spiritual master of Basanta Roy. Approximately in 1588, when Man Singha attacked Bengal under the Mughal rule, king Basanta Roy handed the deity to Mathuresh Goswami, who brought Him to Shantipur and established Him as Radharaman with another Deity of Radharani named as Srimati. During Ras Festival all the deities of Shantipur come out of Their temples. In special chariots known as Haoda, They visit the town. We were present there on the final day of the festival to witness 'Kunja-Bhanga', when after the Rasa Dance the deities return to Their respective temples. Devotees carry the deities in special rhythmic dance which is performed as per the beats of special percussion known as Dhak.

Read more: https://bit.ly/32AxivH

We are gathered here to celebrate the appearance day of Sri Advaita Acharya. Advaita Acharya is an incarnation of Maha-vishnu. In terms of pastimes, He appeared before Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and so was considered an elder by Mahaprabhu. He was actually older than Lord Chaitanya’s own father.

Advaita Acharya, although Vishnu Himself, was in the mood of a Vaishnava. As a Vaishnava, He felt compassion for the fallen conditioned souls who were suffering without Krishna consciousness. Although previously Navadvipa had been a great center of devotion, it had deteriorated into a center of dry learning. Thus, Advaita Acharya felt compassion for the fallen souls of the age, so engrossed in material affairs, devoid of devotional service to Krishna. In the mood of a humble Vaishnava, although He was Vishnu Himself, He felt that He was not capable of delivering the fallen souls. He believed that only Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself could preach the yuga-dharma of hari-nama-sankirtana and deliver them.

Advaita Acharya Prabhu was an ideal householder. He had read in the scriptures that the Lord sells Himself to a devotee who offers Him a tulasi leaf and a palmful of water. As a grihastha brahman, He worshipped a salagrama-sila at home. Therefore, He specifically began to worship Salagrama with Ganges water and tulasi leaves with the aim of bringing about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s descent.

The Caitanya-caritamrta describes Sri Advaita Acharya’s appeal to Lord Krishna to appear again on earth. He cried with such intensity that the sound traveled throughout the entire universe and ultimately reached Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Because of the loud cries of Sri Advaita Acharya, Mahaprabhu did indeed descend, appearing in Navadvipa on the full moon night of Phalguna (February-March). Thus the Lord came at the request of Advaita Acharya, His pure devotee, to reclaim the fallen souls.

What was the method by which He reclaimed them? The method was hari-nama-sankirtana, the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. And so, in response to Advaita Acharya’s cries, the Lord appeared in Navadvipa on the full moon night of the Phalguna month, during a lunar eclipse, while millions of Hindus were bathing in the Ganges loudly chanting the holy names. Later, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself practiced sankirtana in Navadvipa-dhama, and after adopting the renounced order of life (sannyasa) left Navadvipa and traveled throughout India. Wherever He went, He chanted the holy names and induced others to chant the holy names as well.

Originally, after Lord Chaitanya took sannyasa, He wanted to make His residence in Vrindavan. His mother, however, could not bear the thought that He would be so far away. So in deference to His mother’s will, He made His headquarters in Jagannatha Puri, which is not so far from Navadvipa. Every year, devotees would travel from Navadvipa to Puri to attend the Ratha-yatra festival and have the association of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Thus, they would go back and forth between Navadvipa and Puri and bring news to Mother Sachi about Lord Chaitanya.

Still, Lord Chaitanya had an ardent desire to visit Vrindavan, and so He left by foot from Puri to travel to Vrindavan-dhama. On the way, He stopped in a place called Ramakeli, the capital of the Muslim despot Nawab Hussein Shah. There the prime minister and the finance minister of the Nawab, who later became known as Srila Sanatana Gosvami and Srila Rupa Gosvami, came to meet Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in disguise.

At the time, thousands of devotees were following Lord Chaitanya, and Lord Chaitanya inaugurated the hari-nama-sankirtana in Ramakeli just outside the area of the Nawab’s palace. The devotees chanted and danced day and night for many days. They totally forgot about eating, sleeping, and other bodily demands. They were simply absorbed in the ecstasy of hari-nama-sankirtana.

But after some time, a few of the devotees began to think of the Nawab, realizing that they were just outside the doorsteps of his palace. The Nawab, Hussein Shah, was a terrible tyrant. He killed people like anything. And he used intimidation to compel Rupa and Sanatana to serve him, threatening that if they didn’t accept his proposal to act as his ministers or secretaries, he would wreak havoc on the Hindu community and kill thousands. Some of the devotees began to become anxious that they were doing such loud hari-nama–sankirtana so close to the Nawab’s palace: “What if he takes notice of us and becomes enraged? He could kill us all!”

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as the omniscient Lord, could understand the anxiety of these devotees. So He stopped the kirtan and told the devotees, “Although I am acting as a devotee, actually I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and because I am the Supreme Lord, no one can harm Me or My movement.” He explained that His movement of hari-nama–sankirtana was destined to spread to every town and village of every country of the world: prthivite ache yata nagaradi-grama, sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama. (Cb Antya 4.126)

During the time of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, His mission spread throughout India. But with the passage of time, even in India, it became weak. Unauthorized groups who claimed to be His followers but who did not actually understand or follow His principles arose and became prominent. The situation got worse and worse until, in the 1800s, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura appeared. He separated Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s true followers from the pseudo-followers and identified at least thirteen deviant groups (apasampradayas). He re-established the true idea of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He also discovered the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Mayapur-dhama, and with his followers he located many different sites associated with the Lord’s pastimes, including the residence of Sri Advaita Acharya in Mayapur. Advaita Acharya actually had two residences—one in Mayapur-dhama itself and one about twenty miles away in Shantipur.

Although Lord Chaitanya had predicted that the holy name would be chanted and preached in every town and village of the world, even learned devotees could not imagine how such a phenomenon could come to pass. Still, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura predicted that very soon somebody would come to fulfill the prediction of Lord Chaitanya. And, as we know, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada did emerge from the followers of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to fulfill the desire and prediction of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Yet this entire arrangement, from one point of view, was created simply to fulfill the desire of Sri Advaita Acharya. Sri Advaita Acharya was the one who so intensely desired that the Lord should come and deliver the fallen souls, especially through hari-nama-sankirtana, that Lord Chaitanya did appear. And now, more than five hundred years later, we are gathered here in Camarillo, California, chanting the holy names of Krishna. This is possible only because Sri Advaita Acharya Prabhu desired so intensely that we would be able to do so and thus be delivered from the bondage of material existence and imbued with the ecstasy of devotional service.

The sixteen words of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—contain all spiritual truths. Realized devotees have actually seen the entire pastimes of Radha and Krishna within the maha-mantra. Srila Jiva Gosvami wrote a poem describing various pastimes of Radha and Krsna that transpire in the course of chanting one round of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura discussed the import of each word of the maha-mantra, and each pair of words (Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, etc.). There are eight pairs of names that combine to make the sixteen words of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. Bhaktivinoda Thakura explained how each pair corresponds to one verse of the Siksastaka prayer of Lord Chaitanya. Further, he wrote an entire chapter on each verse of the Siksastaka.

So, although superficially the Hare Krishna maha-mantra appears to be a simple combination of three different words arranged in a combination of sixteen, actually it contains the entire spiritual world. And as we go deeper and deeper in chanting the maha-mantra, we come closer and closer to entering into the spiritual world and the pastimes of Radha and Krishna. Thus, what Lord Chaitanya came to give by the intense desire of Sri Advaita Acharya, although it appears to be very simple—just an arrangement of sixteen words—is actually deeply profound and unlimitedly vast. It is the entire spiritual world, in comparison with which the whole material world is just a fraction.

The whole process is inconceivable. We know the story of Mother Yasoda and baby Krishna. On Krishna’s birthday, Balarama and the cowherd boys accused Krishna of having eaten some dirt, and Balarama and other sons of the gopas complained to Mother Yasoda. But Krishna denied that He had eaten any dirt. To the contrary, He accused Balarama and the other friends of being angry with Him from Their play and wanting to get Him into trouble. He said, “If you have any doubts, Mother, you can look into My mouth and see if there is any dirt.” So, Krishna opened His mouth, and Mother Yasoda looked inside. And in Krishna’s mouth she saw the entire universe, the whole cosmic manifestation. She saw all moving and nonmoving entities and all directions. She saw past, present, and future. She saw the material elements and the three qualities of nature. She even saw herself and Sri Vrindavan-dhama, and she became completely bewildered.

Mother Yasoda saw the entire cosmic manifestation in the mouth of Krishna, while Krishna Himself appeared just like a small child that she could hold in her arms. In the same way, the entire spiritual world is contained within the two syllables Krs and na, because the two syllables Krs-na are Krishna Himself, the origin of everything. That is actually the invaluable gift of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu upon the fallen souls, given to us due to the desire of Sri Advaita Acharya.

Sri Advaita Acharya is very merciful. Advaita means “nondifferent.” He is Advaita because He is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Lord (advaitam harinadvaitad). And He is Acharya because He preaches the cult of devotion (acaryam bhakti-samsanat).

We are followers of Advaita Acharya. He is one of the acharyas in the line of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Actually, He was initiated by Sri Madhavendra Puri and therefore is in the same generation of spiritual masters as Sri Isvara Puri, the spiritual master of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself. Nevertheless, in one sense we can say Sri Advaita Acharya is in the line of Lord Chaitanya because He considered Himself to be His servant.

So He is acharya—Advaita Acharya. Not only did He induce Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to descend to deliver the fallen souls through the holy name, but He also set the example how one can be acharya. Even as a grihastha, He was an acharya. Most people, especially in Kali-yuga, marry and become householders. Therefore, the example of Sri Advaita Acharya is most important for us. In some ways, His example may be even more relevant for most people in Kali-yuga than the example of Lord Chaitanya, who renounced family life at an early age, or that of Nityananda Prabhu, who as an avadhuta was beyond all material categories.

Thus, we all have been blessed by the mercy of Advaita Acharya, directly and indirectly. We should take advantage of His mercy and of the mercy He caused to descend from the spiritual world for us. We should serve Him with great love and affection.

Hare Krishna.

Devotee: Some of Lord Chaitanya’s devotees went and stayed with Him in Jagannatha Puri. So why not Advaita Acharya?

Giriraj Swami: Advaita Acharya was a grihastha, so He remained in Bengal. But when the other devotees would travel from Bengal to Orissa to join in the Ratha-yatra festival and spend the four months known as Chaturmasya with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Puri, He would accompany them. But then He would go back. It was really just the renunciates who were able to join Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Some of them were married previously but joined later. Advaita Acharya, however, as far as we know, remained based in Bengal.

Actually, all the members of the Pancha-tattva more or less concealed their glories. It was only later that the devotees gradually realized their positions.

So, I conclude with a beautiful verse from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi 1.13):

advaitam harinadvaitad
acaryam bhakti-samsanat
bhaktavataram isam tam
advaita acaryam asraye

“Because He is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is called Acarya. He is the Lord and the incarnation of the Lord’s devotee. Therefore I take shelter of Him.”

Hare Krishna.

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Sri Advaita Acharya’s appearance day, February 8, 2003, Camarillo, California]

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15220

Today we are observing Advaita Acarya’s appearance day, which is on saptami tithi in the month of Magha.
Advaita Acarya appeared first, then He made Mahaprabhu, Krishna, appear. By Advaita Acarya’s calling Krishna appeared. Therefore it is a very auspicious day so we should speak something on Srila Advaita Acarya and beg for His mercy. If He bestows His mercy on us then we can get Caitanya Nitai, otherwise we cannot.

He Is the Lord and the Incarnation of the Lord’s Devotee

First we should know who Advaita Acarya is. It is mentioned in Caitanya-caritamrta adi-lila,

maha-vishnur jagat-karta
mayaya yah srjaty adah
tasyavatara evayam
advaitacarya isvarah

“Lord Advaita Acarya is the incarnation of Maha-Vishnu, whose main function is to create the cosmic world through the actions of maya.” (Caitanya-caritamrta adi-lila 1.12)

advaitam harinadvaitad
acaryam bhakti-samsanat
bhaktavataram isam tam
advaitacaryam asraye

”Because He is non-different from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is called Acarya. He is the Lord and the incarnation of the Lord’s devotee. Therefore I take shelter of Him.” (Caitanya-caritamrta adi-lila 1.13)

Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika states,

bhaktavatara acaryo’dvaito yah sri-sadasivah
(Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika 11)

That means Advaita Acarya is bhakta-avatara.

panca-tattvatmakam krshnam
bhakta-rupa-svarupakam
bhaktavataram bhaktakhyam
namami bhakta-saktikam (Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 7.6)

“I offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Krishna, who is non-different from His features as a devotee, devotional incarnation, devotional manifestation, pure devotee and devotional energy.”

Advaita-Tattva

The panca-tattva is bhakta-rupa, bhakta-svarupa, bhakta-avatara, bhaktakhya and bhakti-sakti. Bhakta-rupa is Mahaprabhu in the form of a devotee. Bhakta-svarupa is Nityananda. Bhakta-avatara is Advaita Acarya. Bhaktakhya is Srivasa and bhakta-sakti is Gadadhara; panca-tattva. Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika states, bhaktavatara acaryo’dvaito yah sri-sadasivah. Advaita Acarya is bhaktavatara and He is also Sadasiva, Sadasiva Maha-Vishnu avatara. When we say Maha-Vishnu avatara then Sadasiva comes. This is Advaita Acarya. This is advaita-tattva. Advaita Acarya is such a devotee that He made Krishna descend here.

Santipura-Natha

Advaita Acarya’s father’s name was Kuvera Misra and His mother’s name was Srimati Nabhadevi. They were first living in Srihatta. Kuvera Pandita, the father of Advaita Acarya, had no son for a very long period. In his old age he got this son Advaita Acarya. In Srihatta district there was a village named Nava-grama. That is the birthplace of Advaita Acarya. He appeared on this day in the month of Magha saptami, on the seventh day of the bright fortnight, Magha sukla saptami.
After that Kuvera Pandita wanted to go and stay on the bank of the Ganges. He left and shifted his residence from the bank of the Ganges to Santipura. Santipura is now famous as Advaita’s dhama, patha. He is also called Santipura-natha, Lord of Santipura.
When Kuvera Pandita performed the nama-karana, name giving ceremony, of his son, he gave one name Mangala and another name Kamalakna, but why is He called Advaita Acarya we quoted already from Caitanya-caritamrta.

The Two Wives of Advaita Acarya

Advaita Acarya’s father and mother disappeared when he was very young. Feeling very distressed he went on pilgrimage visiting many, many holy places. When He came back, some of His relatives requested Him to marry. Therefore, at the request of the relatives He was willing to marry. At that time one very pious orthodox brahmana was living there whose name was Nrsimha Vaduri. He had two daughters; their names were Sri and Sita. They were both very beautiful and Advaita Acarya married both of them. Thus Advaita Acarya had two wives; Sri and Sita. Sita Thakurani is famous. Advaita Acarya is also famous as Sita-natha or Sita-pati because the name of His wife was Sita Thakurani. Sita Thakurani is an incarnation of Yogamaya, and Sri devi is a manifestation of Yogamaya. Advaita Acarya is a Maha-Vishnu avatara and in Maha-Vishnu there is Sadasiva therefore we call Him Sadasiva avatara.

I Am Dependent on My Bhakta

When Advaita Acarya grew up, He saw how the people of this Kali-yuga are suffering and He could not tolerate it. He thought, “I must make Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appear here.” Who can make the Supreme Lord appear? It is stated, bhaktera icchaya krshnera sarva avatara Cc Adi 3.112], and bhaktecchopatta-rupaya, [Bhag. 10.59.25] by the desire of His dear devotee the Lord appears. No one can make the Lord appear. He is not our order carrier. However He has said, aham bhakta-paradhino. One who is His very dear devotee, intimate devotee, prema-bhakti, Krishna said, “I am dependent on him. I have no independence.” Though He is supremely independent.
In Bhagavad-gita Krishna has said, mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya [Bg.7.7], “O Dhananjaya, Arjuna, there is no one superior to Me.” Ekale isvara krshna, ara saba bhrtya, Krishna is the only isvara. All others are His servants, but that Krishna is bhakta-vatsala because He is very dear to His devotees, and a prema-bhakti can bind Him with the rope of love. Therefore it is said in the ninth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam,

aham bhakta-paradhino
hy asvatantra iva dvija
sadhubhir grasta-hrdayo
bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyah

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said to the brahmana: I am completely under the control of My devotees. Indeed, I am not at all independent. Because My devotees are completely devoid of material desires, I sit only within the core of their hearts. What to speak of My devotee, even those who are devotees of My devotee are very dear to Me. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 9.4.63)

He said this to Durvasa Muni, “I have no independence”. He, who is supremely independent, says, “I have no independence. I am bhakta-paradhino, I am dependent on My bhakta. What My bhakta says I do.” So what a dear devotees says Krishna does. If a dear devotee says, “Please come down here”, then He comes down here. Bhaktera bhaktera icchaya krshnera sarva avatara, all incarnations are there by the will of a bhakta [Cc Adi 3.112], and this is also mentioned in the verse bhaktecchopatta-rupaya paramatman namo ‘stu te. [SB 10.59.25] Thus, without the call of His dear devotee Goloka-bihari, Purna-brahma Krishna will never descend here. He never comes here for ordinary reasons.

yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham

paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca dunkrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge
(Bhagavad-gita 4.7-8)

In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna has said, “When there is a rise of irreligion and when bhagavata-dharma is declining, miscreants, demons are rising and sadhus, bhaktas are persecuted, at that time I descend to kill the miscreants and protect the sadhus and establish bhagavata-dharma.” For that purpose His incarnation descends.

Advaita Acarya Was Crying in His Heart

At one time all the demigods headed by Brahma, went to the bank of knira-sagara, the milk ocean, and offered prayers to Krishna. By their prayers Krishna appeared. Similarly, by the prayers of Advaita Acarya, Prema Purunottama Gauranga Mahaprabhu appeared in this material world and manifested His lila. Advaita Acarya could not tolerate the suffering of the jivas of Kali-yuga. He was crying in His heart. Therefore He thought, “I must make the Supreme Lord Krishna appear here”.

advaita-acarya gosani saknat isvara
yanhara mahima nahe jivera gocara

“Sri Advaita Acarya is indeed directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. His glory is beyond the conception of ordinary living beings.” (Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 6.6)

advaita-acarya koti-brahmandera karta
ara eka eka murtye brahmandera bharta

“Sri Advaita Acarya is the creator of millions and millions of universes, and by His expansions [as Garbhodakasayi Vishnu] He maintains each and every universe.” (Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 6.21

He is isvara [the controller], He is non-different from Hari therefore He is advaita [oneness, non-dual]. Here it says, [referring to Cc Adi 1.12-13 above] “Advaita Acarya, because He is non-different from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is called Acarya”. Therefore he is called Advaita Acarya. Caitanya-caritamrta states the same, advaita-acarya gosani saknat isvara, because He is non-different from Hari, saknat isvara. Yanhara mahima nahe jivera gocara, ordinary jivas cannot understand the glory of Advaita Acarya.

He Made a Wonderful Promise

Maha-Vishnu avatara, He is an incarnation of Maha-Vishnu, and therefore He could feel the pains of the jivas here because all jivas come from Maha-Vishnu. He was a Maha-Vishnu avatara, and He could feel the suffering and pain of the kali-hata jiva. He observed that there was no bhakti in Kali-yuga and therefore He promised, “I must make Krishna appear to propagate bhakti”.

karaimu krshna sarva-nayana-gocara
tabe se ‘advaita’-nama krshnera kinkara!

“I will make Krishna appear before the eyes of all, then this person named “Advaita” will be known as the servant of Krishna. (Caitanya Bhagavata. Adi-khanda 11.64)

Advaita Acarya promised, “I must make Krishna appear here and show Krishna to every one. If I do not, then I will not be known by the name Advaita Acarya, krshnera kinkara, the servant of Krishna.” He made this promise. It is a wonderful promise. Who can make such a promise? Only because He is such a dear devotee He can make Krishna appear. Otherwise no one can make Krishna appear.

“If I cannot make Krishna appear here, if I cannot make Him manifest here, and cannot show Him to all the people of Kali-yuga, My name is not Advaita Acarya. Then I’ll give up this name.” He made such a promise, a very strong promise. This is a very wonderful promise. No one has ever heard of such a promise. No one has made such a promise.

He Worshipped salagrama-sila with Tulasi and Ganga-Jala

So every day He was offering worship to salagrama-sila with tulasi leaf and ganga-jala, and uttering the name of Krishna, crying, crying, and crying.
In Caitanya-caritamrta there is a verse quoted from Gautamiya-tantra vacana,

tulasi-dala-matrena jalasya culukena va
vikrinite svam atmanam bhaktebhyo bhakta-vatsalah

“Sri Krishna, who is very affectionate toward His devotees, sells Himself to a devotee who offers Him merely a tulasi leaf and a palmful of water.” (Caitanya-caritamrta adi-lila 3.104)

Every day He was offering tulasi leaf and a palmful of ganga-jala, Ganges water. So He thought of this and He deliberated on this. He said,

ei slokartha acarya karena vicarana
krshnake tulasi-jala deya yei jana
tara rna sodhite krshna karena cintana —
‘jala-tulasira sama kichu ghare nahi dhana’

“Advaita Acarya considered the meaning of the verse in this way: “Not finding any way to repay the debt He owes to one who offers Him a tulasi leaf and water, Lord Krishna thinks, ‘There is no wealth in My possession that is equal to a tulasi leaf and water.” Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 3.105-106

tabe atma veci’ kare rnera sodhana
eta bhavi’ acarya karena aradhana

“Thus the Lord liquidates the debt by offering Himself to the devotee.” Considering in this way, the Acarya began worshiping the Lord. (Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 3.107)

Every day He was worshipping the Lord in the form of salagrama-sila with tulasi leaf and ganga-jala, Ganges water, crying, crying, crying and uttering the name of Krishna and calling in a roaring voice, “Please come down! Please come down!”

His Call Entered the Spiritual Sky

One of Advaita Acarya’s names is Nada. One day Mahaprabhu said “Nadair-hunkara.” Hunkara means “roaring voice”. “With a roaring voice Nada, Advaita Acarya, called Me. My seat shook in My eternal abode so I couldn’t stay there; I had to come down here. He made Me come down.”
Krishna also had the desire to come down again to teach bhakti. Yoga-maya manifests all lilas. So antaranga-sakti, Yoga-maya, was waiting for Advaita Acarya’s call, “Let Advaita Acarya call.” Advaita Acarya was calling Him every day with a roaring voice, while offering worship to salagrama-sila. His call penetrated the seven layers of this material universe, entered into the spiritual sky and went to Goloka Vrndavana. Upon hearing this lila-sutra-dhari, Yoga-maya thought, “Advaita Acarya is calling. Now I must make Krishna appear as Gaura.” Therefore Prema Purunottama Gauranga Mahaprabhu appeared. This is one of the reasons of Gaura’s appearance.

Sitanatha Made Krishna Appear

Bhaktera icchaya krshnera sarva avatara [Cc Adi 3.112]; bhaktecchopatta-rupaya [Bhag. 10.59.25], by the will of His devotee Krishna appears. Who can make Krishna appear? A dear devotee can make Krishna appear. Who is bhakta-vatsala? Who is very dear? Advaita Acarya is so dear. He is bhakti-avatara. He is a very intimate devotee. Therefore He, Sitanatha, made Krishna appear.
Mahaprabhu appeared with His dhama, with His associates in this material world. When Mahaprabhu appeared in Nadia as the son of Jagashnatha Misra and Saci-mata, while staying at Santipura, Advaita Acarya could understand, “Yes, Mahaprabhu has appeared.” He first sent his wife Sita Thakurani to Navadvipa, Mayapur, to Jagashnath Misra’s house. After that He Himself came and saw the child. In Caitanya-caritamrta it is mentioned,

bhaknya, bhojya, upahara, sange la-ila bahu bhara,
saci-grhe haila upanita
dekhiya balaka-thama, saknat gokula-kana,
varna-matra dekhi viparita

“When Sita Thakurani came to the house of Sacidevi, bringing with her many kinds of eatables, dresses and other gifts, she was astonished to see the newborn child, for she appreciated that except for a difference in colour, the child was directly Krishna of Gokula Himself.” (Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 13.115)

He is saknat gokula-krshna, Krishna directly from Gokula except for a difference in His complexion; instead of black He is gaura. That it stated. So this saknat gokula-hari, Gokulanatha Hari, only has a different complexion; He is gaura-varna. When Advaita Acarya Prabhu saw Him He became very, very happy. “Yes, My desire is fulfilled. I made Krishna appear.”
In Caitanya-bhagavata also it is mentioned,

ye pujara samaye ye deva dhyana kare
taha dekhe cari-dige caranera tale

Those demigods that are meditated on at the time of worship were all seen surrounding the lotus feet of the Lord. (Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-khanda 6.86)

My Birth and Activities Are Crowned with Success

When Advaita Acarya looked at the child He saw the same child that He had been meditating upon, while He was daily offering worship to salagrama-sila with ganga-jala and tulasi leaf. “Yes, Krishna has appeared.” He also saw in His meditation all the demigods who were offering prayers to that Supreme Lord. Seeing this, Advaita Acarya became very much ecstatic, blissful and said,

“aji se saphala mora dina parakasa
aji se saphala haila yata abhilana

aji mora janma-karma sakala saphala
saknate dekhilun tora carana-yugala

ghone matra cari vede, yare nahi dekhe
hena tumi mora lagi’ haila parateke
Caitanya-bhagavata Madhya-kandha 6.100-102

”Today My life has become successful.” Advaita Acarya said, “Because I saw My beloved Lord. Today all My desires were fulfilled.” aji mora janma-karma sakala saphala, “Today My birth and My activities are all crowned with success.” saknate dekhilun tora carana-yugala, “I have directly seen Your lotus feet, O My beloved Lord.” Ghone matra cari vede, yare nahi dekhe, hena tumi mora lagi’ haila parateke, “In the four Vedas His glories are described, but no one sees Him. Yet today I have seen Him. He has appeared O, My dear Lord, for Me.”

Advaita Acarya Worships Sriman Mahaprabhu

Mahaprabhu asked Acarya, “O, Acarya You offer worship to Me.” Then Advaita Acarya offered worship at the lotus feet of Sriman Mahaprabhu. This is mentioned in Caitanya-bhagavata,

prathame carana dhui’ suvasita jale
sene gandhe paripurna pada-padme dhale

“He first washed the lotus feet of the Lord with fragrant water and then smeared them with sandalwood paste.” Caitanya-bhagavata Madhya-kandha 6.106

candane dubai’ divya tulasi-manjari
arghyera sahita dila carana-upari

“He dipped tulasi-manjaris in the sandalwood paste and placed them and the ingredients of arghya on the Lord’s lotus feet.” (Caitanya-bhagavata Madhya-kandha 6.107)

gandha, punpa, dhupa, dipa, panca upacare
puja kare prema-jale vahe asru-dhare

“He worshipped the Lord with five ingredients like sandalwood paste, flowers, incense, and ghee. As He worshipped the Lord, tears of love flowed from His eyes.”

panca-sikha jvali’ punah karena vandana
sene ‘jaya-jaya’-dhvani karaye ghonana

“He offered a lamp with five ghee wicks and again offered prayers. Finally He loudly chanted, ‘Jaya! Jaya!’. ”

While shedding tears of love, prema-asru, He offered puja, lit panca-pradipa and offered arati. In this way He worshiped baby Gaura Hari. Advaita Acarya Prabhu offered worship to the lotus feet of Sri Gaura Hari according to scriptural evidences and scriptural methods.

Advaita Acarya’s Prayers to Mahaprabhu

At last He offered these prayers to Mahaprabhu, which are all mentioned in Caitanya-bhagavata:

jaya jaya sarva-prana-natha visvambhara
jaya jaya gauracandra karuna-sagara

jaya jaya bhakata-vacana-satyakari
jaya jaya mahaprabhu maha-avatari

jaya jaya sindhu-suta-rupa-manorama
jaya jaya srivatsa-kaustubha-vibhunana

jaya jaya ‘hare-krshna’-mantrera prakasa
jaya jaya nija-bhakti-grahana-vilasa

jaya jaya mahaprabhu ananta-sayana
jaya jaya jaya sarva-jivera sarana
(Caitanya-bhagavata Madhya-kandha 6.114-118)

He offered this prayer unto Mahaprabhu. Jaya jaya sarva-prana-natha visvambhara His name is Visvambhara. All glories to Visvambhara, who is the life and soul of all jivas. Jaya jaya gauracandra karuna-sagara, all glories to Gauracandra, who is an ocean of mercy.
Jaya jaya bhakata-vacana-satyakari, all glories to He who makes the words of His devotees come true. That is Krishna’s thought, “When My devotee has promised to make Me appear, I must appear. If I won’t appear, then the words of My devotees will be false. Then no one will be My devotee.” Therefore He makes His dear devotee’s words come true. Jaya jaya mahaprabhu maha-avatari, “You are the source of all avataras.” Because He is Krishna and Krishna is the source of all avataras.
Jaya jaya sindhu-suta-rupa-manorama. Sindhu-suta means Laknmidevi. He is as beautiful as Laknmidevi; very beautiful. Jaya jaya srivatsa-kaustubha-vibhunana, “On His chest is srivatsa-kaustubha.”
Jaya jaya ‘hare-krshna’-mantrera prakasa, “Who spoke the hare-krshna maha-mantra. That Mahaprabhu, let Him be glorified.” Jaya jaya nija-bhakti-grahana-vilasa, “Who came to teach His own bhakti-yoga, let Him be glorified.”
Jaya jaya mahaprabhu ananta-sayana, “Who lies on the bed of Ananta-naga. That is Mahaprabhu, jaya jaya.” Jaya jaya jaya sarva-jivera sarana, “At whose lotus feet all jivas take shelter, let that Mahaprabhu be glorified.”
So these are His jaya-gana [songs of glorification]. In this way Advaita Acarya Prabhupada offered many prayers at the lotus feet of Sri Gaurasundara.

Advaita Acarya’s Boon

In this way He was offering worship and prayers to baby Gaura. Much talking was going on between Advaita Acarya and Gaurasundara. When the baby was talking, no one else would say anything. Gaurasundara laughed and said, “O Acarya, I am very much pleased with Your prayers. You may ask for a boon.” It is also mentioned in Caitanya-bhagavata that Advaita Acarya asked for this boon:

advaita balaye, — yadi bhakti bilai
bastri-sudra-adi yata murkhere se diba
(Caitanya-bhagavata Madhya-lila 6.167)

Advaita Acarya said, “All right. Please grant Me this boon: You should give bhakti to one and all; stri, women, sudras, to those who are most ignorant fools and to those who are most degraded. Please give bhakti to one and all. Please give Me this boon. Let it be granted.” When Advaita Acarya asked for this boon Mahaprabhu granted it. When He accepted Advaita Acarya’s prayer and granted it, His very intimate devotees could understand that this boon was granted. At that time, simultaneously they said, “Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!”

Gaurahari is karuna-sagara, an ocean of mercy, karuna-maya, merciful. He makes true what His bhakta has said, bhakta-vacana-satyakari. To those who are dina hina papi panandi, He offered that prema. Brahmara durlabha prema saba kare yache patita pamara nahi bache, it is not an easy thing even on the part of Brahma to obtain it. Mahaprabhu offered that prema, krshna-prema, which is such a rare attainment, indiscriminately to all patitas (fallen), pamaras (the most degraded souls), papis (sinful men), panandis (atheists), dina (distressed) and hina (inferior). Thus it is by the calling of Santipura-natha, Santipura-pati Advaita Acarya, that Mahaprabhu appeared.
Therefore His appearance day is a very, very auspicious day.

Jaya karuna-maya Santipura-pati Advaita Acarya Prabhu ki jaya!
Jaya karuna-maya Santipura-pati Advaita Acarya Prabhu ki jaya!
Jaya karuna-maya Santipura-pati Advaita Acarya Prabhu ki jaya!

Please shower Your mercy on us most degraded jivas. O Advaita Acarya Prabhu, if You shower Your mercy on us then we can get Gaura and Nitai. Otherwise what is the value of our life?
So on this day we must offer prayers at the lotus feet of karuna-maya, the most merciful Lord of Santipura, Sri Sri Advaita Acarya.

This is only a brief summary about Advaita Acarya Prabhu’s life. At last we offer some prayers unto Him. So we will sing a song by Locana dasa Thakura glorifying Advaita Acarya. If you do not sing it, you cannot relish it. Therefore you should all sing it.

(1)
jaya jaya advaita acarya dayamaya
yara huhunkare gaura avatara haya

Hunkara means roaring call. With thunderous voice He was calling, “Please, please come down, please!” Yara huhunkare gaura avatara haya, by whose roaring call Gaura appeared.

(2)

prema-data sita-natha karuna-sagara
yara prema-rase a-ila gauranga nagara

The bestower of prema Sitanatha, the husband of Sita Thakurani, is an ocean of mercy, by whose loving mellow the all-merciful Gauranga Mahaprabhu came down.

(3)

yahare karuna kari krpa dithe caya
prema-rase se-jana caitanya-guna gaya

Sriman Mahaprabhu came down here and bestowed His mercy on Advaita Acarya Prabhu. If one is fortunate to get the mercy of Advaita Acarya then he will be able to glorify Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

(4)

tahara padete yeba la-ila sarana
se-jana pa-ila gaura-prema-maha-dhana

One who takes shelter at the lotus feet of Advaita Acarya is very fortunate and will definitely get gaura-prema, which is an invaluable asset.

(5)

emana dayara nidhi kene na bhajilum
locana bale nija mathe bajara padilum

Emana dayara nidhi, Advaita Acarya Prabhu is such an ocean of mercy. I am such a rascal. I am not doing the bhajana of Advaita Acarya. One who does not do the bhajana of Advaita Acarya, who is the ocean of mercy, Locana dasa Thakura says, bale nija mathe bajara padilum, “He puts a thunderbolt on his own head.”

This is a song written by Locana dasa Thakura glorifying Advaita Acarya Thakura.

Jaya karuna-maya Santipura-pati Sri Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu ki jaya!
Jaya karuna-maya Santipura-pati Sri Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu ki jaya!
Jaya karuna-maya Santipura-pati Sri Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu ki jaya!
Advaita Acarya Prabhu ki subha avirbhava-tithi ki jaya!
Advaita Acarya Prabhu ki subha avirbhava-tithi ki jaya!
Samaveta bhakta vrnda ki jaya!
Gaura-premanande hari hari bol!

Today is the day when we honor that personality who has brought the descent of Lord Caitanya into this world Shri Advaita Acarya, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is Mahavishnu, He is the personality who created this entire cosmic manifestation and knowing the purpose of the cosmic manifestations to send everyone back to Godhead that same Mahavishnu incarnated within this material world slightly over five hundred years ago. He was born in a little village in Bengal called Navagram, his mother’s name was Näbhadevé and his name was Kuvera pandit. When he was just a small child he was given two names Kamaläkña and Advaita. It is said that immediately after his birth the first word that came out of his mouth were Shri Krishna Caitanya but nobody could understand this. Playing the role of an ordinary human being, when he was very young he received the sacred thread, when he was only about four years old his parents moved to Shantipur on the banks of the Ganges. His parents both left this world; they died when he was just a very young man. So after performing the Çraddhä ceremony in Gaya he decided to go and Tirth Yatra to visit the holy places through all of India. During his journey he met that great spiritual master Madhavendra puri and he accepted initiation from him.
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Video : Glories of Sri Advaita Acharya

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The Glories of Sri Advaita Acharya

Source: http://www.prabhupadaconnect.com/The-Glories-of-Sri-Advaita-Acharya.html

The foremost of all the Vaishnavas who reside at Navadwip is Sri Advaita Acarya, whose virtuous presence has made all the worlds blessed. He is the most preeminent preceptor in all fields including knowledge, renunciation and devotion. In explaining Krishna-bhakti he is like Lord Shankara (Shiva) himself, and whatever scriptures that exist within the three worlds he explains in the light of Krishna-bhakti.

With intense eagerness, he continually worships the Shalagram of Sri Krishna with Tulasi manjaris and Ganges water. By the momentum of his spiritual force, his loud shouts pierce the coverings of this universe and, resounding throughout Vaikuntha, reach the ears of Sri Krishna. Hearing this loving summons saturated with devotion, Sri Krishna advents Himself.

Advaita Thakur ki jay!!

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=82197

By Giriraj Swami

To honor Sri Advaita Acharya’s appearance day, we present Srila Prabhupada’s talk about him in Mayapur on April 6, 1975.

advaitam harinadvaitad
acaryam bhakti-samsanat
bhaktavataram isam tam
advaita acaryam asraye

“Because He is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is called Acarya. He is the Lord and the incarnation of the Lord’s devotee. Therefore I take shelter of Him.” (Cc Adi 1.13)

So, gradually the author is offering respect: sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita. He has already offered respect to Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda. Now it is the turn for Sri Advaita Acharya. Advaitam: “nondifferent”—He is expansion of Maha-vishnu. He is visnu-tattva. He is not jiva-tattva. Therefore He is Advaita. Advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam. Krishna has got unlimited number of expansions—expansions, expansions of the expansions, and then expansions of those expansions, in this way. So Advaita Acharya is an expansion of Krishna, as already explained. Therefore He is called advaitam.

And acaryam bhakti-samsanat. This is the business of acharya: to spread the bhakti cult. Acaryam mam vijaniyan navamanyeta karhicit. It is said by the Lord, “You should accept the acharya.” Acharya means one who transmits the bhakti cult. Bhakti-samsanat, spreading—gosthy-anandi. One who is not spreading—he is cultivating Krishna consciousness for his personal benefit in a secluded place, sitting and chanting—that is also nice, but he’s not acharya. Acharya means he must spread—gosthy-anandi. Bhajananandi, gosthy-anandi. Generally, gosthy-anandi means one who wants to increase the number of devotees. He’s called gosthy-anandi. And one who is self-satisfied, that “Let me do my own duty,” he is called bhajananandi.

My guru maharaja, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, was a gosthy-anandi; he wanted to increase the number of devotees. And the more you increase the number of devotees, the more you become recognized by Krishna. It is Krishna’s business. Krishna personally comes as He is to spread this bhakti cult. Man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru. Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja. He’s canvassing personally.

paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge

“To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.” (Gita 4.8)

So, the same thing is entrusted to another devotee, who spreads—he’s acharya. So Krishna says, the acharya . . . Here it is said, advaitam harinadvaitad. Of course, Advaita Acharya is expansion of visnu-tattva, but any acharya is to be considered identical with the Lord. The Lord says that: acaryam mam vijaniyan—“One should understand the acharya.” Acaryam bhakti-samsanat. Acharya means one who is spreading the pure bhakti cult. “That acharya,” Krishna says, “you should consider as Myself.”

acaryam mam vijaniyan
navamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyasuyeta
sarva-deva-mayo guruh

“One should know the acarya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.” (SB 11.17.27, Cc Adi1.46).

You cannot consider, “Yes, he’s acharya, but not as good as Krishna.” No. Navamanyeta: don’t deride in that way. Then there will be falldown. Acaryam mam vijaniyan navamanyeta karhicit. And in the Vedasalso it is said:

yasya deve para bhaktir
yatha deve tatha gurau
tasyaite kathita hy arthah
prakasante mahatmanah

“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” (Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.23) All the Vedic literature becomes revealed (prakasante) simply by these two principles.

Guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija. We should not jump over to Krishna, without the help of guru. That is not possible. You must go through, because Krishna says, tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreya uttamam: “One who is actually serious to understand higher transcendental subject matter, he must approach guru.” Tasmad gurum prapadyeta. These are Vedic injunctions. Cakhu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei. Anyone who opens . . . Guru means one who opens the eyes of the ignorant person. Ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya—opening the eyes by giving real knowledge. Guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija. The bhakti-lata, the seed of devotional service, can be received by the parampara system through a bona fide spiritual master. And if we abide by the orders of spiritual master faithfully, then Krishna becomes pleased. That is stated by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura: yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah. Ar na koriho mane asa—Narottama dasa. All the acharyas say like that.

Acaryavan puruso veda: “One who has accepted acharya, he knows things as they are.” Others, they do not know; it is not possible. So Advaita Acharya is the typical example of how to become acharya. All are our acharyas: sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda. All of them are acharyas because they are following the supreme acharya, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Therefore they are acharyas. Evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh.

So, we have to follow the acharya. Then, when you are completely, cent percent, follower of acharya, then you can also act as acharya. This is the process. Don’t become premature acharya. First of all, follow the orders of acharya and become mature. Then it is better to become acharya. We are interested in preparing acharyas, but the etiquette is, at least for the period when the guru is present, one should not become acharya. Even if he is complete, he should not, because the etiquette is if somebody comes for becoming initiated, it is the duty of such person to bring that prospective candidate to his acharya, not that “Now people are coming to me, so I can become acharya.” That is avamanya. Navamanyeta karhicit. Don’t transgress this etiquette. Navamanyeta. That will be falldown. Just like during the lifetime of our guru maharaja, all our godbrothers who are now acting as acharya, they did not do so. That is not etiquette. Acaryam mam vijaniyan navamanyeta. That is insult. If you insult your acharya, then you are finished. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ’pi—finished. If you displease your acharya, then you are finished. Therefore it is said—Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says to all the acharyas . . . Nityananda Prabhu, Advaita Prabhu, and Srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda, they are all carriers of orders of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

So, try to follow the path of acharya process. Then life will be successful. And to become acharya is not very difficult. First of all, become a very faithful servant of your acharya: follow strictly what he says and try to please him and spread Krishna consciousness. That’s all. It is not at all difficult. Try to follow the instruction of your guru maharaja and spread Krishna consciousness. That is the order of Lord Chaitanya. Amara ajnaya guru hana tara’ ei desa, yare dekha tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa: “By following My order, you become guru.” And if we strictly follow the acharya system and try our best to spread the instruction of Krishna . . . Yare dekha tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa. There are two kinds of krsna-upadesa. Upadesameans instruction. Instruction given by Krishna, that is krsna-upadesa, and instruction received about Krishna, that is also krsna-upadesa. Krsnasya upadesa iti krsna-upadesa. Samasa, sasti-tat-purusa-samasa. And krsna visaya upadesa, that is also Krishna upadesa. Bahu-vrihi-samasa. This is the way of analyzing Sanskrit grammar. So Krishna’s upadesa is Bhagavad-gita. He’s directly giving instruction.

So, those who are spreading krsna-upadesa, simply repeat what is said by Krishna. Then you become acharya. Not difficult at all. Everything is stated there. We have to simply repeat like parrot. Not exactly parrot. Parrot does not understand the meaning; he simply vibrates. But you should understand the meaning also. Otherwise, how you can explain? So, we want to spread Krishna consciousness. Simply prepare yourself how to repeat Krishna’s instructions very nicely, without any malinterpretation. Then, in future . . . Suppose now you have got ten thousand. We shall expand to hundred thousand. That is required. Then hundred thousand to million, and million to ten million.

Devotees: Jaya!

Srila Prabhupada: So, there will be no scarcity of acharya, and people will understand Krishna consciousness very easily. So, make that organization. Don’t be falsely puffed up. Follow the acharya’s instruction and try to make yourself perfect, mature. Then it will be very easy to fight maya. Yes, acharyas declare war against maya’s activities. Maya is instructing, “Here is wine, here is cigarette, here is . . .” In your country these advertisements are very prominent—wine advertisement, cigarette advertisement, naked woman advertisement, and sometimes also gambling advertisement. What is that? Congo?

Devotees: Bingo.

Srila Prabhupada: Bingo. Yes. So, this is maya. And our declaration of war against maya—no intoxication, no meat-eating, no bingo. This is our declaration of war. So, we have to fight in that way, because nobody can understand Krishna without being free from all sinful activities. These are sinful activities. Therefore it is the acharya’s business to stop these nonsense activities. Otherwise they’ll not be able to understand, especially the meat-eaters. They cannot understand.

nivrtta-tarsair upagiyamanad
bhavausadhac chrotra-mano-’bhiramat
ka uttamasloka-gunanuvadat
puman virajyeta vina pasughnat

“Glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is performed in the parampara system; that is, it is conveyed from spiritual master to disciple. Such glorification is relished by those no longer interested in the false, temporary glorification of this cosmic manifestation. Descriptions of the Lord are the right medicine for the conditioned soul undergoing repeated birth and death. Therefore, who will cease hearing such glorification of the Lord except one who is killing animals or one who is killing his own self?” (SB10.1.4)

Unless one is very expert in killing animals, he is not bereft of Krishna consciousness. That means one who is very expert in killing, he cannot understand. Therefore Christ also said, “Thou shall not kill”—the first business. Nobody will be able if one is a killer of animals, small or big—ultimately killer of his own children, killer of his own self. The killing process is so nice that it goes up to the point of killing one’s children. That is now happening. The killing business has so expanded that they are killing their own children. Just see the influence of Kali-yuga. The children take shelter of the father and mother, thinking themselves very safe. Now, in this Kali-yuga, there is no safety even under the care of father and mother. Just see how this material civilization is progressing. Very, very dangerous. Kalau nasta-drsam. Therefore that Bhagavata verse is there:

krsne sva-dhamopagate
dharma-jnanadibhih saha
kalau nasta-drsam esa
puranarko ’dhunoditah

“This Bhagavata Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Krsna to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purana.”

Very, very abominable condition in this age of Kali—very, very. It is the beginning of Kali. Now we have to pass through 427,000 years. Kali-yuga will make progress in that way. And people are now practicing eating their children, and at the end of Kali there will be no food available. They’ll have to eat the children, like the snakes do. The snakes eat their own children. There are many animals who eat their own children. So, don’t try to repeat your birth again and again in this Kali-yuga. It will be not very happy life. Better sacrifice everything in this life and be fully Krishna conscious and go back home, back to Godhead. Don’t wait for the next life. This is very seriously repeated, that “This life I shall finish my Krishna consciousness business.” And as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna consciousness business means to understand Krishna rightly. And He’s explaining Himself rightly. Where is the difficulty to finish the Krishna consciousness business? If Krishna is explaining Himself—what He is—then where is your difficulty? Krishna is explaining Himself in the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna is sending His representative, acharya, to teach you, and Krishna is within you trying to teach you, if you are actually serious. Then where is the difficulty? Inside, outside, all ways—books, knowledge—He is prepared.

So where is the difficulty to make yourself perfect in Krishna consciousness? There is no difficulty at all. Provided you are serious, you can become fully Krishna conscious in this very life.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=71437

The speaker explains that the day is highly auspicious, marking multiple divine events, including the appearance of Srimati Vishnu Priya Devi and Pundarika Vidyanidhi. Raghunatha Dasa Goswami is highlighted as the personification of renunciation: born into immense wealth, he abandoned everything to serve Lord Chaitanya, later living in Jagannatha Puri and Radha-kunda in Vrindavan. His extreme renunciation and devotion pleased Mahaprabhu and contributed to the revelation of Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita.

A major portion of the lecture narrates the life and hidden glory of Pundarika Vidyanidhi, an eternal associate of the Lord who outwardly appeared as a wealthy materialist but inwardly possessed the highest ecstatic love for Krishna. Although misunderstood by many, his true nature was revealed when he heard a single verse from Srimad Bhagavatam describing Krishna’s mercy to Putana. Upon hearing it, he entered uncontrollable spiritual ecstasy, demonstrating profound divine love and complete detachment from material opulence.

This revelation deeply affected Gadadhara Pandita, who initially doubted Pundarika Vidyanidhi due to his external appearance. Realizing his offense, Gadadhara sought forgiveness by accepting Pundarika Vidyanidhi as his initiating spiritual master, illustrating the ideal guru-disciple relationship based on humility, mercy, and spiritual realization.

The lecture also discusses sacred places such as Pundarik Dham in present-day Bangladesh, emphasizing its spiritual potency, the purity of its residents, and the ongoing worship and festivals there. The speaker shares personal experiences of pilgrimage and bathing in Radha-kunda at Pundarik Dham, describing profound spiritual effects attributed to obedience to the spiritual master.

The talk concludes by stressing the importance of spiritual desire, surrender to the guru, and hearing about pure devotees, affirming that simply hearing these pastimes can awaken love of God in the heart.

Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=117149

By Sunanda Das, 

The next TOVP milestone is set for February 11, 2026, with the scheduled Grand Opening of the magnificent Yajna Shala in the TOVP Gardens. This immense yajna arena will become the permanent home for daily yajnas for the pleasure of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the protection of His devotees, continuing a seva that began in 1986 at ISKCON’s World Headquarters in Sridham Mayapur.

In this video, TOVP Director and Vice Chairman Braja Vilasa shows us the construction progress and encourages all devotees to participate in the many sponsorships that are available to help fund the construction. These sponsorships include the actual yajna arena, pillars, entranceways, garden, flags, stairs, roof tiles, and the Grand Opening yajnas as well. To watch the video, click here.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/tovp-yajna-shala-grand-opening-scheduled-for-february-11-2026/

By Ekachakra Prana Dasa 

Two nights ago, I was fortunate to witness something extraordinary during the Be A Gardener campaign. In the company of a small group of devotees, we went out with the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (CC), trusting Lord Caitanya’s guidance at every step. What unfolded felt worth sharing in the hope that others might feel encouraged to try as well.

We chose a South Indian restaurant, knowing that many people from South India carry deep natural piety and respect for sacred literature. We stood right out front from 6–10 PM, catching the Saturday night dinner crowd. No table. No sign.

All we had was a dolly stacked with CC sets, one open set to show the individual volumes, and a nearby car loaded to the brim with more sets. We kept a few copies of the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam tucked away, but the mission was clear: Distribute Caitanya-caritāmṛta . And that clarity made all the difference.

For the first hour, I mostly observed. Watching Acyuta Kumar Das, Dhīra Praśānt Das, and Mālinī Devi Dasi was a master class in book distribution: calm, confident, friendly. By the end of the night, hesitation disappeared, fear vanished, and my success rate skyrocketed.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/be-a-gardener-campaign-in-action-25-caitanya-caritam%e1%b9%9bta-sets-in-one-evening/