Posted by Ravi Chandran on October 19, 2011 at 2:48pm
In honor of Advaita Acarya's appearance day(from Bhakti-ratnakara, Fifth Wave, by Sri Narahari Cakravarti Thakura)Raghava Pandita continued: "A wise person once told me that Advaita Gosvami stayed in Mathura during His pilgrimage because of the beauty here. At that time there was a worthless brahmana in Mathura who invariably spoke ill of the Vaisnavas. That was his worst habit. He was a proud scholar and a wicked man, so the inhabitants of Mathura feared him.""Once he spoke harshly about the Vaisnavas in front of Sri Advaita Prabhu. Advaita became so furious that His lips began to tremble and His eyes grew red. He shouted at the brahmana, 'O wicked man, today you will not escape from Me. I shall sever your head from your body with this cakra.' Advaita assumed a four-armed figure, and the brahmana began to tremble in fear.He folded his hands and tried to pacify Advaita by saying, 'O Lord, punish me as You like. Unfortunately, I have lost my good intelligence, and not understanding vaisnava-tattva, I have committed unlimited sins. Please be kind to me and save me from these sins.'" "The brahmana began to cry helplessly, and Advaita concealed His four-armed form. Seeing the wretched condition of the brahmana, Advaita felt pity for him and decided to bless him. Advaita spoke in sweet words, 'The sins which you have committed will send you to hell, but I will tell you what you must do now. Admit your guilty mentality, give up all pleasures, and engage yourself in nama-sankirtana. Serve the Vaisnavas with your heart and soul and be very cautious in your dealings with them. Engage yourself in worship according to the standards of pure devotion and do not tell anyone what you have seen today.'"After advising the brahmana, Advaita Prabhu left on pilgrimage. The brahmana absorbed himself in nama-sankirtana and proved himself humble by visiting every house in Mathura with tears in his eyes. Seeing his sincere efforts, the Vaisnavas became satisfied and wished him well. The Vaisnavas wondered what had caused the change in his behavior. One man knew the reason. 'A brahmana once came to Mathura whose effulgence was as bright as the sun. Most likely he was the Lord in a human form. He has changed the brahmana.'"
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