Date: January 30th, 2012
Topic: Sri Advaita Acarya's Appearance day [C.C. Adi 6.5]
Speaker: HH Bhakti V.V.Swami

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]

Lecture transcribed by Madri dasi

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.

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 Upanisad 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 ccould 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 lo