Sri Advaita Acarya's place of initiation

 Here Sri Advaita Acarya took initiation from Sri Madhavendra Puri. The place is called Shantipur

Here you can see he didn't have a beard because he was very young.

‘Story of Srila Advaita Acharya’ by HH Radhanath Swami

Creation of this universe starts with Brahma

The hard way but that is our choice. So when it is describe in the Bhagavat purana how the Lord creates this material world. Krishna personally has nothing to do with material existence, Krishna is Rasabihari, He is simply enjoying loving relations with the Brijwasi’s. Narayan of Vaikuntha He also has nothing to do with this material existence, He is simply enjoying with the goddess of fortune and the entire servant of the Lord. It is described that Krishna expands first as Lord Balaram who facilitates all the beautiful loving relationship of the spiritual abode, Balaram expands himself as quadruple expansions of Vasudeva, Anniruddha, Pradyumna and Shankarshan. Shankarshan and Vasudeva expand themselves as Narayana Vishnu and Anantaçeña and then Shankarshan again expands himself as Mahavishnu. Mahavishnu is the original source directly of material existence. It is explain Karanadakasayi Vishnu or Mahavishnu He lays in the causal ocean and what is the causal ocean, it is the ocean that is created by His own perspiration. While laying in the causal ocean, He is so big that when He exhales uncountable, innumerable universes emanate from the nostrils and the pores of His body like little bubbles and those universes are all floating in the causal ocean. Mahavishnu is the original of everything in material creation, He is the creator. From Mahavishnu He personally expands Himself to enter into each of this tiny little universes, in comparison to Him they are tiny. So you can understand how little and small we are, we that think this universe is very big, what is the difference between the Jiva Aatma and the Paramatma this is the just little sample of the difference. From Mahavishnu who is an only an expansion of an expansion of an expansion of Krishna this universe is tinier than a mustard seeds and for us with our big telescopes and all our space shuttles we cannot fathom the size of this universe. So Mahavishnu enters into each of these little universes as Garbhodakashayi Vishnu but then Mahavishnu after creating each universe and entering as Garbhodakashayi Vishnu with His eyes He glances at each universe and from His glance He impregnates it with all of the Jivaatma‘s that are to take birth according to their Karmic condition in each particular universe. In this sense the earth is like our mother and Mahavishnu is like the father who impregnates the mother with His glance and we are all born from that interaction. Garbhodakashayi lays and Lotus flower sprouts from His naval and upon that lotus flower the original living created being of each universe Lord Brahma is born. Lord Brahma is given the instruction to perform Tapasya and through Tapasya and devotion to the Lord he has given Darshan of the supreme Lord and the Lord reveals from within his heart the Vedic knowledge. In this way through Shabda Brahma tene brahma hådä ya ädi-kavaye, He makes Brahma the first spiritual master of each universe, how significant. The purpose of this material creation is to send us all back home back to Godhead and the first thing that’s created is Brahma and the first thing inspired within Brahma is the Vedic knowledge,

yajïa-çiñöäçinaù santo

mucyante sarva-kilbiñaiù

bhuïjate te tv aghaà päpä

ye pacanty ätma-käraëät

Human life is meant for Sacrifice,

saha-yajïäù prajäù såñövä

puroväca prajäpatiù

Krishna says at the beginning of creation that I have given the Vedic knowledge through Brahma and then after the Vedas are revealed Brahma begins the process of creation of all the planets and all the various species of life and of all the species of life Krishna is to be known that is the purpose of creation. There are four Yugas, according to the particular persons karmic condition Satya Yuga is for the very pious where practically everyone goes back to Godhead because they have such an inclination towards spiritual life, in Treta Yuga people become slightly become more degraded and in Dwapar Yuga half the population is God consciousness and half is degraded and for those living entities who have the worst possible Karma they take birth in Kali Yuga,

kaler doña-nidhe räjann

asti hy eko mahän guëaù

kértanäd eva kåñëasya

mukta-saìgaù paraà vrajet

Kali Yuga is an ocean of faults; it’s the age of Quarrel, the age of hypocrisy, the iron age of irreligion. The age where religion become irreligion and irreligion becomes religion but it is explain in Srimad Bhagvatam that Kali Yuga is most blessed and most worshipable of all because in the age of Kali the supreme Lord incarnate in His most munificent and merciful of all incarnation to give everyone love of through the chanting of the holy names Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare, Hare. Exactly how this come about that Lord appeared in this age of Kali to deliver this pure gift of Krishna prema so profusely indiscriminately to everyone not considering qualification or disqualification.

Advaita Acarya had wonderful association of Haridas Thakur

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.

The supreme absolute truth was playing the role of His own devotee and to reciprocate with the love of His devotees Madhavendra Puri, He became His disciple. Of course also to show the world that no one can make proper spiritual advancement without becoming the humble servant of a great devotee of the Lord, a Guru. He was always absorbed in hearing and chanting the glories of Lord Krishna, always absorbed in serving the devotees of Krishna and congregationally chanting with devotees the holy names Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare, Hare. He became very dear loving friends with Shri Haridas Thakur. Advaita Acarya wanted to establish who is really a great personality. In those days in India and even still today there a very degraded, corrupt and pervaded conception of caste by birth of who is qualified and who is unqualified, in those days if an out caste sprinkle water from their pot on your head you would be excommunicated from the Hindu society for the rest of your life, you were never to allow to chant any mantras, you have to turn in your sacred thread, you will never allowed in temple, you are never allowed to perform any worship of the Lord that’s what it happen if simply one drop of water from an outcaste water pot came upon your body, what else. The Mleccha’s from other religions that came into India they would forcibly put meat in your mouth, by force and if that happen the Hindu society banished you forever. This is how the Hindus were converted to Islam and Christianity because the Shudra’s the untouchable the lower caste which is the majority they won’t allow to perform any religious activity because they were consider unclean contaminated, they won’t allow them in any temple. So these other religion came and said where you can worship in our temples so they converted. Anyways Advaita Acarya was born of the highest class of Brahman, when he performed Çraddhä ceremony to his father it is explained you have invite best Brahmins to come and the best of all the Brahmans you are supposed to give prasäda to first, who did he select Shri Haridas Thakur who is born in an untouchable family. Haridas Thakur said, why me I am not even allowed to enter into any Hindu’s temples, I am untouchable, why are you giving to me? Advaita Acarya explained to him because you are chanting the names of God and because you are a pure devotee of God, by giving you prasäda I am feeding millions and millions and millions of Brahmans. That one’s quality, one’s devotion are the only single thing to be considered, we are not concerned with whether one is man or a women, we are not concern whether one is a out caste or a in caste, we are not concern whether one is born of any country of any color skin. The Jiva soul is pure part of Krishna and any living being who is living according to the principles of Dharma and chanting the holy name is to respected and worshiped with all regard. So in this way Haridas Thakur and Advaita Acarya would spend their days blissfully dancing and chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare, Hare.

Lord cannot denies the prayer of His pure devotees  

There were many devotees who took birth in Navadwip Dham and especially at the house of Srivas Thakur who is actually incarnation of Sri Narada Muni. There was always kirtan going on. Advaita Acarya built a little hut, a Kutir on the bank of the Ganges in Navadwip and there he would daily discussed the beautiful pastimes of Lord Krishna and the philosophy of Bhagavad Gita and along with Srivas and the other Vaishnav’s they would have wonderful Kirtan. But when they looked around them they could find no real peace of mind although within their own hearts there was always the upsurging of ecstatic love. A real Vaishnav finds the great grief in seeing the suffering of others and what is the greatest suffering when they see people wasting their valuable human lives in the pursuit of sense gratification without surrendering to Krishna. In those days Navadwip was consider the highest learning, it was the wealthy land, it was so much money, so much opulence, so much affluence but what were people doing with their lives they were worshiping Demi-gods simply for material benediction. They were worshiping snake God’s with all sorts superstitious purposes, they were worshiping the Yakshas by offering wines and meat, they were spending lavish amount of money for the weddings of sons and daughters. Even the great Pandits, the great so called Brahmans Mishra, Cakravarti, Bhattacharya they were explain all the scriptures according to Karma Kanda or Gyan Kanda or according to atheistic views with the aim of material enjoyment or impersonal conceptions, nowhere, anywhere was anyone discussing devotion.

The name of Krishna or Govinda would not come out of anyone‘s mouth. Seeing this, Vaishnav’s were plunged into an ocean of despair and they would chant the holy names pray to Lord Krishna please do something to save all of these people. They would kirtan in the house of Srivas Thakur especially to purify the atmosphere to give some sense of spirituality to these completely contaminated materialistic people and the people were so ungrateful they would think that why are they making all these noise, all these useless terrible  noise chanting the holy names of God, they are disturbing our sleep. Not only that but the Muslim Government that was then ruling Bengal if they hear them chanting the holy names of God they would come and torture our whole village. So they were thinking we should take the house of Srivas and we should uproot it and we should break into pieces and we should take it all these Vaishnav’s and throw it in the Ganges and let it flow downstream, this was the gratitude for the prayers and mercy of the devotees. Seeing this the leader of all the Vaishnav’s Shri Advaita Acarya, the man, the personality that created this entire cosmic manifestation seeing how his own creation was so radically opposed to Him and to chanting His names and to any chants of liberation from suffering He began to lament. He made a vow that I am Mahavishnu, I am the creator of this manifestation but Krishna is the source of everything, He is the source of Me and it is only if Krishna personally comes to this world is there any chance for this foolish people of Kali Yuga to attain the emancipation from suffering and love of God. So with this in mind a heart flooded with compassion Advaita Acarya began to fast and he made a vow that I will bring Krishna to this world and he began to worship the supreme Lord Krishna by offering Tulsi leave and Ganges water. One day while Advaita was reading the scriptures he heard a passage where the Supreme Personality of Godhead said that if one offers Me with love and devotion a little Ganges water and some Tulsi leaves I will fulfill all of their desire. So with Ganges water and Tulsi leaves Advaita Acarya was crying out with tears flowing profusely from his eyes Krishna, Krishna please come to this world and deliver these fallen souls you are their only hope. As he was appealing to the Lord with such devotion fervor, note how the supreme Lord takes the role of His own devotee. His voice penetrates all of the heavenly planets, penetrated the coverings of this material existence and entered right into the supreme abode of the Lord and on the basis of Shri Advaita Acarya heartfelt prayers the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna decided to appear within this world,

Pariträëäya sädhünäà

Vinäçäya ca duñkåtäm

Dharma-saàsthäpanärthäya

Sambhavämi yuge yuge

He came to annihilate the demoniac mentality, to protect the devotees and to reestablish the principles of religion and this was all served to the simple process through the chanting the holy names of the Lord. Naam Sankirtan destroys all the demons within our hearts, protects the pure natural original love of the devotees within the heart and reestablishes prema, the perfection of religion, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare, Hare.

 Most inauspicious time became the auspicious time by the Lord’s advent  

On the pleas of Shri Advaita Acarya Lord Shri Krishna appeared as Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu on the full moon night on the month of phalgun during the lunar eclipse. When He was Advaita Acarya, he was in Shantipur and he saw so many auspicious signs within the atmosphere and he felt such an upsurge of ecstasy within his heart that he and Haridas Thakur began to dance jubilantly knowing that the Lord had appeared. He immediately sent his wife Sita Thakurani and with all sorts of wonderful gifts to worship the Lord and blessed the Lord and Advaita himself came and when they saw this beautiful infant they could understand that the beautiful son of Nanda Maharaj has now appeared with the golden complexion to spread the glories of love of God in all direction. Shri Advaita Acarya his wonderful, wonderful and merciful contribution to all of our lives was how he was always revealing the glories of Lord Caitanya to the world to see. There are innumerable examples of which I will sight just a few. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was young, He was inducing everyone to chant the holy names in so many ways but later on He wanted to establish a very important religious principle because He too was playing the role of a devotee. He appeared to be a scholar of grammar and He didn’t manifest devotion or love until He met His spiritual master Ishvara Puri. The supreme Lord wanted to make this a known fact that no one can achieve the real love of God without humbly serving a proper spiritual master and associating with great devotees. So when He was in His teenage years He came back to Navadwip after visiting Gaya and He was immersed in chanting the holy names and He was manifesting the highest symptoms of pure bhakti. Shri Advaita Acarya one day he was in the house that he had in the bank of the Ganges and he was worshiping the supreme Lord Shaligram Shila, he was crying out the holy names of the Lord and Lord Caitanya and Gadhadar Pandit came to visit him. At that time when Lord Caitanya heard Advaita chanting the names of Krishna with such love and such intense devotion in ecstasy Lord Caitanya fell unconscious to hear His devotee chanting His names with such love. When He was unconscious Advaita he could understand that Lord Caitanya is supreme God Krishna and he began to worship Him, he began to chant the prayer

namo brahmaëya-deväya

go-brähmaëa-hitäya ca

jagad-dhitäya kåñëäya

govindäya namo namaù

As he was worshiping Him with the sixteen articles of Paraphernalia Lord Caitanya got up and seeing Advaita to be senior older man and a Godbrother of His own Guru Lord Caitanya touched the feet of Advaita and began to offer all respects to him but Advaita said it is too late I have already worshiped you, I know who you are, Haribol!

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu revealing His identity to Advaita Acarya  

On another occasion just after this Advaita Acarya decided I am going to reveal to the world who this Lord is, I am going to leave this place and go to Shantipur and if I actually had real devotion to the Lord then He will somehow other drag me back to Navadwip to be in His association again. So he went to Shantipur which is some miles away, today driving it’s about one and half hours but in those days it was walking. So one day Lord Caitanya He approach the brother of Srivas Pandit Rämäi and He told him that you go to Shantipur and you give this message to Advaita Acarya tell him that you have prayed and you have fasted to bring the Lord down, I have come as the fulfillment of your prayers and I want you to be here to worship Me, bring your wife to come and worship Me. So Rämäi went to Shantipur and he gave this message to Advaita and when Advaita and his family heard this message they began to weep tears of love, Advaita had a little so name Achyutananda who was hardly a baby but when he heard this message he was weeping and weeping ecstatic love and Sita Thakurani the wife of Advaita Acarya she was also weeping in love. They began to arrange all sorts of wonderful gifts to worship the Lord with according to the scriptures. But Advaita told Rämäi that I will go to Navadwip but I will not go to the place of Lord Caitanya, I will hide in Nanadanacarya’s and He is really the Supreme Personality of Godhead He will call for me there, don’t tell Him where I am. So Advaita Acarya went to Nanadanacrya’s house with his wife and they were hiding and Rämäi Pandit he arrived in Navadwip and at that time Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is in Srivas Thakur house and as soon as Rämäi entered Lord Caitanya who is sitting on the throne of Vishnu he again to call out, the name one name was Nada, He said I know that he has come, he is hiding in the house of Nandanacrya just to test Me, to see if I am the supreme super soul of all living beings. Tell him it is I and bring him here immediately and when Advaita Acarya got this news he immediately ran to the house of Srivas Thakur and he and his wife they offer their obeisances and they saw before the eyes the beautiful, beautiful golden form of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, He resplendent like millions and billions and trillions of sun casting the most merciful loving glances upon everyone. All of a sudden Advaita saw that Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in His original form and around Him was Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva and all the principles Demi-gods and with folded hands they were offering prayers to Him.

Then he saw literally hundreds and hundreds thousand of all various Demi-gods all offering prayers to the Lord and he saw goddess Ganga, the goddess of the river Ganga on a chariot she was worshiping the Lord and he saw the Nagas, big beautiful snakes with hundred thousands of hoods and all of their mouths were worshiping the Lord. He saw wonderful elephants and chariot of the Demi-gods and other great beings and they were all worshiping the Lord and in another direction he all the great saints and all the great sages and all the wives of the great saints and sages and they were all chanting the glories of the Lord. In this way the every direction the entire atmosphere was filed with celestial beings glorifying Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Upon seeing this Shri Advaita Acarya became so much overwhelmed with happiness, he began to glorify to the Lord, he bow down to the Lord and then he began to worshiped the Lord, he washed His lotus feet with scented water and then he took very fine oils and massaged the Lord’s feet, then he took Tulsi leaves and flowers and dipped them in sandalwood pulp. After properly worshiping the Lord with all the various ingredients of Puja, offering Aarti the Lord lifted His feet and placed them on Advaita Acarya’s head. When all the devotees saw these they all began to chant Hari Hari, Hari Hari, Hari Hari. Then Caitanya Mahaprabhu told Advaita Acarya chant My names and dance and Shri Advaita Acarya began to dance and how beautifully he danced, so gracefully, so full of love with such divine humility that all the devotees were struck with wonder in ecstatic feelings to see the beauty of Lord Advaita’s dancing. After dancing very, very enthusiastically for a long time Shri Advaita Acarya like a very humble servant sat at the feet of Lord Caitanya and the Lord said, Advaita please ask Me for any boon, I will fulfill any desire you have. Advaita Acarya said my Lord all my desires are fulfilled, today you allowed me to dance for you, what else I could ask for in my life. You have appeared with this most beautiful form to me your Darshan, all my desires are fulfilled. But the Lord insist to asked for one boon and Advaita Acarya he said all right, you have come and by the chanting of the holy names you have delivered so many fortunate souls, my desire as at the most sinful, the lowest and the most wretched souls that you give them love of God by chanting your holy name. Let your holy name be resounding everywhere for the deliverance of everyone, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare, Hare.

Then Caitanya Mahaprabhu said yes, on the basis of your request all living beings in this age of Kali Yuga will have the opportunity for the highest liberation for Krishna prema. Shri Advaita Acarya prabhu ki jai!

On another occasion Shri Advaita Acarya he was in the court yard of Srivas Thakur and there was kirtan going on and he was dancing very wonderfully. He was actually in the mood of Gopis that day and he was feeling very depressed in the ecstasy of separation from Krishna and he was dancing and dancing with such enthusiasm and such devotion that the devotees could not contain him, he was dancing for hours and hours and hours and all the other devotees were very exhausted and finally with great endeavor the devotees somehow got Advaita Acarya to sit quietly. Then Srivas Thakur and the other devotees decided to go take bath in Ganges and as they were gone Advaita Acarya began to dance again and he began rolling in the ground all alone. That time Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to the house of Srivas Thakur and He saw Advaita, at that he was sitting very silently and Lord Caitanya took him by the hand and brought him in the temple of Srivas. He said Advaita Acarya I want to make you happy, I want fulfill whatever desire you have, ask anything of Me. Advaita Acarya said, “I want to see what you showed Arjuna on the battle field of Kurukshetra”. Suddenly right before Shri Advaita Acarya eyes he saw Kurukshetra Dham, he saw the Kuru army and Pandava army with millions of millions of soldiers on the chariots and horses and elephants. Between the two armies he saw a beautiful chariot and on that chariot Arjuna was standing with folded hands and Krishna was seated with four arms holding the conch shell and the lotus and the chakra and the club. From this beautiful four arms form of Shri Krishna who is standing with the beautiful blackish complexion and lotus eyes emanated the Viratarupa, the universal form. He saw all of the planets, the sun, the stars, all the oceans, all the mountains, all the devatas, all living beings, he saw this beautiful form. This awesome form that had millions of heads and millions of eyes and millions of mouths and from the mouth fire was coming out and all sinful materialistic beings and atheistic beings would being devoured by those mouths, those mouths which represents all mighty time which devours all people on the bodily materialistic concept of life. As Advaita Acarya saw this with folded palms, with great reverence he was bowing down and offering prayers, this immense manifestation. At that time Nityananda prabhu within his heart understood what was happening. So he came into the temple of Srivas and closes the door and he also saw this beautiful universal form of the Lord and he and Advaita both with great reverence offering prayers in ecstatic love, worshiping Him. Then Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu after giving this special Darshan He left and Advaita Acarya and Nityananda prabhu simply danced in ecstasy with one another. You see Shri Advaita Acarya he made his wonderful request to the Lord just so it would be recorded who Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is, what His power is, what His greatness is and what His mercy is. He wanted to reveal not for the Lord’s sake but for our sake, the opportunity that we have to take shelter of the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. What is His mercy? He has given us the ways and the means by which we can attain pure love of God in this age of Kali. Ultimately everything Advaita Acarya did was simply to reveal to the world the glories of the holy name of Krishna and to induce the fallen souls of this world to chant the holy names Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare, Hare.

Advaita Acarya most merciful incarnation

So today on his appearance day such a very blessed and holy day we have the opportunity to express our gratitude to the Supreme Personality of Godhead who appeared in such a wonderful, wonderful way to reveal the glories of the holy name and the mercy of Lord Caitanya. What is the best way we can celebrate, what is the best way we can worship and give pleasure to Shri Advaita Acarya on this day by becoming pure devotees of the Lord, by accepting the mercy of Lord Caitanya that was his only desire that all living beings accept the mercy of Lord Caitanya. How do we do this by following his instruction, what is Advaita Acarya, what is Lord Caitanya, what is Krishna’s instruction they are all one person. Krishna, Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityananda, and Advaita Acarya they are the entire one supreme person who has so inconceivably and wonderfully divided into so many different forms and personalities just to spread their loves to us. Lord Caitanya taught by simply learning how to be humble and serve the Vaishnav’s, by taking the great interest to hear the glories of the Lord and to come together to honestly and sincerely chant the names of the Lord everyone can receive the supreme treasure of Krishna prema. So let us take this Krishna prema and let us give this Krishna prema, this is a life of a devotee, simply to take the mercy of the Lord by chanting His holy names and serving His devotees and giving that mercy to others by inspiring them to do the same. So at this time we would like to perform a beautiful Aarti ceremony for Shri Advaita Acarya and the Panca tattva,

Çré-kåñëa-caitanya prabhu nityänanda

Çré-advaita gadädhara çréväsädi-gaura-bhakta-vånda

Everyone please do not go, no one should go until after the Aarti and after prasäda that is my humble request because after all losing a little sleep on special days like this is actually necessary for our spiritual purification. So everyone please rise.

Thank you very much!