God Is Lord Advaita Ācārya - The Incarnation of Mahā-Viṣṇu
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that Śrī Advaita Ācārya is completely nondifferent from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As an incarnation of Mahā-Viṣṇu, He possesses boundless opulences and creative potencies, yet He magnanimously descended to this world to invoke the appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and distribute pure devotional service.
The Incarnation of Mahā-Viṣṇu
To understand the position of Śrī Advaita Ācārya, one must recognize His identity as the creator of the material world. Śrīla Prabhupāda confirms that He is a direct expansion of Mahā-Viṣṇu and serves as the ultimate material cause of all universes.
- Lord Advaita Acarya is the incarnation of Maha-Visnu, whose main function is to create the cosmic world through the actions of maya - CC Adi 1.12.
- Then in the twelfth and thirteenth verses he describes Advaitacarya, who is another principal associate of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s and an incarnation of Maha-Visnu. Thus Advaitacarya is also the Lord, or, more precisely, an expansion of the Lord - CC Intro.
- Lord Visnu Himself is the efficient (nimitta) cause of the material world, and Narayana in the form of Sri Advaita is the material cause (upadana).
- Sri Advaita Acarya is the creator of millions and millions of universes, and by His expansions (as Garbhodakasayi Visnu) He maintains each and every universe.
The Compassionate Devotee
Seeing the degraded condition of human society, Śrī Advaita Ācārya felt immense compassion. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how His fervent prayers and sincere worship directly compelled the Supreme Lord to descend and save the fallen souls.
- Advaita Acarya having appeared, He found the world devoid of devotional service to Sri Krsna because people were engrossed in material affairs.
- Seeing the activities of the world, the Acarya (Advaita) felt compassion and began to ponder how He could act for the people's benefit.
- Out of His (Advaita Acarya's) causeless compassion for the age-worn human society, He prayed fervently for the incarnation of the Lord and continually worshiped the Lord with water of the Ganges and leaves of the holy tulasi tree.
- The glories of Sri Advaita Acarya are boundless, for His sincere vibrations brought about Lord Caitanya's descent upon this earth.
Distributing Kṛṣṇa Consciousness
Although He is the Supreme Lord, Advaita Ācārya adopted the mood of a devotee to teach others. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that He acted as an essential branch of the devotional desire tree, actively spreading the saṅkīrtana movement everywhere.
- Although Advaitacarya is the Lord, He appeared just to distribute the knowledge of Krsna consciousness. Thus He is also the Lord incarnated as a devotee - CC Intro.
- He delivered all living beings by offering the gift of krsna-bhakti. He explained the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam in the light of devotional service.
- Advaita Acarya led the sankirtana party, and with great pleasure He sang this verse. There was a manifestation of ecstatic perspiration, shivering, raised hairs, tears in the eyes and sometimes thundering and bellowing.
- Sri Advaita Acarya is one of the important trunks of the bhakti-kalpataru, or desire tree of devotional service. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as a gardener, poured water on the root of the bhakti tree and thus nourished all its trunks and branches.
His Unalloyed Service Attitude
The ideal standard of devotion is flawlessly demonstrated by Śrī Advaita Ācārya. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes how He used all His inexhaustible opulences, broke mundane social conventions to honor pure devotees like Haridāsa Ṭhākura, and eternally served Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
- Advaita Prabhu is nondifferent from the Lord, yet in His relationship with the Lord He does not merge with Him but eternally renders service unto Him as a plenary portion.
- In this way all the opulences of Advaita Acarya - His faith, devotion, home, riches and everything else - were successfully utilized in the worship of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
- The supplies of Advaita Acarya were inexhaustible and indestructible. As many goods and commodities as He used, just as many again appeared.
- Haridasa Thakura asked Advaita Prabhu why He was doing something which might jeopardize His position in brahmana society. Advaita Prabhu replied that He was feeding millions of first-class brahmanas by offering the food to Haridasa Thakura.
Conclusion
To properly understand the pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, one must honor the supreme position of Śrī Advaita Ācārya. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that as the incarnation of Mahā-Viṣṇu, Advaita Ācārya demonstrates the absolute highest standard of compassion and devotion, entirely dedicating His inexhaustible potencies to the salvation of the fallen conditioned souls.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category God Is Lord Advaita Acarya. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.