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Śrī Advaita Acharya | |
|---|---|
 Wooden deities of Advaita Acharya and his wife Sita Devi, Sitanath Advaita Mandir,Nabadwip | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Kamalaksha Mishra c. 1434 |
| Parent |
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| Known for | ExpoundedGaudiya Vaishnavism,Bhakti yoga along withChaitanya Mahaprabhu |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | HinduismGaudiya Vaisnavism |
| Philosophy | Bhakti yoga,Achintya Bheda Abheda |
| Senior posting | |
| Guru | Madhavendra Puri |
Advaita Acharya (IAST:Advaita Ācārya; 1434–1559) (bornKamalaksha Mishra; কমলাক্ষ মিশ্র)[1] was a companion of the founder of theGaudiya Vaishnava movement,Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and guru ofHaridasa Thakur.[2][3] He was born in the village of Nabagram inLaud (in present-daySunamganj District,Bangladesh), in 1434, some fifty years before Chaitanya, and spent most of his adult life in the town ofShantipur inNadia with his wife and family. Advaita Acharya had six sons, Acyutananda Das (who also became a disciple of Chaitanya), Krisna Mishra, Gopala Das, Balarama Das Mishra (whose lineage became thezamindar ofnoakhali, chatkhil upazilla. later adopted the title Patwari & Majumder), Swarupa Das and Jagadisa Mishra.
Advaita Acharya contributed to twoSanskrit works, namedYogabashishta-Bhaishta andGeeta Bhaishya.[4] The ancestry and life of Advaita Acharya are narrated in a number of hagiographical works, which include theBalyalila-Sutra (1487?) of Krishnadasa[a] inSanskrit and theAdvaitasutrakadacha of Krishnadasa, theAdvaitamangala of Haricharanadasa, theAdvaitaprakasha of Ishana Nagara[5] and theAdvaitavilasa of Naraharidasa inBengali.[6] Many of his activities are described in theChaitanya Charitamrta, theChaitanya Mangala and theChaitanya Bhagavata.
Advaita Acharya was the son of Kubera Acharya. Kubera was the courtier of Divya Singh, theKing of Laur. Kubera's father was Narsingha who was the minister of King Ganesha of Nadiyal.[7]
In his latter years, Advaita became increasingly saddened by the pursuit of materialistic goals that, he believed, lead to a dysfunctional, unhappy society and concluded that the only solution was to offer prayers to the godKrishna and attract people back to the joy of thespiritual life. Advaita is said to have prayed for several months, crying out and worshiping him in the form of hisShaligram Shila with sacredTulasi leaves andGanges water. At the end of thirteen months during an eclipse of thefull moon, his prayers were answered when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born.
Advaita was the first who proclaimed Chaitanya to be God by reciting the Vedic text 'namo brahmanya devāya go-brāhmaṇa hitāya ca jagaddhitāya kṛṣṇāya govindāya namo namaḥ' 'I salute Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, the god of brāhmaṇas who benefits cows and brāhmaṇas and the whole world.' He is known to have been a close friend of both Chaitanya andNityananda in their mission of spreading theHare Krishnamantra. Advaita's abode was the first place where Chaitanya took alms, and this is where he told Chaitanya "Wherever you are isVrindavan."[8] On the day marking his birth members hold a celebration in his honour and read and discuss stories of his life.
Advaita has many lineages from two of his children out of his six children namelyAchyuta Nanda Mishra Goswami,Balaram Mishra Goswami, Swarup Mishra Goswami, Damodar Mishra Goswami, Gopal Mishra Goswami,Krishna Mishra Goswami.Bijoy Krishna Goswami,Mathuresh Goswami falls under one lineage. Poet, playwright & musicianDwijendralal Ray was a descendant of Advaita from his mother's side & so was Dwijendralal's sonDilip Kumar Roy.
