CC Adi 1.13
advaitaṁ hariṇādvaitād
ācāryaṁ bhakti-śaṁsanāt
bhaktāvatāram īśaṁ tam
advaitācāryam āśraye
Because He is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is called Ācārya. He is the Lord and the incarnation of the Lord’s devotee. Therefore I take shelter of Him.
Caitanya Lila is extra-ordinary. In a drama or theatre, sometimes great personalities take even menial roles. And aptly, Kavi Karnapura has written Chaitanya Chandrodaya Nataka. In Caitanya Lila, the topmost worshipable personalities took the most amazing roles.
Lord Caitanya, being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, took the role of a devotee, begging for love. The one who is the fountainhead, the reservoir of all pleasure took the role of a seeker of that same love.
prema-dhana vinā vyartha daridra jīvana
’dāsa’ kari’ vetana more deha prema-dhana
Without love of Godhead, My life is useless. Therefore I pray that You accept Me as Your servant and give Me the salary of ecstatic love of God. CC Antya 20.37
Brahma, the secondary creator of this universe, took the role of Haridas Thakura. Along with being born in a low birth, he was hated by a particular sect of Muslims, and he was even hated by caste brahmanas. He was tried to be defamed, cursed, and even killed. But the same Brahma with whose end of a day, thousand cycles of yugas pass, with whose one year, thousands of kings come and go away in this earthly planet, that same Brahma maintained such a humble disposition.
Similarly, Advaita Acarya, who is non-different from Mahavishnu, prayed intensely for His source, the Summon Bonum, the all-powerful Personality of Godhead to appear on this earth. And Mahavishnu is no ordinary personality. By his breathing, unlimited universes come from and merge within the pores of his body. The same Mahavishnu begged to the Lord to save the fallen conditioned souls in Kali Yuga.
HH Radhanatha Maharaja says that Advaita Acarya prayed for each and every one of us. The acharyas compassion is NOT limited to space, time and circumstances.
Prahlada Maharaja prayed that all living entities in this universe get delivered. Similar was the prayer of Vasudeva Dutt. Advaita Acarya prayed for the Lord to appear, he also prayed for the Lord’s established devotees to appear so that for many many years to come, the movement of Lord Caitanya continues on.
He prayed not only for the living entities who were present then, but he prayed for everyone for all time to come. Isn’t this extra-ordinary? Although we also might have been there in some other species on this planet when Lord Caitanya came, but definitely Advaita Acarya prayed for us. It might have been we were suffering our tenure either in heaven or hell, and then also, Advaita Acarya prayed.
Bhagavad Gita mentions one quality of soul as being –
nityaḥ sarva-gataḥ sthāṇur acalo ‘yaṁ sanātanaḥ
Sarva-gatah meaning souls exist everywhere in the Lord’s creation – in land, earth, water, fire etc.
Our acaryas compassion is not limited to a particular caste, creed, religion or even species. The compassion is also sarva-gatah. Their compassion extends for everyone.
Exhibiting and spreading this compassion was the ROLE and GOAL of Advaita Acarya. In showing mercy to all living entities also, he is non-different than the Lord. If we try to extend ourselves and sacrifice to give the self-same compassion that Advaita Acarya came to give, he can grant us Lord Caitanya’s mercy.
Therefore, Narottama Dasa Thakura begs for the grace of Advaita,
doyā koro sītā-pati adwaita gosāi
tava kṛpā-bale pāi caitanya-nitāi
“My dear Advaita Prabhu, husband of Sītā, You are so kind. Please be merciful to me. If You are kind to me, naturally Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda will also be kind to me.”
Shrila Prabhupada followed the footsteps of Advaita Acarya in many ways:
1] Shrila Prabhupada acted only in one drama in his entire life. And there, he portrayed the role of Lord Advaita. And he says, people were crying tears while watching the drama.
2] Advaita Acarya prayed to the Lord to appear, Shrila Prabhupada prayed for Lord’s grace to appear in the lives of all fallen souls of Kali Yuga.
3] Advaita Acarya’s only goal was to be the servant of servant. Prabhupada also exhibited the same mood in his life.
Advaita Acarya says,
caitanyera dāsa muñi, caitanyera dāsa
caitanyera dāsa muñi, tāṅra dāsera dāsa
I am a servant of Lord Caitanya, a servant of Lord Caitanya. I am a servant of Lord Caitanya, and a servant of His servants. CC Adi 6.86
4] Before going to the West, Shrila Prabhupada regularly visited Advaita Acarya Bhavan and with tears in his eyes, would pray to him for fulfilment of the instruction of his spiritual master.
