Advaita Acharya
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Advaita Acharya (b 1434 CE), is famous as a Gaudiya Vaishnava saint, and as being one of the close companions of the eminent Vaishnava preacher Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He was born in Bengal in 1434, some fifty years before Chaitanya, and spent most of his adult life in the town of Shantipur, with his wife and family as a well respected leader of the local brahmana community. At Shantipur, he taught the philosophy of Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, and promoted the path of Bhakti Yoga, (loving service to Krishna, as the Supreme God). He is considered to be a combined incarnation (avatar) of both Maha Vishnu and Shiva (collectively named Harihara) within the Gaudiya tradition.
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[edit] Life Story
According to Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, in his later years Advaita Acarya became increasingly saddened with the growing tendency of the general populous to abandon their spiritual practices in pursuit of materialistic goals. He believed that this was leading to a disfunctional society of unhappy individuals, and after due thought, concluded that the only solution was for him to offer prayers, begging his Supreme Lord, Krishna to come himself as an avatar and attract people back to the joyfulness of spiritual life.
After reaching this conculsion Advaita Acharya is said to have prayed fervently to Krishna for several months – crying out very loudly and worshipping him in the form of his Shaligram Shila with sacred Tulasi leaves and Ganges water. At the end of thirteen months during an eclipse of the full moon, the Acarya’s prayers were purported answered when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu advented in the district of Mayapur, as the son of Mother Sachi.
[edit] Written records
Many of Advaita Acarya’s activities are described in scriptural biographies such as the Chaitanya Charitamrta and Chaitanya Bhagavata. He is known to have been a close friend of both Chaitanya and Nityananda in their mission of spreading the Hare Krishna mantra. On the day marking his birth members of the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition hold a fest in his honour and read and discuss stories regarding his life.
