Today is the appearance day of Sri Advaita Acharya. Srila Prabhupada nicely describes Advaita Acharya as follows:

"Advaita Acharya was a contemporary of Lord Caitanya's father. He felt sorry for the condition of the world because even after Lord Krishna's appearance, no one had interest in devotional service to Krishna. This forgetfulness was so overwhelming that Advaita Prabhu was convinced that no one but Lord Krishna Himself could enlighten people about devotional service to the Supreme Lord. Therefore Advaita requested Lord Krishna to appear as Lord Caitanya. Offering tulasi leaves and Ganges water, He cried for the Lord's appearance. The Lord, being satisfied by His pure devotees, descends to satisfy them. As such, being pleased by Advaita Acharya, Lord Caitanya appeared."

He is also described in the following verse from the Sri Caitanya Caritamrita:

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 Acharya. He is the Lord and the incarnation of the Lord's devotee. Therefore I take shelter of Him."
--Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi 1.13

Let us all take advantage of His appearance day by begging Him to bless us with pure Krishna bhakti.


Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Advaita Acharya Begs the Lord to Appear

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Question: Consciousness Without a Body?

Dear Gurudeva,

Please accept my humble obeisances at your feet.
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Can you please explain more about the self? Without the mind, intelligence and the good ego, how does it see, hear or feel? What is a person's physical and mental condition when he has realized his self? How does he speak, listen or behave?

I am eagerly waiting for your answers.

Thank you so much.
Dinesh
 

Answer: Self Does Not Require Material Body

The self is you, the actual person who is residing within the two coverings: the gross outer body and the subtle inner body. The gross body is composed of earth, water, fire, air, and ether. And the subtle body is composed of mind, intelligence, and false ego. The good ego or real ego is the actual self. The false ego is misidentification of the body with the self.

A man does not depend on wearing his outerwear and underwear in order to experience things. Even when he is naked he can experience so many things. In a similar way the living being does not depend on his gross and subtle bodily coverings in order to experience things. It is the false ego only which makes him think that he can only experience things through the gross and subtle bodies.

The self-realized person, the pure devotee of Krishna, although situated and experiencing things beyond the gross and subtle bodies continues to engage these two bodies in the Lord's service. Thus, just as an iron rod in contact with fire becomes fire, the gross and subtle bodies of Krishna's pure devotee become fully spiritualized because he engages them 24 hours daily 100% in the Lord's service.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari
 

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