adva it a defense

8/13/2019 Adva It a Defense

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This file contains seven discussions

1. Can Advaita Prabhu bestowmdhurya rasa ? .............................................................. 12. Are Advaita Pabhus descendants non-different from Him? ....................................... 33. Did Advaita Prabhu have a beard or not? ................................................................... 44. Is the book Advaita Praka authentic or not? ........................................................... 55. Why did Advaita Prabhu preach jna? ..................................................................... 206. Nandin and Jangal do not set a precedent for cross-dressing................................... 217. Advaita Prabhus family and eggplants ....................................................................... 23

Responses in bold purple text by Advaitadas.

Can Advaita Prabhu bestow madhurya rasa?From a web-forum -Bhakta 1 - It is said that Nityananda (Balarama) Prabhu's parivara gives gopi prema ratherthan sakhya prema because of Jhanava devi's (Ananga manjari) influence. Before she beganintiating it was a sakhya line. What is the position of Sri Adviata's (Mahavisnu/Siva) line? Howdoes it givegopi prema?

Advaitadas - All pradas (associates) of r Caitanya Mahaprabhu have a svarpa inmadhura rasa . Advaita Prabhu is Vikh and Rati Manjari. All lines descending fromMahprabhu's parshadas can bestow gop-bhva and gop-prema. Though they may be famous

as personalities in Vraja outside of gop-bhva (f.i. Nitynanda is Balarma but also AnangaManjari), they all have a place in gop-bhva as well. When Rupa Gosvami had completed hisrecitation of his dramas to Mahprabhu and His associates at Siddha Bokul in Puri,Mahprabhu asked for the blessings of Nitynanda and Advaita Prabhu upon him, whichThey bestowed - advaita nitynanddi sab bhaktagan; kp kori rpe sobe koil lingan (CCAntya 1.207). That would have been pointless and powerless unless they themselves had thepower of gop-bhva within them. r Murri Gupta eulogises Advaita Prabhu in theintroduction of his r Ka Caitanya Carita Mah-kvya (1.20):

r-yuktdvaita-varya parama-rasa-kalcrya o vireje

The most glorious Advaita is the Supreme Lord and the greatest teacher of thehighest rasa, the divine amorous flavour.

Bhakta 1- Where is the specific position of Sri Advaita in Vraja prema mentioned? I thoughtRamananda was Vishaka and Raghunatha dasa was Rati manjari. There seems to be differingopinions on who these parsadas of Gauranga are in Vraja.

Advaitadas - Raghuntha ds Gosvm is the disciple of Yadunandancrya, who was inturn the disciple of Advaita Prabhu. He offers hommage to Yadunandana Prabhu in VilpaKusumnjali verse 4, and naturally in the sequence of respect the guru's guru comes before

that. So in verse 3 he prays to Rati Manjari, that is naturally the guru of his guru, because theprayer comes in a preceding verse. Furthermore, if Raghuntha Dsa Gosvmi prays to Rati


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In defense of the Advaita Vaa

Edition August 7, 2011 - 2

Manjari, how can he himself be Rati Manjari? Who offers prayers to him/herself? AboutVikh - in verse 99 of Vilpa Kusumjali Raghunath ds Gosvm prays to Vikh, notethat there is no prayer there to Lalita. They are not equal to him, because Vikh is AdvaitaPrabhu, his param guru.

Bhakta 2 - Who then is Raghunath das Goswami in Braj lila?

Advaita das: Tulasi Manjari. This is clear from the purports to Vilap Kusumanjali bySrila Ananda Gopal Gosvami, confirmed by Sri Ananta das Babaji.

Bhakta 2 - Isn't Tulsi manjari another name for Rati? In any case, where did the conceptof Raghunath Das Goswami being Rati manjari originate?

Advaitadas - Some Vaiavas say that Tulasi and Rati are the same. Still that would notexplain the prayer to Rati Manjari in verse 3. Who prays to him/herself? There are many

different opinions about the manjari svarpas of the 6 Gosvamis, in different paddhats anddpiks. Tulas and Rupa are also a tight team in Govinda Lilamta. Fits - Rpa Gosvami andRaghunath ds Gosvm were similarly a tight time in the male svarpas .

Bhakta 3 - Some opine that the third verse of Vilapa Kusumanjali are the words of RupaManjari to Rati Manjari, a sort of blessing. Perhaps Das Gosvami wishes to open hissiddha-avesh prayers remembering the kind words of his (her) dear sakhi. There may be differing opinionson svarupas , but we must understand that in the realm of Vraja, multiple alternatives may besimultaneously true.

Advaitadas - But then there is, outside the context and sequence of Vilapa Kusumanjali'smangalacaranam , another verse in Raghuntha Dsa Gosvm's Stavavali (Prrthanmta

verse 1) - r rpa rati manjaryor anghri sevaika gdhnuna - "Eager to accept the foot service ofSri Rupa and Rati Manjari....."

Bhakta 3 - I suppose Rati Manjari is not an exclusive name, is it?

Advaitadas - Would Das Gosvami bother to offer a separate prayer to another Rati manjarithan his most beloved and important one, though?

January 28-29, 2004

In defense of the Advaita VaaMay 29 2004, from a web-forum -

Bhakta: Most of the parivars are not direct seminal descendants of their supposed founders,and even if they were, atma vai jayate putrah does not mean that a son is automatically as

worshipable as an exalted father. For instance in Caitanya Caritmta, Kadas KavirajaGoswami rejected several sons of Advaita Acarya as useless.


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agd agt sambhavasi hdayd abhijyatetma vai putra nmsi sajva arada atam

Your limbs come from my limbs. You are born from my heart. You are me becauseyou are named my son. Live for 100 autumns.

On April 17, 2008 a more submissivebhakta asked me: Advaita dasji, is there anyGaudiya Vaishnava scripture like Chaitanya Charitamrita, Chaitanya Bhagavata etc. whichsupports Vamsha Paramparas like Nityananda and Advaita? Kindly explain.........

Advaitadas: No this is not in Caitanya Caritamrita or Caitanya Bhagavata, because thesebooks are solely about Mahaprabhu and do not diverge into the separate lives of Advaita andNityananda. However, in his commentary on Bhad Bhgavatmta, verse, 1.3.46, SanatanGoswami says - vardhayanta ca sad vaa-santater mah-vaibhava-vistrac ca The

Vaikuha-residents also preach the great prowess of bhakti by increasing the Sacred families(sad vaa-santate - santati means 'line of descent'), a clear reference to divine families likethe Advaita Vaa.

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Does Advaita Prabhu have a beard?Bhakta: I see you depict Advaita Prabhu as a young man, but everywhere I see Him depicted asan old man, with a beard.

Advaita Ds: Advaita Prabhu is God, Mahviu and Sadiva combined. No scripture hasdescribed God as an old man. Old age is a sign of decay, and in God there can be no decay. Inrelation to the Lords appearance the scriptures only describe the first three stages of life kumra (0-5 years of age), paugaa (5-10 years of age) and kiora (10-15 years of age), not

yauvana (adulthood), prauha (middle age) and vddha (old age). It is described in rmadBhgavata (10.55.26-29) that in Dvrak Ka still appeared so young that His wivesmistook His son Pradyumna for Him. nava yauvana ca (Brahma Sahit).

Bhakta: But in Caitanya Bhgavata it is written:

tarje garje crya dite diy hta;bhr-kui koriy nce ntipura ntha

Advaita crya was overwhelmed with a surge of ecstasy and He began to dance,running His fingers through His flowing beard and raising His voice as loud as thunder. Hiseyebrows were drawn together in a frown. (Caitanya Bhgavata Madhya 16.99)

Advaita Ds: The Bengali dictionary says that the word di means both beard and chin.So this verse says that Advaita Prabhu held His chin during the dance. The commentators on


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Caitanya Bhgavata confirm this. Other than this verse no text ever suggests that AdvaitaPrabhu had a beard.November 23, 2004

In defense of Advaita Praka(Advaita Praka is a biographical book on Advaita Prabhu written by n Ngara)

Advaita Praka - Ka Talk No. 37Advaita Praka reviewed by Swami B. V. Giri (Disciple of Swmi B. G. Narasingha)

Devotee: A book called Advaita Praka was recently translated from Bengali into English. I wasvery inspired by it and it seemed to be bona-fide, but I recently heard that it is an unauthorizedliterature. Can you explain?Answer (By Swami B.V. Giri): Advaita Praka is a hagiography of r Advaita Acarya Prabhuwhich was written around 1560 and it is claimed that its author was r na Nagara, theservant of Advaita Acarya.

Advaitadas: It IS written by na Ngara every single chapter is signed by him andhe also speaks of his own role within the narration. na Ngara was a direct disciple of rAdvaita Prabhu. He was born in 1493 and initially lived in Nava Grma in the Lua-countyof r Haa district. When he was 5 years old his widowed mother took him along and tookshelter of Advaita Prabhu's house. Advaita Prabhu educated him. Thus he is a reliable eye-

witness to the pastimes of r Advaita crya. Apart from his personal testimonies, AdvaitaPraka is also based on what na Ngara heard from Advaita Prabhu's second son KaMira Gosvm, Bhgavata crya yma dsa and Padmanbha Cakravart, the father of rLokantha Gosvm.

However, considering the historical and philosophical inaccuracies in the book itcannot be considered bona-fide.The pervading mood throughout the book is that AdvaitaAcarya holds a much higher ontological position than that of r Caitanya Mahprabhu sinceit was He that invoked the Lord and later requested the Lord to leave. In other words, inAdvaita Praka Mahprabhu is treated simply as a functionary Deity, to be summoned anddismissed at will.

Advaitadas: Nr hunkre more kore avatra (the roars of Advaita made Me descend,Caitanya Bhgavata) Who said that? na Ngara or Mahprabhu Himself?? Who wrote the

prahel (riddle) to order Mahprabhu to leave the manifest world? Advaita Prabhu or naNgara? Who is Yogamy in Gaura ll? It is St-dev, according to Gaur-Ganoddea dpik.Is not Yogamaya directing Kasll? And who is Gaura other than Ka? After hearingAdvaita Prabhus riddle from Jagadnanda Pait.

taraj uni mahprabhu at hsiy; tra yei j boli mauna dharil jniy svarpa gosi prabhure puchilo; ei tarjra artha bujhite nrilo

prabhu kohen crya hoy pjak prabol; gama strera vidhi vidhne kuolupsan lgi dever koren vhan; pj lgi koto kla koren nirodhan


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pj nirvhana hoile pche koren visarjan; tarjr n jni artha kib tr man

(Caitanya Caritmta Antya 19:23-27)

Hearing the riddle Mahprabhu smiled slightly, said: Whatever He orders and fellsilent. Svarpa Dmodara then asked the Lord: I cannot understand the meaning of this riddle(please explain). The Lord replied: Advaita crya is a powerful worshiper who knows therules of Vedic ritual very well.He invokes a certain deity and then, after the worship, sendsHim away again. I dont know what He means with the riddle or what is on His mind. Thedeity of course refers to rman Mahprabhu Himself. Mahprabhu literally confirms herethat He was summoned and dismissed by r Advaita Prabhus sweet will.

It is also implied in Advaita Praka that the main branch of the Caitanya-tree is theseminal line of Advaita Acarya, advaita-vamsa.

Advaitadas: The above-proven authority of na Ngara establishes this.There are many defects in the book Advaita Praka. For example, in chapter twelve it is

stated that the son of Advaita Prabhu, r Acyutananda, attended the tol (Sanskrit school) ofNimai Pandita. However, this statement is not in accordance with the authorized biographies ofr Caitanya Mahprabhu, namely the Caitanya-bhagavata by rla Vrndavana Dasa Thakura orthe Caitanya-Caritmta by rla Kadasa Kaviraja Gosvami. This subject is elaborated uponby His Divine Grace rla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada in his purport to Caitanya-Caritmta, Adi-ll, 12.17 as follows:

"Advaita Prabhu married in the beginning of the fifteenth century Sakabda (late fifteenthcentury A.D.). When Lord Caitanya Mahprabhu wanted to visit the village of Ramakeli whilegoing from Jagannatha Puri to Vrndavana during the Sakabda years 1433 and 1434 (A.D. 1511and 1512), Acyutananda was only five years old. The Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya-khanda,Fourth Chapter, describes Acyutananda at that time as panca-varsa vayasa madhura digambara ,"only five years old and standing naked." Therefore it is to be concluded that Acyutananda wasborn sometime in the year 1428 (A.D. 1506). Before the birth of Acyutananda, Advaita Prabhu'swife, Sitadevi, came to see Lord Caitanya Mahprabhu at His birth. Thus it is not impossiblethat she had the other three sons by Advaita within the twenty-one years between 1407 and1428 Sakabda (A.D. 1486 and 1507).

Advaitadas: In chapter 11 of Advaita Praka, Acyutnanda was listed as the first child

of St and Advaita. Concerning the controversy on Acyutnanda's ageAlthough some doubt the accuracy of na Ngara's Advaita Praka in the birth yearsof Advaita Prabhu's sons, thinking they must have been born 12-13 years later, quoting thisstory in r Caitanya Bhgavata (and Caitanya Caritmta di 12,17), that Acyutananda was

just 5 years old when Mahprabhu took sannysa , earlier in Caitanya Bhgavata (Madhya 6)it is described that when Stntha revealed that Mahprabhu is actually the Supreme Lord,Acyuta was also weeping of ecstasy. If he had really been 5 years old after Mahprabhu hadtaken sannysa , he would have been just a baby of 0-1 year old at this stage, unable even towalk or talk. Advaita Praka not only clearly states the year (1493, 7 years younger thanMahprabhu), but even the precise tithi or lunar date of his birth. Such an exact date couldnot just have been concocted by an eye-witness to Advaita Prabhu's pastimes like naNgara? In chapter 12 of Advaita Praka r Acyutnanda is also said to have studied in


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Mahprabhu's school. If Acyuta was really born in 1505, as some suggest, it would havetaken St and Advaita 20 years to conceive him (whereas Their other five sons wereconceived at regular and short intervals), since They were married before Mahprabhuappeared in the world in 1486. Acyuta would have been only 10 years old when hemystically travelled to be with Mahprabhu in Vraja and in K, a pastime which iselaborately described in the sixteenth chapter of 'Advaita Praka'. Therefore CaitanyaBhgavata's statement that Acyutnanda was a 5-year old boy, dusty and naked, afterMahprabhu took sannysa, must be a mere sign of love, as a loving parent treats even hisgrown up children as if they were still breast-milk-drinking toddlers.

In an unauthorized book of the name Sitadvaita-carita, published in Bengali in theunauthorized (By whom is it unauthorised? By Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvati?) newspaperNityananda-dayini in 1792 Sakabda (A.D. 1870), it is mentioned that Acyutananda was a classfriend of r Caitanya Mahprabhu. According to Caitanya-bhagavata, this statement is not at allvalid. When Caitanya Mahprabhu accepted the renounced order of sannyasa in the year 1431

Sakabda (A.D. 1509), He came to the house of Advaita Prabhu at Santipura. At that time, asstated in the Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya-khanda, Chapter One, Acyutananda was only threeyears old. The Caitanya-bhagavata further states that the naked child, the son of Advaita Prabhu,immediately came and fell down at the lotus feet of Lord r Caitanya Mahprabhu."So, if indeed r na Nagara was the actual author of Advaita Praka, it is most illogical thatas Advaita's family servant that the age of his master's son would not be known to him or thathe would make such a mistake as to think that Acyutananda could have been Mahprabhu'sstudent when in fact Acyutananda had not yet been born.

Advaitadas: The birth-years and -tithis of all the 6 sons of Adwaita are mentioned inAdvaita Praka.

Another glaring defect in Advaita Praka is found in chapter seventeen when rCaitanya Mahprabhu meets Prabodhananda Sarasvati. According to Advaita Praka,Prabodhananda was a Mayavadi sannyasi living in Kasi. This is a common opinion expressed bymany misinformed scholars and by the Sahajiya section who confuse rla PrabodhanandaSarasvati, a Vaiava tridandi-sannyasi, with Prakananda Sarasvati, an ekadandi-sannyasi ofthe Shankar school of Vedanta. In his commentary to the Caitanya-bhagavata, rlaBhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura dismisses this opinion as follows:

Prakananda namaka eka jana kaivalyadvaitavadi adhyapaka-yati veder vyakhya-kale

amara aprakrta nitya anga-samuhake vikhandita kare. Ei Prakanandake keha keha anabhijnata-vase kaveri-pravasi vyenkata bhattara anuja prabodhanander sahita sama jnana kare. Bhaktamalanamaka sahajiya-granthabhyantare ei prakara bhrama-dosa pravesa karaya, adhunatana lekhaka-ganer madhye u sei bhrama-dosa nuyanyadhika pravesa kariyachhe.

"Prakananda was the name of a scholastic sannyasi of the Kevala-advaita school ofphilosophy and through his explanations on the Vedas, he would cut the Lord's transcendentalbody into pieces. Some ignorant people consider that this Praknanda is the same person asVyenkata Bhatta's younger brother, Prabodhananda, who lived on the banks of the River Kaveri.This mistaken belief is found in theSahajiya book Bhakta-mala, and even in the works of many

modern day scholars." (Caitanya-bhagavata, purport to Madhya-khanda, 3.37).


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Advaitadas: This is an apardha to Nabha dasji, the author of Bhaktaml, who isrespected by all 4 sampradayas! If Ll Ds, who made a Bengali edition of Bhaktamal, isreferred to, he should have specified this. Neither of the two are sahajiyas , however. Ll Dsis a fifth generation descendant of rnivscrya, also known as Kads. Here are twonmpardhas - satam nindm, the first offence to the chanting of the holy name, to critiquethe saint, and ruti stra ninda , to critique the scriptures, which this entire article by SwamiGiri is by the way.

That rla Prabodhananda Sarasvati was a tridandi-sannyasi originally in the line of thesampradaya of Acarya Ramanuja is a topic that may warrant a separate article. However, it issufficient to say here that those in the line of rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvati Thakura do notentertain the idea that Prabodhnanda was formerly the Mayavadi sannyasi known asPrakananda, as stated in Advaita Praka.

Advaitadas: This may be OK for those who have implicit faith in Bhaktisiddhanta

Saraswati only. Furthermore, in chapter ten of Advaita Praka, we find an incident wherein baby

Nimai refuses Saci-devi's breast milk because she has not taken diksa from r Advaita Acarya.In order to please her child she then takes initiation from Advaita. However,nowhere in thebona-fide biographies of r Caitanya Mahprabhu do we find any mention of Saci-matataking initiation from Advaita Prabhu.

Advaitadas: Where else should this initiation have to be mentioned? Who was ac-mts Guru then, if not Stntha?

This is merely a fabrication created by theseminal gosvamis of the Advaita-vamsa toshow the importance of Advaita Acarya over that of r Caitanya Mahprabhu.

Advaitadas: This book was not written by a seminal Gosvami of the Advaita Vaabut by na Ngara, the disciple of Advaita Prabhu. Mahprabhu was reluctant to acceptobeisances from Sitanath. This is just laukik ll or nara ll , the Lords human-like pastimes.

In chapter twelve, Advaita instructs his son not to chant 'om gauraya namah' inworshipping the Deity of Gaurasundara, but rather to chant 'om Kaya namah'. Similarly, inchapter twenty, Gauridasa Pandita and Acyutananda approach r Advaita Prabhu and request

him to tell them which mantra to use in the worship of r Caitanya Mahprabhu. AdvaitaAcarya replies, "I don't know whether you know, but Lord Ka Himself has descended inNadia. He has covered His body with the bodily complexion of rmati Radharani, just as aperson appears different by wearing different dresses. Therefore Mahprabhu is worshiped bymeditating on the ten-syllable Gopala mantra. Worship Radha as the covering of Ka, andthen your worship will undoubtedly be successful. By worshiping Nityananda through theNarayana mantra, your worship will be successful and you will be happy."

Advaitadas: In Caitanya Bhgavat Advaita Prabhu worshipped Mahprabhu with theKa Mantra namo brahmanya devaya go brahmana hitaya ca) This proves, from a sourceconsidered bonafide by Swami Giri, that He found Mahprabhu should be worshipped withKa mantra.


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However, what is inferred to in these passages is that r Caitanya Mahprabhu can only

be worshipped with the ten-syllable Ka mantra (gopijana-vallahaya svaha). rla SarasvatiThakura has explained the following:

"Some people consider that worshipping and offering foodstuffs to Gaura is performedby chanting Gopala-mantra, and by chanting this mantra He accepts the offering. Up to the timewhen Deity worship of r Gaurasundara was introduced in the world, He was worshippedthrough Ka mantras; but after the covered form of Ka, the origin of all incarnations,mercifully manifested His own form, Deity, and Name to His most confidential devotees, theLord's devotees began to worship the Deity of r Gaura by revealing the eternal Names andmantras related with Lord Gaura. Those who are bereft of receiving the mercy of the coveredincarnation simply make a show of worshipping the Deity form of r Gaurasundara with Kamantras, but r Gaura is not worshipped in this way. Such people are cheated out of Ka'smercy, because they do not realize that Gaura's pastimes are eternal."(Caitanya-bhagavata,purport to Adi khanda 5, 126)

Advaitadas:1) Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati contradicts the very same Caitanya Bhagavata which describeshow Advaita Prabhu worshipped Mahprabhu with the Ka-mantra namo brahmanyadevaya etc., see above. CB Adi 5,126 says mora mantra . This of course is ka mantra .Mahprabhu was accepting the offerings as Ka, the vipra offered the food to Ka, afterall.2] Why would this make Gaura ll non-eternal?

Advaita Praka also advises that one should worship rmati Radharani separately as the'covering' of Ka, and that Lord Nityananda should be worshipped by the Narayana mantra(om namo narayana). However, this system of worshiphas not been mentioned in any of thebona-fide arcana-paddhatis of the Gaudiya sampradya .

Advaitadas: Which ones? These paddhats are all later writings.

Also,in chapter twenty of Advaita Praka there is a reference encouraging the worship of rCaitanya Mahprabhu in the bhva (mood) of a ngar (enjoyer). (p. 151, AP: NarahariSarakara Thakur, the resident of rkhanda, is a reservoir of loving devotion.) Such worshipis known as Gaura-nagari-bhava. However, this conception of Gaura-nagari-bhava has beenrejected by rla Vrndavana Dasa Thakura in Caitanya-bhagavata as follows:

ei mata capalya karena saba sane; sabe stri matra na dekhena drstikanestri 'hena na prabhu ei avatare; sravane o na karila-vidita samsare

ataeva sata yata maha mahima sakale; 'gauranga-nagara' hena stava nahi bale

"The Lord was apt to indulge in indiscriminate, merciful behavior towards all, except that henever looked at a woman, even by a sidelong glance. It is known to all the world that He did noteven allow the name of a woman to enter His ear. Those who are His real devotees, therefore,never address r Gauranga as 'Gauranga-nagari' or the enjoyer of women. Although all forms ofpraise are applicable to the Lord, the wise only sing that which is in accordance with His

nature." (Caitanya-bhagavata 15.28-31)


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Advaitadas:1. Where is this reference to Gaura Nagari bhava at this or any other place within the

Adwaita Praka?2. If Advaita Praka is a Gaura Ngari bhva book simply for mentioning Narahari, then

so is Caitanya Caritmta, which also mentions him.

In chapter fourteen of Advaita Praka Lord Nityananda is referred to as 'The crest-jewelof sannyasis'. However, this too has been rejected by our acaryas. The revered Guardian ofDevotion Om Visnupada rmad Bhakti Raksaka rdhara Deva Goswami Maharaja hascommented on this topic thus:

"Nityananda was not a sannyasi, but he was a brahmacari. But He performed Vyasa-pujain rvasa-angana. There some say that He was a sannyasi, but there He had no special garmenteither for sannyasi or brahmacari. He was very independent spirit." (Conversation 81.09.23)

"That Nityananda was a sannyasi, it is not a proved fact. The Nityananda, this is Ananda,this indicates the affix added to brahmacari. Ananda, Svarupa, Praka, all these types of

brahmacari. Ananda, a name also in the sannyasi we find, but no other title. Ananda is a part ofthe name but title, no title of Nityananda. And also no mention who was the sannyasa-guru ofNityananda.

Advaitadas: In Caitanya Bhgavata it is said that Harids hkur and Nitynanda wentout preaching, dressed like sannyss (dohn sannys-vea yn yr ghare , CB Madhya13.19). That does not mean they wore saffron cloth and daas , whatever, but it shows thatthis sannysa mentioned in Advaita Praka is mentioned in other authoritative scripturestoo.

But diksa-guru of Nityananda is Madhavendra Puri, it is known.

Advaitadas: No it isnt. It is Lakmpati Trtha according to Bhakti Ratnakara.

Avadhuta does not mean who is sannyasi. Avadhuta means who is not very particular ofhis external practices and sometimes commits something wrong which should not becommitted, should not be practiced. When lower practices are seen in connection with thehigh-leveled person then they are considered as avadhuta. He is above that but his practices areof lower nature. Ava means lower; dhuta - that also he can either remove or he can purify."(Conversation 82.02.06)There are many philosophical defects (apasiddhanta ) in Advaita Praka which render the book

useless for those desiring to advance in Ka consciousness. rla Bhaktisiddhanta SaraswatiThakur in his introduction of r Caitanya-Caritmta by has written as follows: Anyanya katipaya adhunika va paravartikale likhita granthagulike (yatha, jayanander

caitanya-mangala, govinda daser kadaca, vamsi-siksa, advaita-praka , nityananda-vamsa-vistara).Pracina' baliya nirdesa karate amadera pravrtti haya na, visesatah, tahader tattva va siddhanta-viparyaya abhisandhi-mule sankirnata pratipadana karibar prayasa o siksara abhava prabhrtilaksya kariya, r caitanya-caritamrter 'kara-grantha' baliya ei apa-granthagulike keho svikarakaren na.

"There are several other new books or books that were written a little later (such as Jayananda's Caitanya-mangala, Govinda Dasa's kadaca, Vamsi-siksa,Advaita Praka, and

Nityananda-vamsa-vistara). Although it is said that these books are old, we have no interest inthem. They are distinct in the way that they areincorrect in their philosophical truths and


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Advaitadas: All these books have been written by Mahprabhus pradas (eternal

associates). There is no other such a comprehensive biography of Advaita Prabhu. Nor is itnot stopping us from re-reading the other main granthas. Swamiji is trying to keep peopledumb with such a warning, so that he and his faith-fellows can freely condemn the AdvaitaVamsa.

Our paramguru, rla Prabhupada, did not approve of this mentality:"I may say that this practical devotional service is the secret to understanding the sastras.

My Guru Maharaja used to say that for one who is not engaged in devotional service, reading allthe books is simply like licking the outside of the honey jar. One who thinks that the books arethe thing, is content in this way. But we should learn the secret to open the jar and taste thehoney. In this way, if we simply understand one book, or one sloka, the perfection is there.Lord Caitanya warned about reading too many books, although I see in America this is verypopular to get volumes and volumes of books and not understand one. Anyway, by sincerely

working by carefully executing the instruction of the spiritual master, you will be all successfulby Ka's Grace." (Letter to Pradyumna Dasa 17 Feb.1968)The unauthorized tendency to read many books does not only pertain to reading so-calleddevotional literature. Such books also include books on the lives of famous Sahajiya andMayavadi gurus, Christian mysticism, Tantra, UFOs, mundane novels, Tibetan Buddhistmeditation techniques and the prophecies of Nostradamus to name but a few.

Advaitadas: Such topics have been sold by rdhar Maharajas disciples like TripurariSwami themselves to fund their errant publications in the 1980s and 1990s. UFO-books arelumped in with the eye-witness of Sitanathas whole adult life? This is another count of theoffence to the chanting of the holy name called Sruti-stra ninda, critique of the scriptures.

Such mundane books are known as asat-sastresu and fall under the category of prajalpasince they are full of topics unrelated to pure devotional service.

Advaitadas: The comprehensive biography of Advaita Prabhu is prajalpa or mundane?

Such books are useless for our advancement in Ka consciousness. The greatVaishnava saint r Madhvacarya has advised that one who is serious about attaining the lotusfeet of Lord Hari should become callous towards such worthless books (na codasinah sastrani).

Advaitadas: Pray tell, where does r Madhvcrya mention the Advaita Praka in hiswritings?

To read many books, for whatever the reason, can be the cause of ruination for asadhaka if it is done without the guidance of a senior Vaiava. rla rdhara Deva GosvamiMaharaja has commented that even the reading of the Bhagavatam without the permission of asenior devotee cannot be considered as pure devotional service. We may attain some knowledgeby such study, but we will not attain bhakti. Reading on our own initiative is only knowledgeseeking which does not promote pure devotion, suddha-bhakti. The bewildered mind maydictate to us that by reading many books (such as Advaita Praka) that we will obtain a greaterunderstanding of the Supreme Lord or that we will obtain a greater knowledge of the scriptures,but this is doubtful. Unfortunately, by studying unauthorized books or even by hearing too


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many opinions one runs the risk of spoiling his advancement in Ka consciousness.Oneshould therefore not read, translate, or publish those books that are not recommended by rGuru and the previous acaryas.

Concluding, Swami B.V. Giri depends entirely on the view of those whom heconsiders authority and has no other way to back up his claims. That makes his objections

very shaky and questionable indeed. Before those who do not accept the autority ofBhaktisiddhanta and his followers Swamiji will remain empty handed.

June 26, 2004.

***********

From a webforum May 29, 2005-Inquiring bhakta: Haribol!

Pranam & dandavat.I would like to know if there is any Vaiava group (from the past) that was chanting othermantras (exemple: Gauranga) on beads. On another forum, it was writen that Vaiavas fromthe past did indeed practice this form of japa. I cannot find the information again and amwondering if anyone can help me here. I remember reading about an historical controversyregarding this topic and if I am not mistaken, the Vaiava community was very divided. I am aformer BR Sadhu Swami (a.k.a Gaurangapada) disciple and I miss chanting regularly theseNames. Is it something that can be done if we have a special attraction for a specific Form of theDivine? Thank you very much for any help! I am posting something translated by BRSS. I haveno idea if the translation is correct.

____________________________________________________________________Shri Advaita Prakasha by Shrila na ThakuraChapter 10 Verses 40-52

Verse 40para dina mora prabhu pratah kritya sari, jagannatha mishra grihe gela tvara kari.

"The next day my Lord Advaita Acharya hurriedly went to the home of Shri JagannathaMishra after completing His morning duties."

Verse 41prabhura agamana dekhi mishra dvija vara,dante trina kari gela tahana gochara.

"Seeing the arrival of Lord Advaita Acharya, the best of the brahmanas Shri JagannathaMishra went in front of the Acharya very humbly with straw in his mouth."

Verse 42dandavata kari dila vasite asana,padya argha diya tane karila pujana.


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"r Jagannatha Mira offered prostrated obeisances to Lord Advaita Acarya and offered Him araised seat. Then he washed His lotus feet with scented water and worshiped Himappropriately."

Verse 43tabe shachidevi asi karila pranati,prabhu kahe vancha tumi hau putravati.

"At that time, Shrimati Shachidevi came and offered her obeisances to Lord Advaita Acharya.Lord Advaita gave her the benediction, 'May your desire to have a son be fulfilled!'"

Verse 44shuni mahanande kahe mishra dvija raja, jahe tuya vakya rahe kara sei kaja.

"Hearing this Shri Jagannatha Mishra becomes overwhelmed with intense happiness andsaid to Lord Advaita, 'Now please do something that will make your words come true.'"

Verse 45prabhu kahe eka mantra painu svapane,bhakti kari sei mantra laha dunhu jane.

"Lord Advaita Acharya said, 'I have received a Mantra in my dream. Please accept thisMantra from me with great faith and devotion.'"

Verse 46sarva amangala tabe avashya khandibe,parama pandita divya tanaya labhibe.

"'By receiving this Mantra and chanting It, all inauspiciousnes will be totally destroyed andyou both wil receive a divine son who will become a very great devotional scholar.'"

Verse 47agya shuni aila donhe karila sinane,tabe prabhu yatha vidhi puji narayane.

"Hearing the order of Lord Advaita, both of them took bath and came back to the Lord. Atthat time, Lord Advaita Acharya worshiped Lord Narayana with the proper rites."

Verse 48donhakare mantra dila shri advaita chandra,CATUR-AKSHARA SHRI GAURA GOPALA MAHAMANTRA.

"Then the moon-like Lord Advaita Chandra imparted the 4-Syllable Gaura GopalaMahamantra to both of them."

Verse 49mantra pana donhakare haila bhavodgama,


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prabhura pranami kare sa dainya stavana.

"Of receiving the Gaura Gopala Mahamantra, the pure ecstatic transcendental love ofShachimata and Jagannatha Mishra was awakened and they offered their obeisances to LordAdvaita Acharya and offered prayers unto Him with great humility.

Verse 50"Ka matir astu" bali prabhu vara dila,bhojana kariya tabe nija sthane gela.

"Lord Advaita Acharya offered them the benediction 'May your consciousness always remainin Lord Ka!' and after honoring prasadam He returned to His home."

Verse 51dina kata pare shachira haila garbhadhana,

tahe prakatila visvarupa guna dhama."Some days after receiving the Gaura Gopala Mantra, Shimati Shachimata became pregnant

and the Supreme Personality of Servitor Godhead Lord Nityananda partially manifested in herwomb as Shri Vishvarupa."

Verse 52mahasankarshana bali prabhu jare kaya,tahana mahima caturbhuja na janaya.

"Lord Advaita Acarya would always call Lord Vivarupa as Maha Sankarana and he would saythat even the 4-handed Vinu Tattvas did not understand the full glories of Lord ri Vivarupa."

Advaitadas: The context of this story is crystal clear - Advaita Prabhu gave Sacimata and Jagannatha Mira a mantra for the specific purpose of getting a baby, most particularly thebaby Nimai and for this reason he gave them in particular this mantra . It is not meant foranyone else. If Advaita Prabhu had given this mantra to the people at large I would havereceived it at the time of diksa, and I didnt.....Have you noticed, by the way, that Advaita Prabhu offered them the blessing ke matirastu May you become Ka-conscious as a result of chanting this mantra, not May youbecome Gaura-conscious?

************Footnote 25 to an article by Jan K. Brzezinski (Jagadananda Das) about PrabodhanandaSaraswati:

http://jagat.wisewisdoms.com/articles/showarticle.php?id=30 (currently offline)

25. A rather unreliable source, Advaita-prakash, also mention that Chaitanya met aPrabodhananda Saraswati in Kashi. Its authorparaphrases the CC account with someanachronistic additions.


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Advaitadas: Merriam Webster explains paraphrase as a restatement of a text,passage, or work giving the meaning in another form However, Caitanya Caritmta is 40-50years younger than Advaita Praka, which was completed in 1568. So Caitanya Caritmtais a restatement of Advaita Praka instead of vice versa.

Merriam Webster explains anachronistic as 1: an error in chronology; especially : achronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other. 2: aperson or a thing that is chronologically out of place; especially : one from a former age that isincongruous in the present.

Please do explain where any of this applies to Advaita Praka.

This work isascribed to Advaita's servant, na Nagar.

Advaitadas: It IS written by na Ngara every single chapter is signed by him andhe also speaks of his own role within the narration.

(ed.) Mrinala Kanti Ghosh, (Calcutta, Ananda Bazar Patrika Office, 2nd edition, 1929), 77. Thisis another book whose credibility has been placed in doubt by (Professor B.B.) Majumdar,op.cit., 424-35.

Advaitadas: With due respect, how did Professor Majumdar reach this conclusion?Through intellectual prowess or through divine revelation?

Speaking of Prof. Majumdar, the following opinions on Advaita Praka are attributedto him on a webforum, from his 1935 book Caitanya Cariter Updn

To indicate important dates is a virtue of a biography-writer. Unfortunately, na'svirtue has been his vice on occasions. There is some discrepancy between the account given in''Caitanya Bhagavata'' and that occuring in the ''Advaita Prakasa'' concerning Acyuta's age whenr Caitanya visited Santipura after his adoption of monkhood. r Caitanya was 24, and henceby na's yardstick of the Lord being 6 years and 2 months Acyuta's senior, the latter should beabout 18. Vrindavan das Thakur considers Acyuta tiny child who has nothing on his wear. Thisimplies the child is not much above 2 or 3 years of age, while na would make it 18 or thereabouts.

Advaitadas: See refutation on page 5 of this file.

na states that Vasudeva Dutta is Advaita's disciple .But in ''Caitanya Caritamrta'' he isplaced in the Caitanya's order .

Advaitadas: That is absurd. We all know that r Caitanya had no personal disciples.By making such bizarre statements Prof. Majumdar undermines his credibility.

Both na and Murari have reffered to Visvarupa's birth as the fruition of the ninthpregnancy of Saci. While na speaks of eight cases of abortion or miscarriage preceding Sacigiving birth to Visvarupa, both Murari and Kavikarnapura refer to eight daughters being bornsuccesively, none of whom survived long.

Kavikarnapura's play points out that Caitanya was an unknown personage toSarvabhauma, who is made out to be Visvambhara's teacher of logic for a continuous period oftwo years. Dr-Majumdar asks, ''Can one fail to remember a pupil whom one had taught whenthe pupil was between 14 and 16 in course of a mere 8 year period of time ? ''


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Advaitadas: These may be the only odd narrations within the Advaita Praka.However we must remember that the Lords pastimes are transcendental and inconceivable(acintya khalu ye bhv na tams tarkena yojayet ), and mundane dates or compatibility ofpersonalities just do not count in it. In Ka ll we see also significant differences betweenthe Vraja-ll in the rmad Bhgavata and that in the Brahma-Vaivarta or Viu Purana. Weknow, for instance, that different personalities in Ka ll have different, multiple counter-personalities in Gaur ll, and that in Dvrak one single Ka had different sports with asmany as 16.108 queens all at the same time!

na's records Nityananda's birth as a thing of 1395 sh ,while Vrindavan Das Thkur'sreport in ''Caitanya Bhagavata'' is consistent with the date of birth being sometime four yearslater.

Advaitadas: In Gauya Vaiava Abhidhna the birth date is also said to be 1395aka. This is unanimously accepted as Nitynandas birthdate, 1474 AD. I have not been ableto find any mentioning of Nitynandas birthdate in Caitanya Bhgavata.

Moreover, Nityananda's outfit when he came to Navadvipa, was one of an anchoriteaccording to Vrindvan Ds Thkur. na has described him as a Vaisnava even in dress, whenhe first arrived at Navadvipa.

Advaitadas: The Caitanya Bhgavata (Madhya 3.125) just describes Nitynanda asbeing dressed as a great avadhta (mah avadhta vea ). Does that exclude the possibility ofHim being dressed as a Vaiava? The Advaita Praka only says he wore tilak and Tulas-neckbeads and appeared as the crest jewel of sannyss. If that is so much different frommah avadhta vea , Nitynanda may even have changed His appearance straight aftermoving into Nandancryas house.

na reports that Radhakunda was full of water, while Kadasa Kaviraja speaks ofshallow waters of Radhakunda.

Advaitadas: That may be just due to monsoon rains.

Another discrepancy of na is his report of Advaita's encounter with Vidyapati, which,according to him, took place at Mithila. Quoting reputed authors like Haraprasad sastri andVasanta Chatterjee, Dr. Majumdar points out that Advaita reached Mithila some five years afterVidypati had died in 1448 A.D.

Advaitadas: It would be wise to place ones faith in a lifelong Vaiava servant ofAdvaita Prabhu before placing ones faith in two unknown scholars. The Vaiava scholarPandit Ananta Ds writes in his booklet r Rdhkuer Mahim O Aitihya, page 68(Bengali edition) that r Advaita Prabhu came to Vndvana in 1455 and he met the old poetVidypati on His way back home.

If na's declaration of the date of composition of ''Advaita Prakasa'' be true, it comes to1568 A.D.That implies its temporal priority over Kadasa Kaviraja's ''C.Caritamrta''. How is itthat na's diction is reminiscent of that of a later work?

Advaitadas: Caitanya-Caritmta is 40-50 years younger than Advaita Praka. Manynarrations in Caitanya Caritmta, which is anyway an anthology of all preceding books,


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must have been taken directly from Advaita Praka. The stories of Mdhavendra Puri (ch.5), Harids Thkur delivering the prostitute (ch. 9), Mahprabhu coming to Advaita Prabhushouse after taking sannysa (ch. 16), meeting Rpa and Santana in Rmakeli (ch. 16),making the animals in Jharikhaa forest chant (ch. 16), meeting Rpa Gosvm in Prayga(ch. 17), the dog of ivnanda Sena (ch. 18), the banishment of Chota Harids (ch. 18), RpaGosvm reading his dramas to the Lord (ch. 19), Santan Gosvm coming to Puri with thesores (ch. 19) and the passing away of Harids Thkur (ch. 19) are the same, though theAdvaita Praksh versions are admittedly much more concise.

BB Majumdar, r Caitanya Caritera Updna, page 463 kayekai lekhra asagati yath (1) blya-ll-stra y nki r caitanyera janmera dui batsaramtra pare likhite bale praka - Some contradictory issues are: (1) The Advaita Balyalila Sutrawas said to be written and published just 2 years after r Caitanyas birth.

Advaitadas: In his Gauya Vaiava Abhidhna, Harids Ds confirms that it is written in

1409 aka, or 2 years after Mahprabhus birth. Since this text only deals with AdvaitaPrabhu's childhood pastimes, then that is completely feasible, since Mahaprabhu took birth52 years after Advaita Prabhu.

On the same page Prof. Majumdar says:"If Mahaprabhu's avatara was really predicted in the Ananta Samhita as is described in AdvaitaPrakash chapter 4, then why were Jiva Gosvami, Kavikarnapur, Krishnadas Kaviraja andBaladeva Vidyabhusana satisfied with just proving it from the Bhagavata and the Mahabharata?"

Advaitadas: They might have thought that the Bhagavat and Mahabharata were strongerevidence, or they simply didnt have access to the Ananta Samhita when they wrote theirbooks. In 'Gauya Vaiava Abhidhna', p.1436, the Ananta Samhita is accepted as bearingevidence for r Caitanya's descent without casting any doubt on the authenticity of thebook. It says parts of the manuscript are held by the Rajashahi Varendra Research committeeand by the Calcutta Sanskrit Sahitya Parishad.

Acyuta Maitra, "Advaita Prabhu", p.43-44 (Kolkata, 1983) -"Advaita Balyalila Sutra is written by king Divyasimha, a contemporary of Advaita Prabhu'sfather, Advaita Prakash by Advaita's foster son Ishan Nagara, Sita Carita by Lokanath, the Guruof Narottama, who was older than Mahaprabhu Himself, Sita Guna Kadamba by Vishnu Das,who arranged Sita's marriage and Advaita Mangal by Haricharan, a disciple of Advaita, on the

order of Acyutananda. All of these are eyewitnesses who were personally blessed by Sitadvaita.If the abovementioned books were really written by them then they wouldnt contradict thenarrations of Kavi Karnapur, Vrindavan Das and Murari Gupta. How could they rhyme with thestory that Sacimata and Jagannath Mishra took mantra from Advaita Prabhu, Visvambharastudied the Bhagavat with Advaita Prabhu, Visvambhara made Acyuta his student and Acyutaperformed so many miracles?"

Advaitadas: First of all, Sita Carita is written by Lokanatha Das, not Lokanath Gosvami. Bothwere disciples of Advaita Prabhu, in any case. Apart from Haricaran's Advaita Mangal there isreally no problem with any of the above mentioned books, to my knowledge. The fact thatSacimata and Jagannatha Misra's taking of mantra from Advaita is not mentioned in the otherbooks does not mean it didnt happen. After all, the other books have Mahaprabhu as thecentral topic, so naturally they wont elaborate on the details about Advaita's life. And if


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Advaita Prabhu is not the guru of Sacimata and Jagannatha Misra, then who is? Since that isnowhere mentioned there is no contradiction with the narration of Ishan Nagar. Regardingthe other pastimes that may or may not 'contradict' the other books about Mahaprabhu lila,we cannot really limit these divine pastimes to a single version or a single vision. God isunlimited and can perform unlimited different pastimes, all at the same time if He so wishes.He lovingly reciprocates with the subjective visions of His various devotees, as He has said inthe Bhagavad Gita (4.11) ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamyaham - "As I amworshipped so I will worship (reciprocate with My devotees) in return."

Refutations compiled throughout 2005

A more submissive bhakta asked me on April 17, 2008: But some people says there were twoIshana Nagaras at that time and the one was the Servant of Jagannatha Mishra and Disciple ofAdvaita prabhu but another was different and also it is unsure that who has written this Advaitaprakasha, what you say about this? Kindly answer..........

Advaitadas: I dont know of any other Ishn Ngara than the disciple of Advaita Prabhu. Henarrates his personal relationship with Advaita Prabhu and St Dev in chapters 18 (twice)and 21 of Advaita Praksh. In Gauya Vaiava Abhidhna, which lists all the associates ofMahaprabhu, there is just one Ishn Ngar mentioned:

, -

- ..... ' ' - ' "

A member of r Advaita Prabhus branch, born in a Brahmin family in 1414 aka (1492).His ancestral home was Lua, Navagrma in the district of r Haa (the same ancestralhome as Advaita Prabhus). His widowed mother took shelter of r Advaita Prabhus homewhen he was 5 years old, where he was educated by Advaita Prabhu Himself. On Stdevsorder he married at the age of 70. He was very powerful. One day he came forward to washMahprabhus lotus-feet, but when Mahprabhu saw his Brahmin-thread he did not want

accept service from him. Ina then punished his Brahmin-thread by breaking it. naNgara composed the book Advaita Praka in 1490 aka (1568) in Lua Dhma caudda-ata navati akbda parime; ll-grantha sga kainu r lua dhme. The Ishn who served

Jagannth Mishra was not surnamed Ngara. He was just named Ishn and did not write anybooks to my knowledge.

Discussion on April 4, 2011 -

Bhakta: Some say Advaita Praksh was written only in the 19th century?

Advaitadas: The fact that Advaita Praksh was found in a library in 1896 does not mean itwas written then. There were no printing presses before the British came and books were


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This merciful punishment invigorates your devotees!, Advaita, the Lord ofShantipur said and danced in ecstasy all over the courtyard. (verses 155-6)

Then He submitted to the Lord's feet: kotha gelo ebe more tomar se stuti ? (verse 157)"'What happened now with Your reverential praises of Me?" In other words, Advaita luredMahaprabhu to Shantipur to 'punish' Him just to get a sweet relationship with Him, free fromthe awe and reverence Mahaprabhu otherwise offered Him due to Him being an elder. Inchapter 20 of Advaita Prakash, when Advaita Prabhu was explaining jnana for the secondtime, Mahaprabhu said: more dekhibare dila jnana-yoga siksa ....You explained jnana in orderto see Me....

In chapter 24 of Premavilasa, it is said:Mahaprabhu treated Advaita as a superior and constantly took Advaitas foot-dust. This

made the Lord of Shantipur very unhappy, so He said: I will deviate from devotion and willstart explaining books like Yogavasistha. I will now start preaching jnana, so that the Lordwill get angry with me and come to Shantipura to punish Me single-handedly!

Brzezinski: Vrindavan Das tells us that Mahaprabhu criticized Adwaita for this practicewhen he was in Nabadwip, but Nityananda Das indicates that he continued doing so even afterMahaprabhu had gone to live in Puri and that many Vaishnavas were puzzled by this behaviorand complained.

Advaitads: This is how Advaita Praka begins to narrate Advaita Prabhus secondsermon on jna : One day r Advaita Prabhu felt so much separation from Gaurga thatHe cried out loudly: "Where is the Lord of My life?" Gradually the ocean of love for Gaurasurged and inundated Prabhu Stntha, the wish-yielding tree of the devotees. Only threedays later Prabhu Stntha emerged from this inundation of ecstatic swoon and He decidedthat He had to see Gaurga. "O Gaurga! You easily burn the hearts and minds of Yourdevotees with the fire of constant separation from You! You have appeared to distributedevotion, so I will give pain to Your heart by preaching jna . I have attained You oncebefore by preaching jna , now I will once again preach such dry speculations to everyone. Ihave to see how You will react to that. If I don't attain Your lotus feet then I will destroy theworld."

It is clear from this quote, and there is much more where this came from, whatAdvaita Prabhus motives were for preaching jna .

December 29, 2005. Original discussion: February 14, 2005

Nandin and Jangaldo not set a precedent for cross-dressing.

From: Reconstructing Tradition: Advaita Acarya and Gaudiya Vaisnavism at the Cusp of theTwentieth Century, by Rebecca Manring:

The author of the Advaita Mangala even describes the first feast Advaita Acharya heldafter his marriage, to introduce his disciples to his new wife. The texts in fact state that Sitatreated these boys and young men as if they were her own sons. And so it would not have been


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much of a stretch for these students to take the next leap of faith, once their guru had departed,to align themselves with the person who was closest to that guru in some clearly visible wayshis widow. That is apparently exactly what happened: Her husbands students, her foster sons,in a sense, shifted her into the position of authority recently vacated by her husband Whatseems to have bothered the Gaudiyas is the possibility of her conferring initiation upon maledevotees. Initiationthe conferring of sectarian mantras and practices is the vehicle for thecontinuity of the lineage, and has historically been the domain of male gurus. According toLokanatha DasasSita Charitra , her problems (with having male disciples) begin when two maleseekersYajneshvara and Nandaramaapproach her for instruction, and she is obligated torefuse them on gender grounds. Their story is rich in clues to Sitas theological identity and theways her movement chose to accommodate and contain that identity. Nandarama is a brahman,and his friend Yajneshvara is a shudra (the fourth major caste group) from a farming family.Both are great devotees of Krishna, and have decided to seek out a suitable guru. Nandaramaremembers having been given a mantra some time previously by Sita, in Shantipur, so the pairset out in search of her. Sita greets them warmly, but tells them that she can only teach other

women. Nevertheless she gives them the Radha mantra and some rudimentary advice: toworship Radha and Krishna, visualizing themselves as attendants in the divine couples trystingplace. ..The two disappear, only to reappear a short time later dressed asgopis, the youngcowherd women of Vraja who were Krishnas close friends and lovers, complete with braidedhair, anklets, bangles, skirts and bodices. They announce that the practice of repeating Radhasmantra has effected a sex change in them. This is an amazing claim! We have no reports ofothers who use Radhas mantra experiencing similar transformations. We must conclude thenthat this change has come about through the pairs deep faith and their firm conviction that Sitais the proper guru for them. Not satisfied simply to take their word that the two men are nowwomen, Sita examines the evidence, Lokanatha writes, and then agrees that she can nowinstruct them. And from this time on Nandarama and Yajneshvara are known as Nandini and Jangali, and live out the remainders of their lives as women. So great was their devotion andtheir desire to learn from Sita rather than from any other guru that these two were willing torelinquish their very maleness to do so.

Advaitadas: I have not yet learned how reliable and genuine this book Sita Caritra is,but I want to make this preliminary commentary: Normally devotees in the Advaita Parivrado not receive Rdh-mantra, only Ka-mantra, as is clear from Advaita Praka, chapter 20,wherein Advaita Prabhu instructs his son Acyutnanda to install Gauridsa Paits Gaura-Niti deities with Ka-mantras, in Prema Vilsa, chapter 19, where Jhnav Devi tellsrnivscrya the same thing, and in chapter 24 of the same book, where Mdhavcrya is

described as taking Goplmantra and Kmagyatr from Advaita Prabhu. St-dev must havegiven this mantra as part of a special pastime of hers.

The author of the Sita Charitra, writing at a time when the sakhi bhavas were coming undersectarian assault, used Sitas hagiographical image to define the sakhi bhavas as women and thento connect their sect to a venerable branch of the greater Gaudiya Vaishnava community.

Advaitadas: With sakh-bhvas the author means sakh-bhekhs, men who dress like gops. Nandini and Jangali are not sakh-bhekhs, because they actually had a gender change.Sakhi-bhekhis are physically men, though some go as far as castration, but they nevermystically change gender. The author mentioned in the previous paragraph: Sitadeviexamines the evidence, which means that an actual gender change took place, and this must


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adva it a defense

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