Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.13

Nitāi: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse, etc.]

advaitaṁ hariṅādvaitād ācāryaṁ bhakti-śaṁsanāt bhaktāvatāram īśaṁ tam advaitācāryam āśraye [Cc Ādi 1.13]

[break] [00:34]

"[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."

Prabhupāda:

advaitaṁ hariṅādvaitād ācāryaṁ bhakti-śaṁsanāt bhaktāvatāram īśaṁ tam advaitācāryam āśraye [Cc Ādi 1.13]

So gradually the author is offering respect, śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita. He has already offered respect to Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda. Now it is the turn for Śrī Advaitācārya. So advaitam, nondifferent, expansion of Mahā-Viṣṅu. Therefore He is viṣṅu-tattva; He is not jīva-tattva. Therefore He is advaita. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam [Bs 5.33].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal puruṣa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.]

Kṛṣṅa has got unlimited number of expansions: expansion, expansion of the expansion, then expansion of the expansion, in this way. So Advaitācārya is expansion of Kṛṣṅa, it is already explained. Therefore He is called advaitam, and ācāryaṁ bhakti-śaṁsanāt.

This is the business of ācārya, to spread bhakti cult. Ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyāt nāvamanyeta karhicit [SB 11.17.27].

[One should know the ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.]

It is said by the Lord that "You should accept the ācārya..." Ācārya means one who transmits bhakti cult. Bhakti-śaṁsanāt, spreading, goṣṭhyānandī. One who is not spreading—he is cultivating Kṛṣṅa consciousness for his personal benefit in a secluded place, sitting and chanting—that is also nice, but he's not ācārya. Ācārya means he must spread. Goṣṭhyānandī. Bhajanānandī, goṣṭhyānandī. So generally, goṣṭhyānandī means one who wants to increase the number of devotees. He's called goṣṭhyānandī. And one who is self-satisfied, that "Let me do my own duty," he is called bhajanānandī. So my Guru Mahārāja, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he was goṣṭhyānandī. He wanted to increase the number of devotees. And the more you increase the number of devotees, the more you become very much recognized by Kṛṣṅa. It is Kṛṣṅa's business. Kṛṣṅa personally comes as He is, Kṛṣṅa, to spread this bhakti cult. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg 18.65].

[Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.]

Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]. He's canvassing personally.

paritrāṅāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge [Bg 4.8]

[In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.]

So same thing entrusted to another devotee, and who spreads, he's ācārya. So Kṛṣṅa says, the ācārya... Here it is said that advaitaṁ hariṅa advaitād. So of course, Advaita Ācārya is expansion of viṣṅu-tattva, but any ācārya, he is to be considered identical with the Lord. The Lord says that, that ācāryam māṁ vijānīyāt [SB 11.17.27]:

[One should know the ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.]

"One should understand the ācārya..." Ācārya bhakti-śaṁsanāt. Ācārya means who is spreading pure bhakti cult. "That ācārya," Kṛṣṅa says, "you should consider such ācārya as Myself." Ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyāt nāvamanyeta karhicit, that... You cannot consider, "Yes, he is ācārya, but not as good as Kṛṣṅa." No. Na avamanyeta. Don't deride in that way. Then there will be falldown. Ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyāt nāvamanyeta karhicit. And in the Vedas also it is said, yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23]:

[Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed.]

"Anyone who has got unflinching faith in the Supreme Personality and the similar faith in guru..." Yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau, tasya ete kathitā hy arthāḥ: "All the Vedic literature," prakāśante, "becomes revealed simply by these two principle." Guru-kṛṣṅa kṛpā pāya bhakti-latā-bīja [Cc Madhya 19.151].

[According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṅa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṅa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.]

We should not jump over Kṛṣṅa without the help of guru. That is not possible. You must go through. Because Kṛṣṅa says, ācāryam māṁ vijānī... Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21]:

[Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.]

"Actually one who is serious to understand higher transcendental subject matter, he must approach guru." Tasmād gurum prapadyeta. These are Vedic injunction. Cakṣudāna dilo yei, janme janme pitā sei. So anyone who opens... Guru means who opens the eyes of the ignorant person. Ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā. Opening the eyes by giving real knowledge... Guru-kṛṣṅa kṛpā pāya bhakti-latā-bīja. So bhakti-latā, the devotional service, the seed of devotional service, can be received by the paramparā system through bona fide spiritual master. And if we abide by the orders of spiritual master faithfully, then Kṛṣṅa becomes pleased. That is stated by Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ. Āra nā koriya mane āśā. Narottama dāsa... All the ācāryas, they say like that. Ācāryam māṁ vijānīyāt. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda [Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.14.2]: "One who has accepted ācārya, he knows things as they are." Others, they do not know. It is not possible.

So Advaita Ācārya is the typical example how to become ācārya. All are our ācāryas: śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda, śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. All of them are ācāryas because they are following the ācārya, supreme ācārya, Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore they are ācārya. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ [Bg 4.2].

[This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.]

So we have to follow the ācārya. Then, when we are completely, cent per cent follower of ācārya, then you can also act as ācārya. This is the process. Don't become premature ācārya. First of all follow the orders of ācārya, and you become mature. Then it is better to become ācārya. Because we are interested in preparing ācārya, but the etiquette is, at least for the period the guru is present, one should not become ācārya. Even if he is complete he should not, because the etiquette is, if somebody comes for becoming initiated, it is the duty of such person to bring that prospective candidate to his ācārya. Not that "Now people are coming to me, so I can become ācārya." That is avamanya. Nāvamanyeta karhicit. Don't transgress this etiquette. Nāvamanyeta. That will be falldown.

Just like during the lifetime of our Guru Mahārāja, all our Godbrothers now who are acting as ācārya, they did not do so. That is not etiquette. Ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyāt na avaman... That is insult. So if you insult your ācārya, then you are finished. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo yasya aprasādāt na gatiḥ kuto 'pi—finished. If you displease your ācārya, then you are finished. Therefore it is said, Caitanya Mahāprabhu says to all the ācāryas... Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita Prabhu and śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda, they are all carriers of orders of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So try to follow the path of ācārya process. Then life will be successful.

And to become ācārya is not very difficult. First of all, to become very faithful servant of your ācārya, follow strictly what he says. Try to please him and spread Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That's all. It is not at all difficult. Try to follow the instruction of your Guru Mahārāja and spread Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is the order of Lord Caitanya.

āmāra ajñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa'-upadeśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]

[Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.]

"By following My order, you become guru." And if we strictly follow the ācārya system and try our best to spread the instruction of Kṛṣṅa... Yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa'-upadeśa. There are two kinds of kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. Upadeśa means instruction. Instruction given by Kṛṣṅa, that is also kṛṣṅa-upadeśa, and instruction received about Kṛṣṅa, that is also kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. Kṛṣṅasya upadeśa iti kṛṣṅa upadeśa. Samāsa, śāsti-tat-puruṣa-samāsa. And kṛṣṅa viṣayā upadeśa, that is also kṛṣṅa upadeśa. Bāhu-vrīhi-samāsa. This is the way of analyzing Sanskrit grammar.

So Kṛṣṅa's upadeśa is Bhagavad-gītā. He's directly giving instruction. So one who is spreading kṛṣṅa-upadeśa, simply repeat what is said by Kṛṣṅa, then you become ācārya. Not difficult at all. Everything is stated there. We have to simply repeat like parrot. Not exactly parrot. Parrot does not understand the meaning; he simply vibrates. But you should understand the meaning also; otherwise how you can explain? So, so we want to spread Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Simply prepare yourself how to repeat Kṛṣṅa's instructions very nicely, without any malinterpretation. Then, in future... Suppose you have got now ten thousand. We shall expand to hundred thousand. That is required. Then hundred thousand to million, and million to ten million.

Devotees: Jaya!

Prabhupāda: So there will be no scarcity of ācārya, and people will understand Kṛṣṅa consciousness very easily. So make that organization. Don't be falsely puffed up. Follow the ācārya's instruction and try to make yourself perfect, mature. Then it will be very easy to fight out māyā. Yes. Ācāryas, they declare war against māyā's activities, that māyā instructing that "Here is wine. Here is cigarette. Here is that..." In your country these advertisements are very prominent, hoarding both ways: wine advertisement, cigarette advertisement, naked woman advertisement, and sometimes gambling also, advertisement. What is that? Congo?

Devotees: Bingo.

Prabhupāda: Bingo. [laughter] Yes. So this is māyā. And our declaration of war with māyā—no intoxication, no meat-eating, no bingo—[laughter] these are our declaration of war. So we have to fight in that way, because nobody can understand Kṛṣṅa without being free from all sinful activities. These are sinful activities. Therefore it is ācārya's business to stop these nonsense activities. Otherwise they'll not be able to understand, especially the meat-eaters. They cannot understand.

nivṛtta-tarṣair upagīyamānād bhavauṣadhi chrotra-mano 'bhirāmāt ka uttamaśloka-guṅānuvādāt pumān virajyeta vinā paśughnāt [SB 10.1.4]

Unless one is very expert in killing animals, he's not bereft from Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That means one who is very expert in killing, he cannot understand. Therefore Christ also said, "Thou shall not kill," the first business. Nobody will be able if one is a killer of animal, small or big, ultimately killer of his own children, killer of himself. The killing process is so nice that it goes up to the point of killing one's children. That is now happening. Killing business has so expanded that they are killing their own children. Just see the influence of Kali-yuga. The children, they take shelter of the father and mother, thinking very safe. Now, in this Kali-yuga, even there is no safety under the care of father and mother. Just see how this material civilization is progressing. Very, very dangerous. Kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām. Therefore that Bhāgavata verse is there,

kṛṣṅe sva-dhāmopagate dharma-jñānādibhiḥ kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām purāṅārko 'dhunoditaḥ [SB 1.3.43]

Very, very abominable condition in this Age of Kali. Very, very. It is the beginning of Kali. Now we have to pass through 427,000's of years. Kali-yuga will make progress in that way. And people are now practicing eating their children, and at the end of Kali there will be no food available. They'll have to eat the children, just like the snakes do. The snake eat their own children. There are many animals—they eat their own children.

So don't try to repeat your birth again and again in this Kali-yuga. It will be not very happy life. Better sacrifice everything in this life and be fully Kṛṣṅa conscious and go back to home, back to Godhead. Don't wait for the next life. This is very seriously repeated, that "This life I shall finish my Kṛṣṅa consciousness business," and, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, that Kṛṣṅa consciousness business means to understand Kṛṣṅa rightly. And He's explaining Himself rightly. Where is the difficulty to finish the Kṛṣṅa consciousness business? If Kṛṣṅa is explaining Himself, what He is, then where is your difficulty? Kṛṣṅa is explaining Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṅa is sending His representative ācārya to teach you, and Kṛṣṅa is within yourself trying to teach you if you are actually serious. Then where is the difficulty? Inside, outside, always, books, knowledge—He is prepared. So where is the difficulty to make yourself perfect in Kṛṣṅa consciousness? There is no difficulty at all. Provided you are serious, you can become fully Kṛṣṅa conscious in this very life. You are all young men. You are not old man like me. I have no opportunity. [pause] [end]