Bakari Gopala
BY: SUN STAFF – Jan 07, 2023 — CANADA (SUN) — Advaita Prakasha: Lord Advaita Acarya by Shrila Ishana Nagara, translated by HH Subhag Swami.
All glories to Shri Chaitanya! All glories to Sitanatha! All glories to Nityananda, along with all the devotees!
One day when Shri Advaita, Veda Pancanana, was teaching the philosophy of the Vedas to His students, Gauranga and Gadadhara came to His place to study. When Advaita Prabhu saw them, He affectionately chuckled and called them near. Understanding His indication, Gaura and Gadadhara approached and offered Advaita Acarya their respects in order to teach people proper behavior. Advaita embraced the two, and then the three sat down together. Shri Advaita then gently asked Gaurachandra, “Tell Me exactly where You are coming from. I am seeing You after many days. What have You studied all this time?”
Gaura replied, “Listen, O Gurudeva. I am now coming here from Vidyanagara. I have come here to learn the meaning of the Vedas. I have no interest in other scriptures.”
After saying this, Gauranga slightly smiled. Understanding Advaita’s mind, Gadadhara replied, “Listen, O Veda Pancanana. I will explain what Gauranga studied from the beginning. He first completed studying grammar from Gangadasa Pandita in two years. He studied literary embellishments the next two years, and then He went to Shri Vishnu Mishra’s to study astrology and the smritis for two years. He next went to Sudarshana Pandita and studied the six branches of philosophy for two years. The following two years He studied logic under Vasudeva Sarvabhauma. Now He has come to study the Vedas under You.”
Hearing this, Advaita Acarya’s happiness increased unlimitedly, and He said, “He must have the ability to remember everything He hears.”
Hearing His glorification, Mahaprabhu lowered His head. At that time one student asked Him a question. “How can one know that the Supreme Brahman exists?”
Gaura replied, “I imagine that the creation itself is direct proof of His existence.”
The student then said, “But the creation is eternally existing by its own nature.”
And Gaura replied, “How can something temporary become eternal?”
The student countered, “Atoms are eternal.”
Gaura then said, “Dull matter is never the cause of activity. There are five factors behind all activities. Saintly persons say one of them is the Supreme Lord. Without a cause, there cannot be activity. The cause of all action must have all potencies.”
They gave so many arguments in this way that I am unable to write. At that time Krishnadasa appeared there. The five-year-old son of Advaita gently smiled and then spoke the essence of all conclusions. “O student, first acquire the eyes of devotion, then you will immediately see the form of the Lord before you. You cannot recognize someone standing directly before you, so I feel sorry for your ignorance.”
Advaita Prabhu said, “Well done!” and then He roared in ecstasy. He embraced Krishnadasa and then danced in various ways. Then Mahaprabhu took Krishnadasa on His lap and blissfully gave him the name Krishna Mishra. Thereafter Advaita began to carefully teach the Vedas to Gaura, who studied diligently.
Listen now to this wonderful story. One day the universal mother, Sitadevi, whose life is dedicated to the service of Gaura, set aside for Gaura some of His favorite canpa bananas. When she went to take bath in the Ganges, Krishna Mishra saw that the house was empty and he began looking for something to eat. While searching, he found those canpa bananas. That eternal servant of Krishna then considered to himself, “Mother desires to feed these bananas to Gauranga. If I eat them, it will be an offense.” Then again he thought, “But I can eat them after they are offered, then they will be Gauranga’s prasada, so there will be no offense.”
He first chanted the mantra om, and then he offered the bananas to Gaura by chanting gauraya namah. Considering the bananas to be maha-prasada, he touched them to his head and then joyfully ate them.
After mother Sita finished her bath in the Ganges, she returned home and thought about offering the bananas to Gaura. But when she saw that the bananas were not where she had kept them, she felt sorry and understood that one of her sons must have eaten them.
She first called Acyutananda and inquired, “I had kept some bananas for Gaura. Who has eaten them?”
Acyutananda replied, “Mother, you know everything. You know my mind and behavior. Once, due to my childish frivolity, I drank some milk that was meant for Gaura. You chastised me and I learned my lesson.”
