Advaita Acharya facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Advaita Acharya |
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Wooden deities of Advaita Acharya and his wife Sita Devi, Sitanath Advaita Mandir, Nabadwip
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| Birth Date | c. 1434 Nabagram, Laur Kingdom (present-day Badaghat, Tahirpur, Sunamganj District, Bangladesh) |
| Birth name | Kamalaksha Mishra |
| Guru/teacher | Madhavendra Puri |
| Philosophy | Bhakti yoga, Achintya Bheda Abheda |
Advaita Acharya (born Kamalaksha Bhattacharjee) lived from 1434 to 1559. He was an important companion of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who started the Gaudiya Vaishnava movement. Advaita Acharya was also the teacher, or guru, of Haridasa Thakur.
He was born in 1434 in a village called Nabagram. This village was in the Laur Kingdom, which is now part of Bangladesh. Advaita Acharya was about 50 years older than Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He spent most of his adult life in the town of Shantipur with his wife and family. Advaita Acharya had six sons. One of them, Acyutananda Das, also became a follower of Chaitanya.
Advaita Acharya wrote some books in Sanskrit. His life story is also told in many other books. These books were written in both Sanskrit and Bengali. Many of his actions are also described in important texts like the Chaitanya Charitamrta.
His Life Story
Advaita Acharya's father was Kubera Acharya. Kubera was an important person in the court of Divya Singh, the King of Laur.
Later in his life, Advaita Acharya became very sad. He saw that people were only chasing after money and things. He believed this made society unhappy. He thought the only way to fix this was to pray to his Supreme Lord Krishna. He begged Krishna to come to Earth as an Avatar. He wanted Krishna to help people find joy in spiritual life again.
Advaita Acharya prayed for many months. He cried out and worshipped Krishna using a special stone called a Shaligram Shila. He used sacred Tulasi leaves and water from the Ganges River. After about thirteen months, his prayers were answered. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born during a full moon eclipse.
Advaita Acharya was the first to say that Chaitanya was God himself. He did this by reciting an old Vedic text. He was a close friend of both Chaitanya and Nityananda. They worked together to spread the Hare Krishna chant. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu first received alms (donations) at Advaita Acharya's home. It was there that Chaitanya told him, "Wherever you are is Vrindavan."
Every year, on the day he was born, people celebrate Advaita Acharya. They read and talk about stories from his life.
His Family Today
Advaita Acharya has many family lines that continue today. These come from two of his children. For example, Bijoy Krishna Goswami is part of one of these family lines. The famous poet and musician Dwijendralal Ray was also a descendant of Advaita Acharya through his mother's side. Dwijendralal's son, Dilip Kumar Roy, was also a descendant.
Images for kids
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Wooden deities of Advaita Acharya and his wife Sita Devi, Sitanath Advaita Mandir, Nabadwip
