Advaita Acharya

[Guest guest]

> If you carefully see the source material, you will find some books which

> are not considered bonafide by our acaryas or written by sahajiyas outside

> our sampradaya etc.

 

It is quite correct. Sahajiya? I recall Prabhupada said "unauthorized" about

Sitadvaita Carita. What is written by sahajiyas?

 

 

> Even some books that were reported to be Vaisnava books he (Om

> Visnupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada) never

> accepted, not believing things that were written in them. These were books

> like "Advaita Mangal" and "Advaita Prakash", which were about Advaita

> Prabhu.

 

Is there any reference to this information? (I am adding Bhakti Vikasa

Maharaja as a receiver, since it's from his upcoming book).

 

 

> According to AP, LC greets

> others with "Namo Narayana" (Mayavadi practice; doesn't correspond with

> CC)

 

This could simply be out of social custom, since he'd accepted the order of

sannyasa in the school of Sankara. It is not said in the CC that he didn't

do like this. Moreover, Srila Prabhupada states:

 

"It is the etiquette among sannyasis, those on the fourth platform of

spiritual life, to offer respects by saying om namo narayanaya ("I offer my

respectful obeisances unto Narayana"). This greeting is used especially by

Mayavadi sannyasis."

 

============ REF. Madhya 6.48

 

This clearly indicates that others also use this greeting, "Obeisances to

Narayana." Like when devotees meet, they sometimes say "Haribol, All Glories

to Srila Prabhupada". It is not that they think that the other devotee is

Narayana.

 

 

> and refused to drink Saci's breast milk unless she took diksa from

> Advaita Acarya (not mentioned in CC or CB; there is another incident where

> LC told Saci to beg forgiveness from AA for her "offenses" but it is never

> mentioned that she is AA's sisya; plus anyway, according to social

> convention, after birth Saci would have been in the maternity room and

> could not go out or be seen by any man for several days, so how could she

> wait so long to feed her new son?).

 

There are many things not described in CC or CB, that may be found in other

titles describing Mahaprabhu and his associates. Caitanya Mangala, Bhakti

Ratnakara, Prema Vivarta, and also some of the works of Bhaktivinoda, like

the Navadvipa-parikrama with the pastimes of Nitai and Jiva. Kaviraja

Gosvami himself states (CC Adi 13.48-49):

 

"Srila Vrndavana dasa Thakura, the authorized writer of the pastimes of Sri

Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is as good as Srila Vyasadeva. He has described the

pastimes in such a way as to make them sweeter and sweeter. Being afraid of

his book's becoming too voluminous, he left some places without vivid

descriptions. I shall try to fill those places as far as possible."

 

In regards to Saci's begging forgiveness from Advaita, firstly, according to

Advaita Prakash she received mantra from Advaita, so this is coherent with

the story there, and secondly, even if she didn't, Advaita was certainly

respectable as guru-jana, being a very senior Vaishnava.

 

In regards to your point on drinking breast milk, yes, traditionally Saci

would have been in the maternity room for several days. Advaita Prakash

describes how she began crying because Nimai didn't drink her breast milk,

and then others like Advaita came in. Naturally if the baby does not drink

the breast milk of the mother, she'll not alone in the maternity room due to

social custom. All of this is very clear from the description of the book.

 

Actually, according to Advaita Prakash, Saci had already received mantra

from Advaita. The problem was as follows (chapter ten):

 

Sri Advaita Prabhu said, "Since You have come to this world, why are You not

taking milk?"

Gaura said, "O Pancanana, You are intoxicated with loving devotion and have

forgotten the regulations. You should give hari-nama before giving mantra,

so that one's aural reception is purified by the influence of the holy

names. If someone chants a mantra with impure senses, then his initiation is

certainly incomplete. You have given mantra-diksa to mother Saci before she

received the holy names, therefore I have not drunk her milk."

 

 

> There are also other dubious points in AP.

 

Would you like to present some?

 

Moreover, I am certain if someone starts to seriously look for historical

inconsistencies even among the books which are widely recognized and

accepted, he will find some.

 

Vaishnavadasanudas,

Atul Krishna das