vande tam srimad-advaitacaryam adbhuta-cestitam
yasya prasadad ajno api tat-svarupam nirupayet
(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 6.1)

“I pray to Sri Advaita Acarya, who performs especially wonderful  pastimes, that by His mercy I may be able to easily describe the difficult-to-understand philosophical truths regarding his glory.

What is the nature of his wonderful pastimes? Seeing Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Advaita Prabhu began complaining. “Where has this avadhuta come from? Today He has come to our home and thrown prasada in all directions! He has no knowledge of what caste He belongs to, and actually He has no caste at all. We are brahmanas, the best of society, and He has dropped prasada on the bodies of everyone here.” Then Nityananda Prabhu said, “O aparadhi! You are committing an offence to maha-prasada. You consider it to be mere food, and that it is merely being thrown around? You can’t see that it bestows good fortune, and that whoever’s body is touched by this prasada at once crosses over maya.” In this way, there was generally some quarrelling between Them. When they would go for bathing there would certainly be quarrelling.

At that time Nityananda Prabhu was very young. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was the youngest, next came Lord Nityananda, and the oldest among them was Sri Advaita Acarya, whose thoughts are sometimes very difficult to understand.

Sri Advaita Acarya sent a mysterious sonnet to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

baulake kahiha, - loka ha-ila baula
baulake kahiha –  hate na vikaya caula
baulake kahiha – kaye nahika aula
baulake kahiha – iha kahiyache baula

“One madman is sending a message to another madman. There is no longer necessity for rice in the marketplace, so it is time for the shop to be closed.” (Caitanya-caritamrta Antya-lila 19.20,21)

Practically no one could understand this sonnet. Upon reading it, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared a little indifferent. Only Sri Svarupa Damodara could understand a little of Sri Advaita Acarya’s mood; no one else could understand. The sonnet indicated that one madman, Sri Advaita Acarya who is maddened in krsna-prema, is sending a message to another madman, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the one who made the world mad with krsna-prema, the original madness. “There is no longer necessity for rice” means that prema has been given by Him to everyone, and now the task is completed. “Therefore the shop should be closed” means, “Your pastimes in the material world should now come to a close.” In this way, Sri Advaita Acarya's pastimes are mysterious and wonderful.

Although the gist of the Bhagavad-gita advocates bhakti, at the time of Sri Advaita Prabhu’s appearance no one was explaining it in that way. The message of the Gita is full of devotion – visate tad anantaram (Bhagavad-gita 18.55): “Ultimately he enters into Me.” Advaitavadis (impersonalists) interpret this to mean that Bhagavan and the jiva merge in Brahman and become one. They say that by chanting “aham brahmasmi” and practicing meditation, the apparent individuality of the souls is dissolved and they merge in the end. The advaitavadis also say that the material world is false and ultimately there is only the impersonal Brahman. Sri Advaita Acarya first of all gave the explanation of bhakti from these verses: satatam kirtayanto mam (Bhagavad-gita 9.14); ananyas cintayanto mam, ye janah paryupasate (9.22); and labhate bhakti param (18.54) – in the end, we will attain bhakti. By the medium of the precepts described in these verses, then visate tad anantaram – we enter into bhakti. It is not that we meet Bhagavan in Brahman, entering into undifferentiated light. Visate means that we enter into His dhama and attain His service, and some people were trying to change the meaning.

After some time, however, when Sriman Mahaprabhu was in His youth, Sri Advaita Acarya went to Santipura and also started explaining the meaning of visate tad anantaram as “aham brahmasmi: all souls will merge in Brahman.” Hearing of this, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to him and pulled His beard and beat Him, until Srimati Sita devi, Advaita Acarya’s wife, came and protected Him.

This is also wonderful because, having been beaten, Sri Advaita Acarya became very pleased and began dancing. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had previously been offering pranama and service to Him, and offering Him respect befitting one’s guru. This was because Sri Advaita Prabhu was a disciple of Sri Madhavendra Puri, Sriman Mahaprabhu’s grand-spiritual master. Mahaprabhu was thinking, “He is a disciple of My parama-guru, so it is My duty to offer obeisances and service to Him. He is worshipable for Me, and therefore I should serve and worship Him.”

It was for ridding Himself of this situation that Sri Advaita Acarya gave the nirvisesa-vada (voidist and impersonalist) explanation of the Gita. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became angry and started beating Him, Advaita Acarya said, “Today My life has become successful. I wanted You to accept service from Me, because You are senior to Me. Who can possibly be senior to You?” Mahaprabhu then became shy.

Another time, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said to His mother, Srimati Saci-devi, “You will not be able to develop love for Krsna, because you have disrespected a devotee. You have committed vaisnava-aparadha. You told Sri Advaita Prabhu, 'Your name Advaita (meaning non-dual) is not suitable; rather Your name should be called Dvaita (dual). You are not advaita; you are dvaita.' What you said was that Sri Advaita Acarya brings 'duality', separation in relationships – that He separates a mother from her son, a father from his son, a brother from his brother. Advaita Acarya explains the path of devotion, thereby breaking the chains which bind one to the material world. A mother has natural affection for her offspring, but if Advaita Prabhu is able to increase someone’s spontaneous attraction towards Lord Krsna, what could be greater than that? If someone is giving the instruction that the jiva has forgotten Bhagavan for millions of births, and then establishes sambandha (knowledge of our true relationship with Bhagavan) and sadhya (the final attainment), and gives instruction for bhajana which cuts the chains that bind us to the material world, what could be greater than that?”

Srimati Saci-devi replied, “He separated me from my beloved son Visvarupa. He gave such instruction to him that it separated me from Visvarupa, who left home and became a sannyasi.  Therefore Advaita Acarya is that person whom, having met once, one will not desire anything within this world. So His name should be “Dvaita”.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Since you spoke to a devotee in this way, you will not be able to attain love for Sri Krsna.” Saci-devi then went to beg forgiveness from Advaita Acarya, but instead He fell at her feet and said, “You are the mother of the entire world. It is not possible for you to commit any offence. But alright, if someone says that there has been some offence, then I say it is hereby forgiven.” Saci-devi returned to Mahaprabhu and everything was set right. Many wonderful pastimes like this were performed by Sri Advaita Prabhu.

Sri Advaita Acarya was also instrumental in bringing Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to this world. At the end of Dvarapa-yuga, upon completing His pastimes in this world and returning to Goloka Vrndavana, Sri Krsnacandra thought, “I have three desires which have not yet been fulfilled. Understanding the glories of Radhika’s love, discovering the sweetness that She finds within Me, and experiencing the happiness she experiences in tasting that sweetness. Without assuming the sentiment of Radhika Herself and the effulgence of Her form, it will not be possible to experience these three things. I have tasted sakhya-rasa, vatsalya-rasa, and madhurya-rasa, but as yet I have been unable to experience what Her happiness is upon seeing Me, and what is the nature of Her prema for Me.

At that time it was necessary for the yuga-dharma to be given. The age of Kali, which lasts for 432,000 years, had come. Ordinarily, at the end of each yuga an incarnation of Bhagavan comes, just as at the end of Treta-yuga Sri Ramacandra came and at the end of Dvarapa-yuga Sri Krsna came. Such a yuga-avatara comes when the disorder in the material world has reached its highest limit.

dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge

"In order to re-establish the principles of religion, I appear
millennium after millennium” (Bhagavad-gita 4.8)

So Sri Bhagavan thought, “Just see how much sinful activity is increasing and how the chaos is escalating due to the demons. When should I descend?”

There are actually four reasons for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s descent. Two are primary and two are secondary. The most primary reason was Krsna's desire to taste the prema of Radhika, and the second reason was:

anarpita-carim cirat karunayavatirnah kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasam sva-bhakti-sriyam

“By His causeless mercy He appears in the age of Kali to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: unnata ujjvala-rasa – the most sublime conjugal mellow of His own service.” (Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 1.4)

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to give a specific wealth of prema to the jivas, which had never been bestowed by any previous incarnations: unnata ujjvala-rasa – the parakiya-bhava of the gopis. There are two kinds of unnata ujjvala parakiya-rasa. One kind, the sentiment of Radhika, is not giveable. But the other, the sentiment of the nitya-sakhis and the prana-sakhis who serve Radha, and who, following Her, also serve Krsna -- that unnata ujjvala-rasa can be given. Therefore, to bestow the highest prema upon all jivas and to taste the prema of Radhika, Sri Krsna descends as Sriman Mahaprabhu.

His third reason was to preach the yuga-dharma, nama-sankirtana; and the fourth reason was the call of Sri Advaita Acarya. So Krsna was thinking, “When should I go? To establish the yuga-dharma, descending at the end of the yuga is alright, but if instead I preach nama-sankirtana at the beginning of the yuga, the degrading influence of the yuga will have a lesser effect on the jivas. When should I give the sentiment of the gopis, and when should I taste the love of Radhika there?”

Meanwhile, Sri Advaita Acarya saw that bhakti was gradually disappearing from the world, and He thought, “Now is the appropriate time for Sri Krsna’s incarnation. If He doesn’t come now, what will happen later?”

He was thinking this in the form of Karanodasayi Visnu. He was pondering in that place where sattva, rajas, and tamasa (the material modes of goodness, passion and ignorance) are all in the same position.

There are two spiritual causes of the world: one is upadana, the ingredient cause, and the other is nimitta, the efficient cause. Lord Maha-Visnu Himself is the nimitta cause, and His part, Sri Advaita Acarya, is the upadana cause.

Suppose I were to point to someone and say, "This man is a hooligan, a thief and a liar. Grab him and throw him outside, and he should never be allowed in here again.” You may not know him, but by my saying this you throw him out. So who is the cause of his being thrown out? By my order you grabbed this man and ejected him, so you are the upadana cause and I am the nimitta cause. But who is the real cause of the man being ejected? By his own misbehavior, the man himself is the cause; and this is exactly the situation regarding the creation of the material world.

"Lord Visnu Himself is the efficient [nimitta] cause of the material world, and Narayana in the form of Sri Advaita is the material cause [upadana]." (Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 6.16)

Karanodasayi Visnu assumes two forms to create the material world: as the efficient cause and the ingredient cause.

advaita-acarya gosani saksat isvara
yanhara mahima nahe jivera gocara

“Sri Advaita Acarya is directly the Isvara Himself. His glories cannot be comprehended by ordinary living beings.” (Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 6.6)

>From the mahat-tattva, false ego arises. From false ego comes form, smell, touch, taste, and sound. Next come the ten senses, and next are the five material elements. That makes twenty-two material elements, and with the intelligence and mind there are twenty-four. Then, adding prakrti, purusa, atma, and Paramatma, there are twenty-eight aspects of tattva altogether.

Leaving aside Bhagavan and jivatma, the Supreme Lord and the living entity, only the remainder is accepted by the sankhya and nyaya schools of thought.

ye purusa srsti-sthiti karena mayaya
ananta brahmanda srsti karena lilaya
icchaya ananta murti karena prakasa
eka eka murte karena brahmande pravesa

se purusera amsa – advaita, nahi kichu bheda
sarlura-visesa tanra – nahika viccheda
sahaya karena tanra la-iya ‘pradhana’
koti brahmanda karena icchaya nirmana

“Maha-Visnu performs the function of creation of all the material universes and Advaita Acarya is directly His incarnation. Creating and maintaining these countless  universes by His external energy is His pastime, and by His own will He expands into countless forms and enters into each and every universe. Advaita Acarya is a non-different part and parcel of Maha-Visnu, or in other words, another form of Him.” (Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 6.8-11)

Some say that nature enacts the process of creation by itself, and they give this example: “A cow eats grass, and automatically milk is produced. What is the necessity of anyone else in this process? In this way nature does everything by itself.” To refute this, an innocent, less-educated Vaisnava said, “The cow eats grass and then gives milk, so why then doesn’t the bull eat grass and also give milk? Does he need to eat more grass?”

The pandita of the sankhya school had to think for a moment. Then he said, concerning matter, the material upadana cause, *[See Endnotes] “To make a house, only the elements such as bricks and cement are necessary.” Then the Vaisnava said, “So if by bricks or cement a house will be made, then here we will place one thousand kilos of cement, ten-thousand bricks, an entire lake of water, and wood and marble also. Will that make a house? By the material upadana *[See Endnotes] alone creation will not happen, because it needs the nimitta cause. There may be a pen and paper, but by themselves will they write? Therefore, by the material nature alone creation will not take place as long as the desire of Sri Bhagavan is not there.”

No action can take place by itself in the material world, so therefore this prakrtivada philosophy (thinking that matter is all-in-all) is erroneous. Prakrti is inert matter and Purusa is conscious, and when both come together there is creation. In prakrti there is no action, no innate desire – it is inert matter. But when it is activated by the Purusa, automatically the task is accomplished. The communists say, “What is the need of God in this? Nature does creation by itself”. But there is no one in the world who can create by himself.

A lame man and a blind man were going somewhere together and the lame man said, “Take me on your shoulders. Seeing with my eyes, I will tell you to go right, left, or straight on the path, and we will go there with your legs. Otherwise, you will not be able to go there, and neither will I.” Working together, they reached their desired destination. In this example the lame man is conscious, and the blind man is also conscious, and both being conscious, the work was done. But in creation only Sri Bhagavan is conscious, and nature is not. Without at least one conscious being no work in the world can be done.

These issues may seem to us to be a little dry, but actually they are very important and tasteful points related to bhakti, and Vaisnavas should make an effort to understand them.

In all this tattva, elaboration of established truths, the root cause of the material world is Lord Krsna, Originally, He injects His desire. He becomes two kinds of Sankarsana: the root Sankarsana (in Dvaraka) and Maha-Sankarsana (in Vaikuntha). From Maha-Sankarsana He becomes Karanodasayi Visnu, subsequently He becomes Sri Advaita Acarya (as the spiritual upadana cause) and in this way He manifests the material nature (the material upadana cause) *[See Endnotes]. Some people say that the (material) upadana cause is separate from Bhagavan, that the upadana cause of the material world is not Bhagavan. They say that He may be the nimitta cause, but He cannot be the upadana cause. But besides Sri Krsna there is nothing, so from where has the material world come? From where has the mahat-tattva come? It has also come from the desire of Krsna. There is nothing in all of existence that is separate from Him. Karanodasayi Visnu manifests the creation, and the mahat-tattva, nature herself, is thus non-different from Him. To correct the souls that have forgotten Him, prakrti is manifest by His desire and gives the jiva an external form.

The jiva may consider his placement in that condition of life to be an opportunity for great happiness, but actually it is a punishment. When a crazy man dances about naked, people beat him, and without eating or drinking he wanders about, saying, “I am the King” or “I am the Prime Minister” – and he thinks himself to be happy. Our condition is exactly like that. We may consider ourselves happy, but in reality we are not in a happy condition at all.

Thus Sri Advaita Acarya was thinking, “The world has become atheistic. One after another, people are forgetting Bhagavan, and for Me to rectify them alone is not possible. To bring devotion to the non-devotees will be very, very difficult work. Without the potency of Lord Krsna Himself it simply cannot be done.”

Besides devotees, there were so many people in the world who were preaching, but they were all preaching maya. They were preaching twisted philosophies, and seeing this Sri Advaita Acarya thought, “They have no relation with Bhagavan and they do not preach bhakti. Even when they do preach from the Bhagavatam and the Gita they express only the desires of their minds. They are indifferent to sanatana-dharma (Krsna consciousness, the eternal religion of the soul) and pure devotion, and all of them – especially the mayavadis – will only hear what they want to hear. Defeating Ravana was not a very difficult task, and killing Kamsa was also not difficult. These actions could have been done by a Visnu incarnation, but changing the thinking of these mayavadis is very difficult. Only if Krsna Himself comes into this world will it be possible.”

Since Sri Advaita Prabhu was at least sixty years old when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared, He was one of the oldest of all of His associates. Sri Nityananda Prabhu was only a few years older than Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s plan was that He would first arrange for His devotees to appear in this world, and then He Himself would descend. Sri Advaita Acarya appeared first, and seeing the condition of the world, He thought, “How will I call Krsna? There are so many types of worship of Krsna, but amongst all of these the glories of Tulasi worship are the greatest. Sri Krsna will be so pleased with anyone who offers Him a Tulasi leaf and Ganges water that He will become overpowered by him.” Thus He took a Tulasi bud - two soft leaves with a manjari in the middle - and with great prema and tears flowing from His eyes he worshipped Lord Krsna beside the Ganges.

Krsna had originally been thinking, “When will I descend? Maybe in ten or twenty thousand years, or maybe even after one hundred thousand years.” But upon hearing Advaita Acarya's prayer, He came at once. Therefore, Sri Advaita Acarya is another important reason for the descent of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

At birth, Sri Advaita Acarya was given the name Kamalaksa because His eyes were as beautiful as lotus petals. He appeared in Sri Hatya in East Bengal. Staying sometimes in Navadvipa and sometimes in Santipura, He began preaching bhakti. He was there in Navadvipa when Sriman Mahaprabhu took birth. Sri Visvarupa, Lord Caitanya’s older brother, attended Advaita Prabhu’s school. One day Mother Saci told Nimai (Mahaprabhu's name as long as He resided in Navadvipa, before His going to Puri) to go and call His brother. When He arrived at the school, Nimai glanced in the direction of Sri Advaita Acarya and said, “What do You see? You called Me here, and You don’t recognize Me? When the proper time comes, You will certainly recognize Me.”

There are unlimited incarnations of Lord Krsna, and they are all non-different from Him although their activities and pastimes are different. Therefore, because Sri Advaita Acarya is non-different from Hari, He is ‘advaita’, and because He manifested bhakti in all directions He is known as ‘acarya’.  How did He preach bhakti? If anyone was born in a sudra family, a Muslim family, or any family, and performed bhagavad-bhajana, Sri Advaita Prabhu considered him better than a brahmana who didn’t engage in bhajana. If there is someone who has taken birth in a high brahmana family, is a big scholar, of good conduct, speaks the truth and never lies, but doesn’t engage in bhagavad-bhajana, he is inferior to one who has taken birth in a sudra family or in a family of cremation ground workers if that person just cries out “Krsna! Krsna!” and does no other spiritual activity whatsoever. That sudra is superior to a caturvedi-brahmana. Sri Advaita Acarya proved this point and preached it.

Srila Haridasa Thakura was born in a Muslim family. At the sraddha ceremony for Sri Advaita Acarya’s father, which he performed when the moon was in the appropriate place in the month of Asvina, the highest seat and the first plate of prasada was to be offered to the most elevated person. All the high-class brahmanas were there – Bhattacarya, Trivedi, Caturvedi, Upadhyaya – and all of them were big scholars. After washing their feet, Advaita Acarya showed them to their respective seats. In front was an elevated seat, and Advaita Prabhu was standing and thinking, “Who will I seat here?” All of the scholars were thinking, “I know so many scriptures; certainly I will be offered that seat.” Silently they were all aspiring for it.

Advaita Acarya then went outside the house and saw Srila Haridasa Thakura, wearing a langoti (loincloth), and sitting at the door. Srila Haridasa Thakura was thinking, “The brahmanas will take their meal here, so Sri Advaita Acarya will certainly give me a little of their prasada.” He had so much humility that he was thinking that if he were to go inside the house would be contaminated. Advaita Acarya at once embraced him, and Haridasa Thakura said, “Oh, You are a brahmana and I am a Muslim! Having touched me you must now go and bathe.” Then, taking hold of him and bringing him inside, Sri Advaita Acarya sat him on the elevated seat. There was a great outcry in all directions. The brahmanas said, “By bringing a Muslim in here, you have contaminated this place and insulted us! We will not eat here!” You are opposed to the principles of dharma!”

Sri Advaita Acarya said, “Today My birth has become successful, and today my father has attained Vaikuntha. By giving respect to one Vaisnava today, millions of my ancestors have crossed over maya. If Srila Haridasa Thakura will eat here, that will be greater than feeding millions of brahmanas.”

Srila Haridasa Thakura began crying, thinking, “Because of me, all these brahmanas feel insulted and are not eating.” But Sri Advaita Acarya said, “Haridasa, today you will certainly take prasada here. That will be my great good fortune.” Then He said to the brahmanas, “He will stay, and none of you will get prasada. Actually, you should all leave here quickly, because just seeing your faces is a great sin. Srila Haridasa Thakura has high regard for maha-prasada, and therefore he is included within the Vaisnava class. Anyone who doesn’t accept this is an atheist, and one who judges a Vaisnava by his birth is an atheist. You can all go away from here, and then your offences will leave with you. You are offending Haridasa, and offending me as well.”

All the scholars left the house, but once outside they began speaking amongst themselves: “Advaita Acarya is no ordinary personality. He is a great scholar, He knows all of the scriptures, and He is an exalted preacher of bhakti.” They continued deliberating, and after fully reconsidering, they returned, fell at Sri Advaita Prabhu's feet and begged forgiveness.

Sri Advaita Acarya had many sons, and one was named Acyutananda. Because some of His other sons refused to engage in bhajana, He did not consider them His sons at all and He renounced them. Only those sons who performed bhajana of Sri Bhagavan did He make His successors. Because of one incident in Jagannatha Puri, Acyutananda was especially made His successor. During one of the Ratha-yatra festivals, when Acyutananda was just a small boy, some Vaisnavas came and asked Advaita Acarya, “What is the name of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s guru?” He replied, “Kesava Bharati.”

At that time Acyutananda was sitting in his father’s lap, and upon hearing this he began trembling with anger. He was just a small boy; nevertheless he got up from his father’s lap and started to walk away, saying, “You cannot be my father if you have such an idea. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the guru of the entire world! Who can possibly be His guru?” Tears came to the eyes of Sri Advaita Acarya and He said, “You will be known as my real son. What you have said is correct: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the guru of the entire world, but for His pastimes in human form He must set the example for others. Otherwise what would happen? How would the people of this world know that it is necessary to accept a guru?”

In this way Sri Advaita Acarya performed many wonderful and instructive pastimes, and he was an assistant to all of the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Therefore, today we will offer a special prayer to his lotus feet – that He may be merciful upon us so that we can make steady progress in bhakti and ultimately attain the direct service of Sri Gauracandra.

Gaura Premanande hari hari bol

*Endnotes: "Just as the external energy consists of two parts, the efficient cause [nimitta] and the material cause [upadana], maya being the efficient cause and pradhana the material cause, so Lord Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, assumes two forms to create the material world with the efficient and material causes." (Cc Adi-lila 6.14-15)

"Maya has two functions. One is called maya, and the other is called pradhana. Maya refers to the efficient cause, and pradhana refers to the ingredients that create the cosmic manifestation." (Cc Adi-lila 20.271)

"Maya has two varieties of existence. One is called pradhana or prakrti. It supplies the ingredients of the material world."

PURPORT Maya, the external energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is divided into two parts. Maya is both the cause of the cosmic manifestation and the agent who supplies its ingredients. As the cause of the cosmic manifestation she is known as maya, and as the agent supplying the ingredients of the cosmic manifestation she is known as pradhana. An explicit description of these divisions of the external energy is given in Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.24.1–4). Elsewhere in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.63.26) the ingredients and cause of the material cosmic manifestation are described as follows:

kalo daivam karma jivah svabhavo
dravyam ksetram prana atma vikarah
tat-sanghato bija-roha-pravahas
tvan-mayaisa tan-nisedham prapadye

“O my Lord! Time, activity, providence and nature are four parts of the causal aspect [maya] of the external energy. The conditioned vital force, the subtle material ingredients called the dravya, and material nature (which is the field of activity where the false ego acts as the soul), as well as the eleven senses and five elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether), which are the sixteen ingredients of the body—these are the ingredient aspect of maya. The body is generated from activity, and activity is generated from the body, just as a tree is generated from a seed that is generated from a tree. This reciprocal cause and effect is called maya. My dear Lord, You can save me from this cycle of cause and effect. I worship Your lotus feet.”

Although the living entity is primarily related to the causal portion of maya, he is nevertheless conducted by the ingredients of maya. Three forces work in the causal portion of maya: knowledge, desire and activity. The material ingredients are a manifestation of maya as pradhana. In other words, when the three qualities of maya are in a dormant stage, they exist as prakrti, avyakta or pradhana. The word avyakta, referring to the non-manifested, is another name of pradhana. In the avyakta stage, material nature is without varieties. Varieties are manifested by the pradhana portion of maya. The word pradhana is therefore more important than avyakta or prakrti. (Cc Adi-lila 5.59

"Because prakrti is dull and inert, it cannot actually be the cause of the material world. But Lord Krsna shows His mercy by infusing His energy into the dull, inert material nature. Thus prakrti, by the energy of Lord Krsna, becomes the secondary cause, just as iron becomes red-hot by the energy of fire." (Cc Adi-lila 5.60-61)

"Lord Visnu Himself is the efficient [nimitta] cause of the material world, and Narayana in the form of Sri Advaita is the material cause [upadana]." (Adi 6.16)

"Lord Visnu, in His efficient aspect, glances over the material energy, and Sri Advaita, as the material cause, creates the material world." (Adi 6.17)

"After this, Jagannatha Misra got a son of the name Visvarupa, who was most powerful and highly qualified because He was an incarnation of Baladeva.

PURPORT Visvarupa was the elder brother of Gaurahari, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When arrangements were being made for the marriage of Visvarupa, He took sannyasa and left home. He took the sannyasa name of Sankararanya. In 1431 Sakabda Era (A.D. 1509), He disappeared in Pandarapura, in the district of Sholapur. As an incarnation of Sankarsana, He is both the ingredient and immediate cause of the creation of this material world. He is non-different from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, for the amsa and the amsi, or the part and the whole, are not different. As an incarnation of Sankarsana, Visvarupa belongs to the quadruple manifestation of catur-vyuha. In the Gaura-candrodaya it is said that Visvarupa, after His so-called demise, remained mixed within Sri Nityananda Prabhu." (Adi 13.74)

"The expansion of Baladeva known as Sankarsana in the spiritual world is the ingredient and immediate cause of this material cosmic manifestation." (Adi 13.75)

Translator of the Hindi lecture: Prema Vilasa dasa
Editor: Prema Vilasa dasa
Ass't editor: Syamarani dasi
Proof-reader: Vasanti dasi