Sastra Caksusa

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Advaita Acarya has no beard






PAMHO
AGTSP
Actually in Gaudiya math ,Advaita Acarya is presented as in the age of yauvana, and as He is God(Maha Visnu) He never grows old, this is a misconception we need to rectifie in ISKCON
ys
Paramananda das


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  • Payonidhi Das Das Advaita Das Srila Prabhupada stated Advaita Acarya had a beard and all Deities and pictures in ISKCON are accordingly, but where is this stated?
    18 minutes ago · 
    •  
      • Payonidhi Das Das http://nimaipandit.ning.co m/profiles/blogs/does-adva ita-acarya-have-a
        18 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das Bhaktisiddhanta in his Caitanya Bhagavat purport says that Advaita with a beard is practise of sahajiyas
        17 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das in the shastra there is no description of Advaita Prabhu with any beard
        16 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das One time the word dAdi is mentioned, which can mean beard but also chin, that is all
        16 minutes ago · 
      • Payonidhi Das Das where has this been mentioned?
        15 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das Bhaktisiddhanta in his Caitanya Bhagavat purport says that Advaita with a beard is practise of sahajiyas
        15 minutes ago · 
      • Payonidhi Das Das And what purport in the Caitanya Bhagavat is it where Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada said sahajiyas had beard ,do you recall
        14 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das No sorry
        14 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das But it is a very famous purport of BSS
        14 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das I believe also in Gaudiya Math they have no deities of Advaita Prabhu w/beard
        13 minutes ago · 
      • Payonidhi Das Das I was refering to the word dadi ,what does that mean
        13 minutes ago · 
      • Payonidhi Das Das no you are right, so why we should have in ISKCON
        13 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das dADi usually means beard but it can also mean chin
        13 minutes ago · 
      • Payonidhi Das Das that is most helpful thank you I will have to look carefully for the Caitanya Bhagavad with Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupadas purport
        12 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das Advaita Prabhu is God, Mahäviñëu and Sadäçiva combined. No scripture has
        described God as an old man. Old age is a sign of decay, and in God there can be no decay. In
        relation to the Lord’s appearance the scriptures only describe the first three stages of life –
        kumära (0-5 years of age), paugaëòa (5-10 years of age) and kiçora (10-15 years of age), not
        yauvana (adulthood), prauòha (middle age) and våddha (old age).
        11 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das This is from my essay 'In defense of Advaita Vamsa'
        10 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das It is described in Çrémad
        Bhägavata (10.55.26-29) that in Dvärakä Kåñëa still appeared so young that His wives
        mistook His son Pradyumna for Him. nava yauvanaà ca (Brahma Saàhitä).”
        10 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das “But in Caitanya Bhägavata it is written:
        tarje garje äcärya däòite diyä häta;
        bhrü-kuöi koriyä näce çäntipura nätha
        “Advaita Äcärya was overwhelmed with a surge of ecstasy and He began to dance,
        running His fingers through His flowing beard and raising His voice as loud as thunder. His
        eyebrows were drawn together in a frown.” (Caitanya Bhägavata Madhya 16.99)
        10 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das Advaita Däs: “The Bengali dictionary says that the word däòi means both ‘ beard’ and ‘chin’.
        So this verse says that Advaita Prabhu held His chin during the dance. The commentators on
        Caitanya Bhägavata confirm this. Other than this verse no text ever suggests that Advaita
        Prabhu had a beard.”
        9 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das 
        Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura clearly said that Adwaita Acarya Prabhu never had a beard and used to keep clean shaven. But the bauls (one of the thirteen apasampradayas) wanted to make him a baul and put a beard on his face. On the Deities at the Yoga-Pitha or Srivas Angan as well as any other Gaudiya Math temple you will never find a beard on Adwaita Acarya's face. But at the Mayapura ISKCON temple as well as other temples (in San Diego and Hawaii) we can see Adwaita Acarya with a beard. Are you following the bauls?

        8 minutes ago · 
      • Advaita Das This is from India Dvine website
        7 minutes ago · 
      • Payonidhi Das Das thank you
        about a minute ago · 
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Comment by Paramananda das on May 18, 2011 at 8:43am
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150183135406931&...
Comment by Paramananda das on May 18, 2011 at 8:44am
http://nitaaiveda.com/NITAAI_Yoga_Forums/Ask_Spiritual_Question(s)/Beard_of_Lord_Advaita_Acharya.htm
Comment by Paramananda das on May 21, 2011 at 4:39am

PAMHO

AGTSP

 In the christian concept God is an old man with a white beard, however Lord Brahma has stated in Brahma Samhita:


 

advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam

ādyaḿ purāṇa-puruṣaḿ nava-yauvanaḿ ca

vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau

govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi

SYNONYMS

advaitam — without a second; acyutam — without decay; anādim — without a beginning; ananta-rūpam — whose form is endless, or who possesses unlimited forms; ādyam — the beginning; purāṇa-puruṣam — the most ancient person; nava-yauvanam — a blooming youth; ca — also; vedeṣu — through the Vedas; durlabham — inaccessible; adurlabham — not difficult to obtain; ātma-bhaktau — through pure devotion of the soul; govindam — Govinda; ādi-puruṣam — the original person; tam — Him; aham — I; bhajāmi — worship.

TRANSLATION

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.

 

Though He is Purana Purusam, the  most ancient person he still remains Nava yauvanam a blooming youth.

So God is never subject to birth old age and death.Now how could Advaita Acarya then be an old man with a white beard?

He is indeed Mahavisnu Himself.But some may say wait this is just "lila" and Srila Prabhupada has stated:

And the ISKCON sastra advisory board has stated:

 

Pro-Beard Evidence (mainly from Çréla Prabhupäda’s letters, lectures and conversations):

1) "The Païca-tattva can all be golden. The Deity of Lord Caitanya is very nicely done so there is no need to change the color. Yes, Çréväsa Paëòita has çikhä. Vaiñëava must have çikhä. Advaita Prabhu has a full white beard. He was an old man. He was practically older than the father of Lord Caitanya. He was an elder gentleman in the town of Navadvépa, elder of the brähmaëa community." (Letter to Govinda Däsé / 20 November 1971)

2) "According to Caitanya Mahäprabhu's sampradäya, they keep themselves clean-shaven. And only single instance is there, Advaita Prabhu. He had his beard. And Caitanya Mahäprabhu never asked Him to cleanse. Because one reason is that Advaita Prabhu was just contemporary to His father, so He did not like to dictate. But otherwise, all His disciples, they were clean-shaved. (Lecture / Cc Madhya 20.66-96 / 21 November1966)

3) "You see this picture, five learned brähmaëas. In the center there is one picture who is Lord Caitanya. He started this movement when He was only seventeen years old, a boy. A boy only—a schoolboy. He was student, but He introduced this movement five hundred years ago, and some of the elderly men, as you see, one elderly man with beard, He also helped Him, and the others...Actually this movement was originally started by young boys. Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, Nityänanda Prabhu, and Advaita Prabhu, They started. (Brandeis University Lecture / April 29, 1969)

4) "As far as wearing beards one class of men like Advaita Prabhu never wore clean shaven appearance but always had a beard." (Letter to Muralédhara [BBT artist] / 7 March 1974 LA)

5) "You can also arrange for costumes and wig; one boy may be dressed as Lord Caitanya, another as Nityänanda, as well as Gadädhara, Advaita with white beard and Çréväsa with shaven head." (Letter to Haàsadüta / 3 March, 1968 LA)

6) "Yes, the Païca-tattva picture is standard, no need of changing." (Letter to Jaduräëé / 8 April 1968)

7) "Thank you for the nice photos. I saw one photo there of Bharadväja's doll studio along with the others. You can tell him that we want many Païca-tattva Deities made out of cement or plaster paris. They can be made the same size as the L.A. Gaura-Nitäi Deities." (Letter to Kälacanda / 31 May 1975 Honolulu)

[NOTE: Here Çréla Prabhupäda does not say he wanted the Deities to be different than the instructions he had given for Deities and paintings of Advaita Prabhu. This may be taken as evidence that the instruction to Govinda Däsé did not refer to only one set of Deities.]

8) "As you have suggested I am instructing Bharadväja to immediately make a new set of Païca-tattva Deities for our Hawaii temple." (Letter to Gurukåpa / 6 April 1977 Bombay)

[NOTE: In 1977 new Païca-tattva Deities were made for the Hawaii temple, according to the same standard as the first set, with Advaita Prabhu having a beard.]

10) "I have enclosed herewith some photos from the deity installation of Païca-tattva in Honolulu. I remember that you have good ability to do propaganda work, so I am entrusting that you will try for printing these photos in the big newspapers in Bombay. You can write that they are taken at the deity

installation in our Honolulu ISKCON center on May 7, 1972." (Letter to Cyavana / 23 May, 1972 LA)

 

However Dhyanachandra Goswami has described Advaita Acarya in this way:

" I meditate on the root of transcendental joy,Sri Advaita Prabhu,whose lotusfeet are always served by the bhaktas.He wears cloth as white
as the moon or a kunda flower( a jasmine flower).He has  a pure golden complexion ,beautiful arms and a smiling face.His eyes always lovingly gaze
upond the lotusface of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He readily grants benedictions and fearlessness to the devotees and His   lustrous body is ornamented
by prema"


Here is an interesting conversation I found:

 

Hare Krishna Maharaja,
please accept my humble obeisances. Jaya Srila Prabhupada.
Thank you for answering my question. Now I have another, slightly more practical question. I noticed that in the picture which is on Matus' altar in the background Lord Advaita Acarya does not have a beard which is different from what was originally painted. What is the motivation behind it?
Your servant,
Bh. Sabina

Answer by Swami Gaurangapada:

Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna! Lord Shri Shrimad Advaita Acharya who is the direct incarnation of Lord Maha Vishnu and Lord Sadashiva does not have any white or black beard according to Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada in his Gaudiya Bhashya commentary which I will post in this thread when I reach back to Puri Dhaam. Lord Gauranga had Himself refuted the story of Lord Krishna and Lord Balarama coming from the black and white hair of Lord Maha Vishnu stating that Lord Maha Vishnu cannot have any white hair as His body is transcendental and does not undergo any decay of old age.

So Lord Advaita Acharya being Lord Maha Vishnu Himself cannot possibly have any white hair nor does He become old. Lord Krishna never had any beard on the Kurukshetra battlefield even though He was more present for more than 100 years on this planet at that time. He always looked and looks like a sixteen year old youth. The same is true for Lord Maha Vishnu and Lord Advaita Acharya who are non-different (advaita) from Lord Gauranga Krishna. That is why in the original Deities of Shrimad Advaita Acharya in Shri Shantipura Dhaam, His original abode, and also in Ekachakra Dhaam and all the Pancha Tattva Deities established by Shri Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada in Shrivasa Angan, Yogapith etc., Lord Advaita Acharya does not have a beard or white hair, in fact He is a fresh and eternal youth.

Shri Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada explains in his commentary that the word "daadhi" in Shri Chaitanya Bhagavata does not mean a beard of white hair but simply the chin with some very small hair growing. He states that Lord Advaita is complete mundana mastaka i.e. completely shaved head with face. He states that some bauls from the sahajiya sampradaya wanted to sport a beard in the name of Lord Advaita so they changed the photo of Lord Advaita and put a white beard on Him. So putting a beard and white hair of the lotus face and head of Lord Advaita Acharya's Deity is not accepted by our parama Guru Shri Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada and constitutes an offense against Vishnu Tattva.

Lord Gauranga always addressed Lord Advaita in Shri Chaitanya Bhagavata as "nada" which means clean shaven. Also in the Gaura Govinda Smarana Archana Paddhati of Shrila Dhyanachandra Goswami, Lord Advaita is not described with a beard during the process of meditating on His transcendental form.

Of course sometimes during the course of dramatic pastimes Lord Advaita Acharya did don an artifical beard like in the drama in the home of Shrila Chandrashekhara Acharya at Shri Chaitanya Math where He acted as Shiva. Even Shrila Shrivasa Pandita wore a beard when he acted like Shrila Narada Muni. So Shrila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada sometimes allowed photos of Lord Advaita Acharya with a beard. But it is to be understood that being an illustrious disciple of his own Gurudeva, Shrila Prabhupada would never contradict his own Gurudeva Shri Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada who clearly stated that the white beard of Lord Advaita has been introduced by the sahajiya sampradaya. Thus it is to be concluded that the allowance of the beard of Lord Advaita by Shrila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was only for very specific situations.

 

See also http://nimaipandit.ning.com/profiles/blogs/advaita-acarya-has-no-be...

 

and http://nimaipandit.ning.com/profiles/blogs/does-advaita-acarya-have-a

 

Actually everywhere we read about Advaita Acarya it is stated he was clean shaven.(such as in Advaita Prakash)

Advaita Acarya is not under the influence of old age and is eternally a "youthful person" Navayuvanam.So how does Advaita Acarya really look:

http://vrindavanart.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=artic...

 

Advaita Prabhu is God, Mahäviñëu and Sadäçiva combined. No scripture has
described God as an old man. Old age is a sign of decay, and in God there can be no decay. In
relation to the Lord’s appearance the scriptures only describe the first three stages of life –
kumära (0-5 years of age), paugaëòa (5-10 years of age) and kiçora (10-15 years of age), not
yauvana (adulthood), prauòha (middle age) and våddha (old age).

 

 in Caitanya Bhägavata it is written:
tarje garje äcärya däòite diyä häta;
bhrü-kuöi koriyä näce çäntipura nätha
“Advaita Äcärya was overwhelmed with a surge of ecstasy and He began to dance,
running His fingers through His flowing beard and raising His voice as loud as thunder. His
eyebrows were drawn together in a frown.” (Caitanya Bhägavata Madhya 16.99)

 

 “The Bengali dictionary says that the word dädi means both ‘ beard’ and ‘chin’.
So this verse says that Advaita Prabhu held His chin during the dance. The commentators on
Caitanya Bhägavata confirm this. Other than this verse no text ever suggests that Advaita
Prabhu had a beard.”

 

 tarje garje acarya dadite diya hata - acarya roared holding his dadi [beard or chin]
 
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada in his Caitanya Bhagavat purport says that Advaita with a beard is practise of sahajiyas
 
So how should we envision Advaita Acarya?
 
your servant
Payonidhi das

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