Sastra Caksusa

seeing through the eyes of scriptures

Advaita Prahask chapter 2 and how it is related to ISKCON Sylhet!

Please have a look on chapter 2 of Advaita Prakash and my notes to this chapter , you will see there is a lot to this book that is important :

this is again the english translation of our dear Subhag Maharaja : I only read this book after he translated and introduced it into ISKCON .

Chapter Two
All glories to Shri Chaitanya! All glories to Sitanatha! All glories to Nityananda, along with all the devotees!
Shri Lauda-dhama is the Causal Ocean wherein Shri Advaita Prabhu performed His childhood pastimes. Listen now to a wonderful story. One day Labhadevi fell asleep with her son on her lap. At the end of the night she had a dream. She perceived that the son on her lap was the source of Lord Shiva. That white colored form of Maha-Vishnu had four hands, decorated with the conchshell, club, disc, and lotus. He was beyond the vision of the demigods. The luster of His body resembled that of the autumn moon, which removes the threefold miseries and gives peace.
Seeing the transcendental form of the Lord, the chaste Labhadevi offered her full obeisances. She folded her hands and offered various prayers with love and devotion. The Lord then inquired, “Why are you praying to Me?”
Labhadevi said, “Please give me the water that has washed Your lotus feet.”
The Lord said, “How can I do that? One's mother and father are as respectable as the Guru.”
Labhadevi said, “You are Sadashiva, the spiritual master of the entire creation. You remain everywhere in innumerable living entities. You are the origin of all creations, so who can be Your mother? You are Maha-Vishnu, the father of all living entities. Your holy reddish feet are the seat of millions of places of pilgrimage. Simply by drinking the water that has washed Your lotus feet, the living entity attains liberation. Therefore, O Lord, please give me the water that has washed Your feet.”
Advaita Prabhu said, “Do not ask for this again. If you like, I will call all the holy places of pilgrimage here. Then you may bathe, drink, and execute religious duties.”
When Labhadevi awoke after that wonderful dream, she remembered Lord Narayana and sat down. She exclaimed, “What a wonderful dream I had! According to astrology, whatever one dreams at the end of night comes true.”
Advaita woke up and asked, “Mother, what are you saying?”
Labha said, “I had a dream.”
Advaita inquired, “Please tell Me what you have seen.”
Labhadevi said, “There is no need for You to hear about it.”
Advaita said, “Please tell Me about the dream, otherwise I will stop chanting and dancing.”
Labhadevi said, “Listen, darling, You are just a child and will not understand. And if I tell You, what benefit will You get?”
She then narrated the whole amazing dream, from beginning to end, and shed tears in ecstasy. Advaita Prabhu then promised her, “I will bring all the places of pilgrimage and establish them here.”
On hearing this, Labha Thakurani's hairs stood on end and she said, “If you do that, then I will consider the dream was true.”
Advaita said, “Tonight all the places of pilgrimage will come, and tomorrow you can take bath and become successful in all respects.”
Labhadevi said, “Who will believe this?”
Advaita Prabhu said, “My words will certainly come true.”
That night in meditation Advaita Prabhu called all the personified holy places by His mystic power. As the Lord remembered them, each holy place came there just like iron is attracted by the force of a magnet. All the sacred tirthas like the beautiful Ganges and Yamuna came and worshiped the Lord. As Advaita cordially received them, the Yamuna offered obeisances at His feet.
The personified tirthas asked, “O Lord, why did You call us here?”
Advaita told them, “I want you to stay on the top of that mountain.”
The personified tirthas then said, “If we stay there, the glories of many holy places will be ruined.”
Advaita Prabhu said, “My words should not prove false. You must come here for one day every year.”
The personified tirthas then asked, “O Lord, please decide which day we should come on top of this mountain.”
Advaita Prabhu said, “You should promise to appear on the auspicious thirteenth day of the waning moon in the month of Madhu [March-April].”
The personified tirthas replied, “We certainly promise to come. We cannot disobey Your order.”
From that time the place became known as Pana-tirtha, the holy place where the personified tirthas made a promise to the Lord. If someone drinks or bathes in that water his desires are fulfilled.
Advaita Prabhu ordered the tirthas to remain on top of the mountain as waterfalls. The tirthas accepted the Lord's order and performed pastimes on top of the mountain.
In the morning Advaitacandra informed His mother that all the holy places have appeared on the top of the mountain. When mother Labhadevi inquired as to how she could believe this, Advaita replied, “You will soon see something wonderful.”
Advaita Prabhu took His mother and went near the mountain. He then blew a conchshell, played a gong, and loudly chanted the name of Hari. All of a sudden streams of water began falling from the top of the mountain.
“Dear mother, see how your body is bathed by the nectarean blackish water of the Yamuna. See the other side, where the pious nectarean water of the Ganges, which derides the transparency of quartz, is coming to bath you. Again, see the other pious rivers—some red and some yellow—all showering on your head with a sweet melodious sound.”
Labhadevi was amazed, and she offered obeisances. Then with love and devotion she took bath and gave charity. Since then, that place has become a renowned holy place of pilgrimage. If one takes bath there during the Varuni-yoga, he gets many auspicious results.
Shri Kuvera then joyfully let his son, Kamalaksha, study with the son of the king. Advaita Prabhu was a shruti-dhara who could memorize anything by hearing once. When He studied Kalapa grammar, He understood the meaning of each aphorism by reading it only once. In three years He completed the entire book. People remarked, “Kamalaksha has attained transcendental knowledge.”
Now listen to this amazing incident. One day Kamalaksha and the son of King Divyasimha went to the temple of goddess Kali. The prince devotedly offered obeisances to the stone deity. As Kamalaksha was standing there enjoying the beauty of the deity, the prince told Him to offer obeisances. Kamalaksha didn't hear him and remained standing there, so the prince got angry and rebuked him.
Then Advaita Prabhu became angry and roared out, and the prince fell unconscious to the ground. The servants cried out, “Alas!” and rushed to inform King Divyasimha.
When the king heard this painful news, he immediately went along with his ministers to see his son. Meanwhile, Kamalaksha ran away like an ordinary person and hid Himself inside an ant hill.
On seeing his lifeless son, the king lamented, “Alas! Alas!” Meanwhile Kuvera rushed off to find his son. After searching for a long time, Advaita Prabhu was found and taken to His residence. The king said to Advaita, “You are the greatest amongst the brahmanas. Why did You do such a heinous thing?”
Advaita Prabhu felt embarrassed and said, “He is not dead yet. He is just unconscious. I will bring him back to his senses.” Advaita then made the king's son drink caranamrita, water that has washed the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu, and the prince regained his consciousness.
Water that has washed the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu has transcendental power that even Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva cannot fathom. By simply remembering the water that has washed the feet of Lord Vishnu, one gets the same auspicious results as obtained by visiting holy places and bathing in sacred rivers.
Seeing his son come back to life, the King became joyful and satisfied the poor and the brahmanas by distributing wealth in charity. When people said that everything was auspicious now, Shri Kuvera thought that the disturbance was over.
Thereafter, on an auspicious day, the wise Kuvera gave his son the sacred brahmana thread. In this way Advaita Prabhu was sanctified by entering the Brahminical order in His pauganda age [six to ten years]. He looked pure and sublime. Advaita then studied various literatures as well as the art of literary embellishments and the science of Astrology.
Now listen to this wonderful incident that occurred during the festival of Kali-puja. As all classes of people gathered at the temple of goddess Kali, there was customary dancing and singing. At that time Kamalaksha came and took His seat in the assembly. The King said, “Kamalaksha, what kind of behavior is this? Why didn't You offer obeisances to Kali?”
Advaita replied, “The Supreme Brahman is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He alone is My worshipable Lord. Those who follow various philosophies get bewildered, whereas those who are wise fix their minds on one worshipable Lord.”
Hearing his son's scholarly statement, Tarka Pancanana gave arguments supporting the King. He explained to Kamalaksha, “You don't understand the final conclusion. The Supreme Brahman has many forms—this is the conclusion of the Vedas. All the demigods and demigoddesses are worshipable, and those who are envious of them are most sinful. In Treta-yuga even the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Ramacandra worshiped Devi to deliver Sita. Because Devi is the mother of the universe, she is most merciful. Those who engage in cultivating knowledge get liberation by worshiping her. Therefore You should offer obeisances to mother Kali to be free from all calamities and attain fulfillment of Your desires.”
Kamalaksha said, “Listen, father. Please don't get angry, but unless there is only one worshipable Lord there will be many discrepancies. If one pours water on the root of a tree, then its branches and leaves are satisfied. Similarly, if one worships Narayana, the origin of all demigods and demigoddesses, then worship of all gods is complete. Bhagavati Devi is the external energy of Lord Vishnu, and by her potency the living entities are bewildered about the Absolute Truth. One who delights in the sacrifice of living entities is not worthy of worship. If she is the mother of the universe and all living entities are her offspring, then how will she be pleased by the sacrifice of her children?”
Kuvera said, “What benefit will You get from inappropriate arguments? You simply invite misfortune by blaspheming Devi. A king punishes the offenders and rewards the pious according to the laws of religion. Similarly, Devi gives liberation to saintly persons and leaves ordinary living entities in the ocean of ignorance. Killing animals for the purpose of sacrifice is not violence, because the animals are delivered and promoted to the heavenly planets.”
Advaita Prabhu said, “When there is an easier method for achieving perfection, why should one separately endeavor to deliver his parents?”
In this way the father and son argued in various ways, and all the people in the assembly were amazed. As one's father is considered his worshipable Guru, Advaita Prabhu then stopped speaking out of respect. He said, “Dear father, please forgive My offense. I will now offer obeisances to Devi.”
Saying this, He offered obeisances before the deity of Devi. At that time something amazing happened. Everyone present there was astonished to see the deity of Devi break to pieces. Because the deity was conscious, she was embarrassed when her master bowed down before her. The king along with his ministers and Kuvera Acarya were all struck with wonder on seeing that amazing event.
Kamalaksha, who is nondifferent from Hara and Hari, then disappeared from that place while chanting Gauranga's name. At the age of twelve He went to Shantipura, where He gradually studied the six branches of philosophy.
Praying at the the lotus feet of Lord Chaitanya and Shri Advaita, always desiring Their mercy, I, Ishana Nagara, narrate Shri Advaita Prakasha.

these are my notes from when I studied it in detail : I was looking for information of this Panatirtha created by Sri Advaita Acarya and described in chapter 2 of Advaita Prahash : Advaita Acharya appeared on the seventh day of the waxing moon in the month of Magh, 1355 Saka (1433AD). He chose the village of Navagrama near the city of Sylhet and came as the son of the Varendra Brahmin Kubera Pandit and his wife Nabha Devi. Advaita Acharya is a disciple of Madhavendra Puri, and constitutes one of the figures amongst ‘the Pancatattva. He is the combined incarnation of Lord Mahavishnu and Lord Sadashiva.

When Advaita Acharya reached the age of seven, His mother Nabhadevi expressed her desire to take a dip in the holy places along the bank of River Ganga and other holy rivers. In order to fulfill his mother’s desire, Lord Advaita Acharya called all the Holy Tirthas to flow nearby his house. When the rivers manifested in accordance to Advaita Acharyas order his mother couldn’t believe his power so He asked his mother to take bath in the same river which He had summoned. Now the rivers name is “Jadukata”. “Jadu” is Magic and as soon as tithi starts, water in the river flows with ecstasy and swells high like a tide wave just like magic.

Every year on the same day millions of pilgrims come to take a dip. This day is called ‘Madhu Krishna trayodashi’(the next trayodasi after Gaura Purnima), People take a holy dip on that tithi with full faith on occasion of this manifestation of the holy tirtha,.

There is a famous saying that, “sava tirthe varvar, pana tirthe ekvar” the same benefit that one can achieve by taking prolonged baths in other holy places can be derived by taking bath in “Pana Tirtha” once.

Advaita Acarya Prabhu who is Mahavishnu himself instructed mother Ganges and other holy tirthas to continue flowing there and purify all the sinful people. All the other Holy tirthas begged to flow on the same thithi and Advaita Acarya Prabhu blessed them all. From that day onwards a big festival is being celebrated till now, called “Pana tirtha”

To serve pilgrims better, ISKCON has opened a Center there. Lord Jagannth, Baladev, Subadra, Sri Sri Radha Madan Mahon and Advaita Acharya are being worshiped on the temple alter. There are more than 15 devotees serving full time in the centre. A big Prasadam Hall is there, which accommodates a thousand devotees at a time.

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we read how the son of King Divyasimha challenged the Supreme Lord Sri Advaita Acarya to bow down to Godess Kali and He roared to loud the young man fainted , He was brought back to life by chanamrta from Lord Visnu , the Supreme Lord and vaisnavas do not accept the worship of demigods and Krsna has forbidden one to worship the demigods .In the Puranas it is stated those who give up worship of Lord Visnu to worship the demigods are like someone giving up his mother to be with a witch

ISKCON Sylhet is in my friendslist on facebook , it seems there is plans to build a really beautiful temple there, I tried to ask devotees for more details.So anyhow this is also related to the glories of Sri Advaita Acarya , so I wanted to show you the importance of this chapter 2 and our ISKCON Sylhet temple ,you are in Mayapure so you must know all the details for that temple ,but it is a very holy place in Gaudiya vaisnava tradition and is much related to Sri Advaita Acaray there is no denying this
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