YushHush at 06:50, 13 November 2025

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{{short description|Indian Hindu guru and Vishnu devotee (1434–1559)}}
{{religious text primary|article|date=April 2014}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox Hindu leader
| honorific-prefix = Śrī
| name = Advaita Acharya
| image = Wooden idols of Advaita Acharya and Sita Devi, Sitanath Advaita Mandir, Nabadwip 6.jpg
| religion = [[Hinduism]] [[Gaudiya Vaisnavism]]
| caption = Wooden deities of Advaita Acharya and his wife Sita Devi, Sitanath Advaita Mandir, [[Nabadwip]]
| birth_date = c. 1434
| birth_place = Nabagram, [[Laur Kingdom]] (present-day [[Tahirpur Upazila|Badaghat, Tahirpur]], [[Sunamganj District]], [[Bangladesh]])
| birth_name = Kamalaksha Mishra
| guru = [[Madhavendra Puri]]
| philosophy = [[Bhakti yoga]], [[Achintya Bheda Abheda]]
| known_for = Expounded [[Gaudiya Vaishnavism]], [[Bhakti yoga]] along with [[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu]]
| father = Kubera Acharya
| battles =
| background = Orange
}}
'''Advaita Acharya''' ({{IAST3|Advaita Ācārya}}; 1434–1559) (born '''Kamalaksha Mishra'''; কমলাক্ষ মিশ্র)<ref name="SC89">"Shantipur parichoy"-Kalikrishna Bhattacharaya&"Samajer Pratichhabi Bises Shantipur Sankhya."-editor-Satya Narayan Goswami. {{Cite book|author=A. N. Chatterjee|year=1984|title=Srikṛṣṇa Caitanya: A Historical Study on Gauḍiya Vaiṣṇavism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mEsdAAAAMAAJ|publisher=Associated Pub. Co.|isbn=9780836413212|access-date=2008-06-07}}p. 52</ref> was a companion of the founder of the [[Gaudiya Vaishnava]] movement, [[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu]], and guru of [[Haridasa Thakur]].<ref name=Brzezinski2004>{{cite journal | author = Brzezinski, J.A.N. | year = 2004 | title = Charismatic Renewal And Institutionalization In The History Of Gaudiya Vaishnavism And The Gaudiya Math | journal = The Hare Krishna Movement: The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mBMxPdgrBhoC&dq=Advaita+Acharya&pg=PA73 | access-date = 2008-06-07
| publisher = Columbia University Press | isbn = 978-0-231-12256-6}}</ref><ref name="Manr">{{cite book |author=Rebecca Manring |title=Reconstructing tradition: Advaita Ācārya and Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism at the cusp of the twentieth century |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |year=2005 |isbn=0-231-12954-8 |page=168}}</ref> He was born in the village of Nabagram in [[Laur Kingdom|Laud]] (in present-day [[Sunamganj District]], [[Bangladesh]]), in 1434, some fifty years before Chaitanya, and spent most of his adult life in the town of [[Shantipur]] in [[Nadia district|Nadia]] with his wife and family. Advaita Acharya had six sons, Acyutananda Das (who also became a disciple of Chaitanya), Krisna Mishra, Gopala Das, Balarama Das Mishra (whose lineage became the [[Zamindars of Bengal|zamindar]] of [[Krishnachandra Roy|noakhali, chatkhil upazilla.]] later adopted the title Patwari & Majumder), Swarupa Das and Jagadisa Mishra.

Advaita Acharya contributed to two [[Sanskrit literature|Sanskrit works]], named ''Yogabashishta-Bhaishta'' and ''Geeta Bhaishya''.<ref name=":Momin_271">{{Cite book|last1=Momin|first1=Mignonette|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Djx131iEeYkC|title=Society and Economy in North-East India|last2=Mawlong|first2=Cecile A.|last3=Qādrī|first3=Fuz̤ail Aḥmad|date=2006|publisher=Regency Publications|isbn=978-81-89233-40-2|pages=271|language=en}}</ref> The ancestry and life of Advaita Acharya are narrated in a number of hagiographical works, which include the ''Balyalila-Sutra'' (1487?) of Krishnadasa{{efn|Krishna Das is the name of Divya Singha, the [[Laur Kingdom|king of Laur]]. After becoming a fellower of Advaita Acharya, Divya Singha adopted this name.<ref name=":Momin_271" />}} in [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] and the ''Advaitasutrakadacha'' of Krishnadasa, the ''Advaitamangala'' of Haricharanadasa, the ''Advaitaprakasha'' of Ishana Nagara<ref name="s1">Sen, Sukumar (1991, reprint 2007). ''Bangala Sahityer Itihas'', Vol.I, {{in lang|bn}}, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, {{ISBN|81-7066-966-9}}, pp.302-6</ref> and the ''Advaitavilasa'' of Naraharidasa in [[Bengali language|Bengali]].<ref>Sen, Dinesh Chandra (1911). ''History of Bengali Language and Literature'', Calcutta: University of Calcutta, pp.496-7</ref> Many of his activities are described in the ''[[Chaitanya Charitamrta]]'', the ''[[Chaitanya Mangala]]'' and the ''[[Chaitanya Bhagavata]]''.

== Life story ==
{{Pancha-Tattva deities}}
Advaita Acharya was the son of Kubera Acharya. Kubera was the courtier of Divya Singh, the [[Laur Kingdom|King of Laur]]. Kubera's father was Narsingha who was the minister of King Ganesha of Nadiyal.<ref name=back>{{cite book|first=Rajmohan|last=Nath|title=The back-ground of Assamese culture|page=123|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.126984/page/n169|year=1948|publisher=A. K. Nath}}</ref>

In his latter years, Advaita became increasingly saddened by the pursuit of materialistic goals that, he believed, lead to a dysfunctional, unhappy society and concluded that the only solution was to offer prayers to the god [[Krishna]] and attract people back to the joy of the [[Spirituality|spiritual]] life. Advaita is said to have prayed for several months, crying out and worshiping him in the form of his [[Shaligram]] Shila with sacred [[Tulasi]] leaves and [[Ganges]] water. At the end of thirteen months during an eclipse of the [[full moon]], his prayers were answered when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born.

Advaita was the first who proclaimed Chaitanya to be God by reciting the Vedic text 'namo brahmanya devāya go-brāhmaṇa hitāya ca jagaddhitāya kṛṣṇāya govindāya namo namaḥ' 'I salute Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, the god of brāhmaṇas who benefits cows and brāhmaṇas and the whole world.' He is known to have been a close friend of both Chaitanya and [[Nityananda]] in their mission of spreading the [[Hare Krishna (mantra)|Hare Krishna]] [[mantra]]. Advaita's abode was the first place where Chaitanya took alms, and this is where he told Chaitanya "Wherever you are is {{IAST|[[Vrindavan]]}}."<ref>{{Cite book
| last =Goswami
| first = Satsvarupa dasa
| year = 2002
| author-link = Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
| title =Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta Vol 1-2
| publisher=[[Bhaktivedanta Book Trust]]
| location=[[Los Angeles]]
| edition=2 nd
| pages = Ch.55
| isbn = 0-89213-357-0
}}</ref>
On the day marking his birth members hold a celebration in his honour and read and discuss stories of his life.

== Descendant ==
Advaita has many lineages from two of his children out of his six children namely [[Achyuta Nanda Mishra Goswami]], [[Balaram Mishra Goswami]], Swarup Mishra Goswami, Damodar Mishra Goswami, Gopal Mishra Goswami, [[Krishna Mishra Goswami]]. [[Bijoy Krishna Goswami]], [[Mathuresh Goswami]] falls under one lineage. Poet, playwright & musician [[Dwijendralal Ray]] was a descendant of Advaita from his mother's side & so was Dwijendralal's son [[Dilip Kumar Roy]].

== See also ==
{{commons category}}
* [[Hare Krishna (mantra)]]
* [[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu]]
* [[Advaita Parivāra]]
* [[Nityananda]]
* [[Avatar]]
* [[Pancha Tattva (Vaishnavism)]]

== References and notes ==
{{notelist}}{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060118145644/http://www.salagram.net/parishad31.htm Advaita Acharya - Detailed Life Story]
* [http://www.madangopal.com/ A website dedicated to Advaita Acharya]
{{Caitanya sampradaya}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acharya, Advaita}}
[[Category:Gaudiya religious leaders]]
[[Category:15th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:16th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindu saints]]
[[Category:Scholars from West Bengal]]
[[Category:15th-century Hindu religious leaders]]
[[Category:16th-century Hindu religious leaders]]
[[Category:People from Tahirpur Upazila]]
[[Category:Chaitanya Mahaprabhu]]

Advaita Acharya - Revision history

YushHush at 06:50, 13 November 2025