Advaitācārya
By Swami Harshananda
The Bhakti movement started at a time when common people were opporessed by Muslim rulers and was sustained by a galaxy of great spiritual leaders from Rāmānuja to Caitanya (11th to 16th centuries A. D.).
One of the important predecessors and a senior contemporary of Caitanya was Advaitācārya (16th century A. D.) also known as Advaita or Advaita Prabhu. He was a resident of Śāntipur and a disciple of Mādhavendra Purī. It was in his house that Caitanya met his mother Sacī Devi for the first time after adapting sanyasa. It was also there that he decided to stay at Purī (Orissa) for the rest of his life.
Advaitācārya had the visions of Caitanya being an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa himself.
The Chaitanya school later described Advaitācārya as an aspect of Viṣnu.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore