pañcama vará¹£era bÄlaka kahe siddhÄntera sÄra
Å›uniyÄ pÄilÄ ÄcÄrya santoá¹£a apÄra

 pañcama - five; vará¹£era - years; bÄlaka - small boy; kahe - says; siddhÄntera - conclusive; sÄra - essence; Å›uniyÄ - hearing; pÄilÄ - got; ÄcÄrya - Advaita Ä€cÄrya; santoá¹£a - satisfaction; apÄra - very much.


Text

When Advaita Ä€cÄrya heard this statement from His five-year-old son AcyutÄnanda, He felt great satisfaction because of his conclusive judgment.

Purport

commenting on verses 13 through 17, BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura gives an extensive description of the descendants of Advaita Ä€cÄrya. The Caitanya-bhÄgavata, Antya-khaṇá¸a, chapter one, states that AcyutÄnanda was the eldest son of Advaita Ä€cÄrya. The Sanskrit book Advaita-carita states, “Advaita Ä€cÄrya Prabhu had three sons who were devotees of Lord Caitanya. Their names were Acyuta, Kṛṣṇa MiÅ›ra and GopÄla dÄsa, and they were all born of the womb of His wife, SÄ«tÄdevÄ«. Advaita Ä€cÄrya also had three more sons, whose names were BalarÄma, SvarÅ«pa and Jagadīśa. Thus there were six sons of Advaita Ä€cÄrya.†Among the six sons, three were strict followers of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu, and of these three, AcyutÄnanda was the eldest.

Advaita Prabhu married in the beginning of the fifteenth century ÅšakÄbda (late fifteenth century A.D.). When Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu wanted to visit the village of RÄmakeli while going from JagannÄtha PurÄ« to Vá¹›ndÄvana during the ÅšakÄbda years 1433 and 1434 (A.D. 1511 and 1512), AcyutÄnanda was only five years old. The Caitanya-bhÄgavata, Antya-khaṇá¸a, fourth chapter, describes AcyutÄnanda at that time as pañca-vará¹£a vayasa madhura digambara, “only five years old and standing naked.†Therefore it is to be concluded that AcyutÄnanda was born sometime in the year 1428 (A.D. 1506). Before the birth of AcyutÄnanda, Advaita Prabhu’s wife, SÄ«tÄdevÄ«, came to see Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu at His birth. Thus it is not impossible that she had the other three sons by Advaita within the twenty-one years between 1407 and 1428 ÅšakÄbda (A.D. 1486 and 1507). In an unauthorized book of the name SÄ«tÄdvaita-carita, published in Bengali in the unauthorized newspaper NityÄnanda-dÄyinÄ« in 1792 ÅšakÄbda (A.D. 1870), it is mentioned that AcyutÄnanda was a class friend of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu. According to the Caitanya-bhÄgavata, this statement is not at all valid. When Caitanya MahÄprabhu accepted the renounced order of sannyÄsa in the year 1431 ÅšakÄbda (A.D. 1509), He came to the house of Advaita Prabhu at ÅšÄntipura. At that time, as stated in the Caitanya-bhÄgavata, Antya-khaṇá¸a, chapter one, AcyutÄnanda was only three years old. The Caitanya-bhÄgavata further states that the naked child, the son of Advaita Prabhu, immediately came and fell down at the lotus feet of Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu. The Lord immediately took him on His lap, although he was not very clean, having dust all over his body. Lord Caitanya said, “My dear Acyuta, Advaita Ä€cÄrya is My father, and thus we are brothers.â€

Before ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu exhibited His spiritual forms during His residence at NavadvÄ«pa, He asked ÅšrÄ« RÄma Paṇá¸ita, ÅšrÄ«vÄsa ṬhÄkura’s brother, to go to ÅšÄntipura and bring back Advaita Ä€cÄrya. AcyutÄnanda joined his father at that time. It is said, advaitera tanaya ‘acyutÄnanda’ nÄma/ parama-bÄlaka, seho kÄnde avirÄma. AcyutÄnanda also joined in crying in transcendental bliss. Again, when Lord Caitanya beat Advaita Ä€cÄrya for explaining ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam from an impersonalist viewpoint opposed to the principles of bhakti-yoga, AcyutÄnanda was also present. Therefore all these incidents must have occurred only two or three years before Lord Caitanya accepted the sannyÄsa order. As mentioned above, in the Caitanya-bhÄgavata, Antya-khaṇá¸a, chapter one, it is stated that AcyutÄnanda, the son of Advaita Ä€cÄrya, offered his obeisances to the Lord. Therefore it should be concluded that from the very beginning of his life AcyutÄnanda was a great devotee of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu.

There is no information that AcyutÄnanda ever married, but he is described as the biggest branch of the Advaita Ä€cÄrya family. From a book named ÅšÄkhÄ-nirṇayÄmá¹›ta it is understood that AcyutÄnanda was a disciple of GadÄdhara Paṇá¸ita and that he took shelter of Lord Caitanya in JagannÄtha PurÄ« and engaged in devotional service. The Caitanya-caritÄmá¹›ta, Ä€di-lÄ«lÄ, chapter ten, states that AcyutÄnanda, the son of Advaita Ä€cÄrya, lived in JagannÄtha PurÄ«, taking shelter of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu. GadÄdhara Paṇá¸ita, in the last years of his life, also lived with Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu at JagannÄtha PurÄ«. There is no doubt, therefore, that AcyutÄnanda was a disciple of Paṇá¸ita GadÄdhara. In the accounts of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s dancing in front of the car during the Ratha-yÄtrÄ festival, AcyutÄnanda’s name is to be found many times. It is stated that in the party of Advaita Ä€cÄrya from ÅšÄntipura, AcyutÄnanda was dancing and others were singing. At that time the boy was only six years old. text 87 of the Gaura-gaṇoddeÅ›a-dÄ«pikÄ, compiled by ÅšrÄ« Kavi-karṇapÅ«ra, describes AcyutÄnanda as a disciple of GadÄdhara Paṇá¸ita and a great and dear devotee of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu. According to the opinion of some, he was an incarnation of KÄrttikeya, the son of Lord Åšiva, and according to others he was formerly the gopÄ« named AcyutÄ. The Gaura-gaṇoddeÅ›a-dÄ«pikÄ (88) supports both these opinions. Another book, Narottama-vilÄsa, compiled by ÅšrÄ« Narahari dÄsa, mentions AcyutÄnanda’s presence during the festival at Khetari. According to ÅšrÄ« Narahari dÄsa, during the last days of his life AcyutÄnanda stayed in his house at ÅšÄntipura, but during the presence of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu he lived at JagannÄtha PurÄ« with GadÄdhara Paṇá¸ita.