Sri Caitanya Caritamrita. Adi-lila

Chapter 12: The Expansions of Advaita Acarya and Gadadhara Pandita. Text 27

ÄcÄryera Ära putra — Å›rÄ«-balarÄma
Ära putra — 'svarÅ«pa'-Å›ÄkhÄ, 'jagadÄ«Å›a' nÄma

 ÄcÄryera - of ÅšrÄ«la Advaita Ä€cÄrya; Ära - another; putra - son; Å›rÄ«-balarÄma - ÅšrÄ« BalarÄma; Ära putra - another son; svarÅ«pa - SvarÅ«pa; Å›ÄkhÄ - branch; jagadÄ«Å›a nÄma - of the name JagadÄ«Å›a.


Text

The other sons of Advaita Ä€cÄrya were ÅšrÄ« BalarÄma, SvarÅ«pa and JagadÄ«Å›a.

Purport

The Sanskrit book Advaita-carita states that BalarÄma, SvarÅ«pa and JagadÄ«Å›a were the fourth, fifth and sixth sons of Advaita Ä€cÄrya. Therefore ÅšrÄ« Advaita Ä€cÄrya had six sons. BalarÄma, SvarÅ«pa and JagadÄ«Å›a, being smÄrtas, or MÄyÄvÄdÄ«s, were rejected by Vaiṣṇava society. Sometimes MÄyÄvÄdÄ«s pose themselves as Vaiṣṇavas, or worshipers of Lord Viṣṇu, but actually they do not believe in Lord Viṣṇu as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for they consider demigods like Lord Åšiva, DurgÄ, the sun-god and GaṇeÅ›a equal to Him. They are generally known as pañcopÄsaka-smÄrtas, and one should not count them among the Vaiṣṇavas.

BalarÄma had three wives and nine sons. The youngest son of his first wife was known as MadhusÅ«dana GosvÄmÄ«. He took the title Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya and accepted the path of the smÄrta or MÄyÄvÄda philosophy. ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura notes that the son of GosvÄmÄ« Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya, ÅšrÄ« RÄdhÄramaṇa GosvÄmÄ« Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya, refused the title gosvÄmÄ« because it is generally meant for sannyÄsÄ«s, those who have taken the renounced order of life. One who is still in family life should not misuse the title gosvÄmÄ«. ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura did not recognize the caste gosvÄmÄ«s because they were not in the line of the six gosvÄmÄ«s in the renounced order who were direct disciples of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu — namely ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ«, ÅšrÄ«la SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ«, ÅšrÄ«la Bhaá¹­á¹­a RaghunÄtha GosvÄmÄ«, ÅšrÄ« GopÄla Bhaá¹­á¹­a GosvÄmÄ«, ÅšrÄ« JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ« and ÅšrÄ«la RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmÄ«. ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura said that the gá¹›hastha ÄÅ›rama, or the status of family life, is a sort of concession for sense gratification. Therefore a gá¹›hastha should not falsely adopt the title gosvÄmÄ«. The ISKCON movement has never conferred the title gosvÄmÄ« upon a householder. Although all the sannyÄsÄ«s we have initiated in ISKCON are young, we have awarded them the titles of the renounced order of life, svÄmÄ« and gosvÄmÄ«, because they have completely dedicated their lives to preach the cult of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu. ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura mentions that not only do the householder caste gosvÄmÄ«s disrespect the title gosvÄmÄ«, but also, following the principles of the smÄrta Raghunandana, they exhibit great foolishness by burning a straw image of Advaita Ä€cÄrya in a Å›rÄddha ceremony, thus acting like RÄká¹£asas and disrespecting the Hari-bhakti-vilÄsa, which is the guide for Vaiṣṇavas. ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura says that sometimes these smÄrta caste gosvÄmÄ«s write books on Vaiṣṇava philosophy or commentaries on the original scriptures, but a pure devotee should cautiously avoid reading them.