Advaita Prabhu’s Travels 

Advaita Prabhu’s travels 

 When Kubera Pandita and Nabha Devi disappeared, Advaita went to Gaya on the pretext of performing the appropriate rituals of mourning, and thence continued on a pilgrimage tour of all of India’s holy places. When he came to Vrindavana, he became absorbed in the worship of Krishna, but through his meditation he was able to understand that Krishna was about to appear in Nabadwip. While on this pilgrimage tour, he came to Mithila where he met the poet Vidyapati. This encounter is beautifully described in the Advaitavilasa. Advaita Prabhu finally returned from Vrindavana to Shantipur after spending several days in Nabadwip. The people of Shantipur had been suffering from his separation for a long time and were very happy to see him back. 

 

Advaita Acarya had two residences, one in Shantipur, the other one near Srivasa’s home in Nabadwip-Mayapur. His heart was greatly pained at seeing that the people of the world were greatly suffering from the agonies of material life because they were devoid of any devotion to Vishnu. Overwhelmed by this fact, he compassionately began to teach people the Bhagavad-gita and Bhagavata, explaining that the purport of the scriptures was to engage in devotional service to Krishna. At approximately the same time, Madhavendra Puri had a dream in which Govardhanadhari Gopal commanded him to find sandalwood paste for the deity service and he headed to Puri, taking the road through western Bengal. While on this journey, he stopped at Advaita’s house in Shantipur. When Advaita saw the devotional ecstasies of Madhavendra Puri, he was convinced that he should accept him as his guru, even though he himself is an expansion of the supreme lord. Thus he demonstrated to the conditioned souls the necessity of accepting a spiritual master. 

  

Madhavendra Puri arrived in the house of Advaita Acarya. When Advaita saw Puripada’s prema, he felt a deep inner joy. So, he took care to receive the mantra from him, after which Madhavendra left to continue his voyage to the south.  

 

It is said that Mahaprabhu is the main trunk of the wish-fulfilling tree of devotion, as well as the gardener who enjoys and distributes the tree’s fruits. Though the tree was planted in Nabadwip, it grew in Purushottam Dham (Puri) and Vrindavana, expanding into an entire orchard producing many, many fruits of love. Madhavendra Puri is said to be the first seedling, which eventually grew into this tree. Isvara Puri was the nourished form of this seedling. Mahaprabhu, though himself the gardener, also became the tree’s main trunk through his inconceivable energies. Advaita and Nityananda were the two secondary trunks into which the main trunk divided.  

 

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