Thursday, February 10th, marks the appearance anniversary of Advaita Acharya, one of the foremost teachers of bhakti in the Hare Krishna tradition. On this day we fast till noon in his honour. In honour of this occasion, HH Bhaktimarga Swami will be holding a small program at the Temple at 12pm.
Advaita Acharya appeared some sixty years before Lord Chaitanya’s own advent, over 500 years ago. It was Advaita Acharya who asked Lord Chaitanya to descend. Before Lord Chaitanya’s advent, Advaitacharya had already begun chanting Krishna’s names in the streets with devotees and discussing scriptures on devotional service to Krishna. Advaita Acharya’s name indicates that He is nondifferent (advaita) from Lord Hari (Krishna), and He is called acharya (spiritual master) because He taught bhakti.