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EDITORIAL  About the AuthorOther Stories by this Author Srila Prabhupada And Nityanandavesa BY BRAHMA DAS  EDITORIAL, Jun 27 (VNN) — Most devotees have a superficial understanding of Srila Sridhar Maharaja's glorification of Srila Prabhupada as Shaktavesa Avatar and Nityanandavesa. This understanding often comes from second or third hand knowledge of his actual words on the subject. Therefore I thought it would be helpful to post those words and elaborate on them in light of revelations from our acharyas. First of all we learn from Chaitanya Caritamrta that no one can be successful in preaching Krishna consciousness unless he is empowered by the Lord. In the Guruvastakam of Visvanatha Cakravarti we are told that guru is the power of god combined with the dedication of the devotee. There the guru is described as the energy of God: saksad hari, but (kintu) prabhor ya priya eva tasya, he is dear (priya) to God as well. In this verse Visvanath Cakravarti describes the guru as an empowered devotee who is dear to God, and as God's representative he should be treated as such. Of course it is the power of God experienced through His surrendered devotee that makes one guru, but God is also a devotee of his devotees and therefore the empowered guru is glorified as God and devotee combined. In Chaitanya-caritamrta the guru, God, and Vaisnava are differentiated from one another, but there also guru is described as God and devotee combined. Krsnadasa Kaviraja says yadyapi amara guru caitanyera dasa tathapi ja niye ami tanhara prakasa: "Although I know my guru as a devotee of Sri Caitanya, I also know my guru to be a manifestation of him as well." Shaktavesa avatara also can mean the power of God and devotee combined. Avesa means empowerment and sakti means potency. A saktyavesa avatara is one in whom a particular potency (sakti) of Godhead descends (avatara) to empower (avesa) a devotee for a specific purpose. Sri Chaitanya told Sanatana Goswami that there are unlimited saktyavesa avataras of Krsna, saktyavesavatara krsnera asankhya ganana. He distinguished two divisions of saktyavesa he called direct (mukhya) and indirect (gauna), saktyavesa dui-rupa 'mukhya' 'gauna' dekhi. He then describes these two divisions as "avataras" who are directly empowered and others who represent God indirectly by possessing a vibhuti, or particular power of God, saksat-saktye 'avatara,' abhase 'vibhuti' likhi. Sri Chaitanya then informed Sanatana of several types of empowerment and among those mentioned were empowerment to distribute transcendental knowledge "jnana shakti" and empowerment to distribute bhakti "bhakti shakti". Rupa Goswami also talked about the power of God and devotee combined in his Laghu-bhagavatamrta. There he said: jnana-sakty-adi-kala ya yatravisto janardanah/ ta avesa nigadyante jiva eva mahattamah// "Whenever the Lord is present in someone by portions of his various potencies, that living entity is invested with special power and is a great soul." In Caitanya Caritamrta there is a spellbinding description of how the Lord entered the body of Nakula brahmachari and in Gaura-ganoddesa-depika that Nakula brahmachari is described as an avirbhava and Pradyumna Misra as an avesa incarnation of Mahaprabhu. "Avirbhavo gauraharer nakula-brahmachari avesa ca tatha janeyo misre pradyumna-sangake" The Lords manifestation (avirbhava) took place in Nakula brahmachari and his possession (avesa) took place in Pradyumna Misra. (Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika 73) In Gaura-ganoddesa-depika other great souls are described as empowered incarnations as well. "minaketana-ramadir vyuhah sankarsano parah" The associates of Balarama entered into Minaketan-Rama. (Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika 68) Krishnadas Kaviraja describes Minaketan Ram Das as a follower of Nityananda who behaved in the manner of an avadhuta. In bhakti-ratnakara (10.372) it says that seeing Minakatan Ram Das purifies the entire universe. "sriman uddhava-daso'pi chandravesavataraka" Uddhava Das is an avesa incarnation of Chandra, the moon god (Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika 192) Uddhava Das lived in Vrndavana. When Srinivas Acharya and Raghava Acharya were touring they came to his cottage. He greeted them with enthusiastic hospitality. Uddhava Das was among those who blessed Srinivas Acharya, Narottam Das, and Syamananda as they set off from Vrndavana with the books of Jiva Goswami to preach in Bengal. (Bhakti-ratnakara 6.514) If we consider these words from Mahaprabhu and our Gaudiya acharyas it becomes easier to understand Srila Sridhar Maharaja's glorification of Prabhupada as Shaktavesa avatar and Nityanandavesa. Srila Sridhar Maharaja said: "I consider him (Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) saktyavesa-avatara, and it is confirmed in his writings on his spiritual journey through the Atlantic. How he landed there in America, and the nature of his beginning the movement. His intense degree of dedication to Krsna and dependence, (on Krishna) and how much he made himself empty of any other desire than the order of his gurudeva, quite empty that Krsna came down to help him. And it is corroborated that Krsna worked on his behalf. In his poem, "Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Krsna," we find him pleading with Krsna, "My dear Brother, Your good fortune will come to you only when Srimati Radharani becomes pleased with you." Seeing his gurudeva, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, as Radharani's delegation and his order as Her divine service, he humbly submitted that he did not feel himself worthy or fit to discharge the divine service, so he enlisted Krsna in the service of his guru. He had completely dedicated himself to the purpose, he was so earnest in his prayer to Krsna that he may discharge the duty that he has been given by his Guru Maharaja, that divine force, power, came down to help him. Otherwise, it is impossible. It is not a thing of the ordinary level that anyone can do--take the highest thing [Krsna consciousness] to the lowest position [fallen souls] so extensively. It cannot but be the divine power, embodied and in a great intensity and magnitude! So, saktyavesa-avatara, I cannot but take him to be so." And when asked by his disciple (Govinda Maharaja) what was the avesa (particular type of empowerment) that Srila Prabhupada exhibited, Sridhar Maharaja replied Nityanandavesa. The compassionate power of Nitai to deliver the most-fallen. Often we hear devotees glorifying Srila Prabhupada, as Shaktavesa Avatar and I believe it is proper that they do so. To my knowledge Srila Sridhar Maharaja was the first to describe Srila Prabhupada as shaktavesa. He was also the first to describe Srila Prabhupada as Nityanandavesa, which means that the power of Nityananda came into him and through him with great intensity and magnitude. I hope this explanation of Srila Prabhupada as Nityanandavesa, is helpful and satisfactory to all the devotees who love him. All glories to all the disciples and grand-disciples of Srila Prabhupada. brahmadasa@yahoo.com Apart from the direct words of Srila Sridhar Maharaja the information presented here came from Caitanya Caritamrita by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the SANGA of Swami Tripurari, and Chaitanya, His Life and Associates by Srila B.B. Tirtha Maharaja. This comprehensive book on the associates of Sri Chaitanya is available from Mandala Publishing at http://www.mandala.org About the Author Other Stories by this AuthorContact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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