12.27
acaryera ara putra--sri-balarama
ara putra--’svarupa’-sakha, ’jagadisa’ nama
SYNONYMS
acaryera—of Srila Advaita Acarya; ara—another; putra—son; sri-balarama—of the name Sri Balarama; ara putra—another son; svarupa—of the name Svarupa; sakha—branch; jagadisa nama—of the name Jagadisa.
The other sons of Advaita Acarya were Sri Balarama, Svarupa and Jagadisa.
PURPORT
The Sanskrit book Advaita-carita states that Balarama, Svarupa and Jagadisa were the fourth, fifth and sixth sons of Advaita Acarya.
Therefore Sri Advaita Acarya had six sons.
Balarama, Svarupa and Jagadisa, being smartas, or Mayavadis, were rejected by Vaisnava society.
Sometimes Mayavadis pose themselves as Vaisnavas, or worshipers of Lord Visnu, but actually they do not believe in Lord Visnu as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for they consider demigods like Lord Siva, Durga, the sun-god and Ganesa equal to Him.
They are generally known as pancopasaka-smartas, and one should not count them among the Vaisnavas.
Balarama had three wives and nine sons.
The youngest son of his first wife was known as Madhusudana Gosvami.
He took the title Bhattacarya and accepted the path of the smarta or Mayavada philosophy.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura notes that the son of Gosvami Bhattacarya, Sri Radharamana Gosvami Bhattacarya, refused the title gosvami because it is generally meant for sannyasis, those who have taken the renounced order of life.
One who is still in family life should not misuse the title gosvami.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura did not recognize the caste gosvamis because they were not in the line of the six Gosvamis in the renounced order who were direct disciples of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu-namely, Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila Sanatana Gosvami, Srila Bhatta Raghunatha Gosvami, Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said that the grhastha asrama, or the status of family life, is a sort of concession for sense gratification.
Therefore a grhastha should not falsely adopt the title gosvami.
The ISKCON movement has never conferred the title gosvami upon a householder.
Although all the sannyasis we have initiated in ISKCON are young, we have awarded them the titles of the renounced order of life, svami and gosvami, because they have completely dedicated their lives to preach the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura mentions that not only do the householder caste gosvamis disrespect the title gosvami, but also, following the principles of the smarta Raghunandana, they exhibit great foolishness by burning a straw image of Advaita Acarya in a sraddha ceremony, thus acting as Raksasas and disrespecting the cause of Hari-bhakti-vilasa, which is the guide for Vaisnavas.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura says that sometimes these smarta caste gosvamis write books on Vaisnava philosophy or commentaries on the original scriptures, but a pure devotee should cautiously avoid reading them.