Advaitacarya appeared some sixty years before Lord Caitanya's own advent. He was the first among the associates of Lord Caitanya to appear within the material world to deliver the conditioned souls. It was Advaitacarya who asked Lord Caitanya to descend. Before Lord Caitanya's advent, Advaitacarya had already begun chanting Krishna's names in the streets with devotees and discussing scriptures on devotional service to Krishna. Advaitacarya's name indicates that He is avaita-i.e., nondifferent- from Lord Hari (Krishna), and He is called Acarya (spiritual master) because He taught bhakti in all directions, Advaitacarya lived in Santipura and Maypura, in what is now West Bengal, and was the head of the Vaisnava community of Nadia.