photo: OrissaPost
He was born in Tilakana near Nemala, Cuttack, in 1485; his father was Dinabandhu Khuntia and his mother’s name was Padmavati. His grandfather Gopinath Mohanty had served in the army of the Gajapati King. As a child, he was named Agani. When he grew older, he had a mystic dream where the Lord taught him the Gita, the Upanishads and the Tantra. Immediately he went to pilgrimage and on the way he met Chaitanya and it is said he received Harinam initiation from Him. Some other people say that he went to meet Chaitanya together with his father; he was then 18 years old.
Quotes of Achyutananda Das
At the time of Achyutananda’s initiation, Chaitanya asked Sanatana Gosvami to take care of him and coach him in spiritual knowledge. Achyutananda married the daughter of Raghurana Champati Rai and stayed in Dhauligram. He had 12 main disciples, of whom the most prominent was Ramachandra Das. The King gave him some land in Banki Mohana. The mula mantra he chanted and taught was the Radha mantra. Achyutananda is mostly famous for the book of prophecies called Achyutananda Malika, composed of 13 chapters, describing the future destruction of the town of Puri after Jagannatha has moved out, and the appearance of Kalki avatara who will annihilate all the evildoers starting from Orissa. A few summary studies have been published in Oriya language Achyutananda also translated into Oriya and commented Harivamsa, Tattva bodhini, Sunya samhita, Jyoti samhita, Gopala Ujjvala, Baranasi Gita, Anakara Brahma Samhita, Abhayada Kavacha, Astagujari, Sarana panjara stotra, Vipra chalaka, Mana mahima.>He wrote a book about the preaching mission of the Pancha sakhas (five friends) and organized a travelling party of Rahasankirtana, for which he also wrote several bhajan songs. It is said that once he was attacked by some envious Brahmins and he manifested his laghima yoga siddhi by becoming extremely light and floating away in the air. Achyutananda’s teachings present a fusion of Saguna and Nirguna worship, uniting the doctrines of Dvaita and Advaita, and knowledge from Upanishads and Kundalini yoga. He left his body on Jyestha sukla Ekadasi
