Text 17] Expansions of Advaita Acarya 11
Santipura and bring back Advaita Acarya. Acyutananda joined his father at that
time. It is said, advaitera tanaya ‘acyutdnanda’ nadma/ parama-bdlaka, seho kande
avirama. Acyutananda also joined in crying in transcendental bliss. Again, when
Lord Caitanya beat Advaita Acarya for explaining Srimad-Bhagavatam from an im-
personalist viewpoint opposed to the principles of bhakti-voga, Acyutananda was
also present. Therefore all these incidents must have occurred only two or three
years before Lord Caitanya accepted the sannydsa order. In the Caitanya-bhdgavata,
Antya-khanda, Chapter Nineteen, it is stated that Acyutananda, the son of Advaita
Acarya, offered his obeisances to the Lord. Therefore it should be concluded that
from the very beginning of his life Acyutananda was a great devotee of Lord
Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

There is no information that Acyutananda ever married, but he is described as the
biggest branch of the Advaita Acarya family. From a book named Sakha-nirnayamrta
it is understood that Acyutananda was a disciple of Gadadhara and that he took
shelter of Lord Caitanya in Jagannatha Puri and engaged in devotional service. The
Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Ten, states that Acyutananda, the son of
Advaita Acarya, lived in Jagannatha Puri, taking shelter of Lord Caitanya
Mahaprabhu. Gadadhara Pandita, in the last years of his life, also lived with Lord
Caitanya Mahaprabhu at Jagannatha Puri. There is no doubt, therefore, that
Acyutananda was a disciple of Pandita Gadadhara. In the accounts of Lord Caitanya
Mahaprabhu’s dancing in front of the car during the Rathayatra festival,
Acyutananda’s name is to be found many times. It is stated that in the party
of Advaita Acarya from Santipura, Acyutananda was dancing and others were
singing. At that time the boy was only six years old. The Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika
compiled by Sri Kavi-karnapara has described Acyutananda asa disciple of Gadadhara
Pandita and a great and dear devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. According to
the opinion of some, he was an incarnation of Karttikeya, the son of Lord Siva, and
according to others he was formerly the gop/ named Acyuta. The Gaura-ganoddesa-
dipikd has supported both these opinions. Another book, Narottama-vildsa, com-
piled by Sri Narahari dasa, mentions Acyutananda’s presence during the festival at
Khetari. According to Sri Narahari dasa, during the last days of his life Acyutananda
stayed in his house at Santipura, but during the presence of Lord Caitanya
Mahaprabhu he lived at Jagannatha Puri with Gadadhara Pandita.

Of the six sons of Advaita Acarya, three, Acyutananda, Krsna Misra and Gopala
dasa, lived faithfully in the service of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sincé Acyutananda did
not accept a wife, he had no issue. The second son of Advaita Acarya, Krsna Misra,
had two sons, Raghunatha Cakravarti and Dolagovinda. The descendants of
Raghunatha still live in Santipura in the nieghborhoods of Madana-gopala-pada,
Ganakara, Mrjapura and Kumarakhali. Dolagovinda had three sons, namely, Carida,
Kandarpa and Gopinatha. The descendants of Kandarpa live in Maldah in the village
Jikabad?. Gopinatha had three sons, Sri Vallabha, Pranavallabha and Kesava. The
descendants of Sri Vallabha live in the villages known as Masiyadara (Mahisadera),
Damukadiya and Candipura. There is a genealogical table for the family of Sri
Vallabha beginning from his eldest son, Gariga-narayana. The descendants of Sri
Vallabha’s youngest son, Ramagopaala, still live in Damukadiya, Candipura, Solamari,
and so on. The descendants of Pranavallabha and Kesava live in Uthali. The son of
