Achyutānanda Dasa

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had five Mahapurusa (great men) disciples in Odisha called Pancasakha. Pancha means five and Sakha means friends, the five friends - Jasovanta Dasa, Jagannath Dasa, Balarama Dasa, Shishu Ananta Dasa and Achyutananda Dasa. The great spiritual leader Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has referred to these five of his disciples as Panchasakha and stated that the Panchasakhaa are like his Pancha Atma, i.e., five souls (Atma-Tattva) and are in no way lesser than some of the Avatars of Vishnu.

From Shunya Samhita of Acyutananda Dasa we learn each Panchasakha had certain expertise and knowledge - 

• Jasovanta Dasa: procedure for proper rituals and sacrifices

• Shishu Ananta Dasa: drawing lines~yantra, vastu and mantra sastra

• Acyutananda Dasa: knower of past-present-future, jyotish-astrology

• Balarama Dasa: tattva bhava ~ Samkhya sastra

• Jagannath Dasa: bhakti bhava ~ divine love

Born in the Cuttack district of Odisha, Sri Achyutananda's birthplace was Tilakana, a village situated at the confluence of the Luna and Chitrotpala rivers, both branches of the Mahanadi. Scholars estimate his birth year to fall between 1480 and 1505 on a Magha Sukla Ekadasi, corresponding to the twenty-first regnal year of the Gajapati king Purushottam Deva. His parents were Padmavati and Dinabandhu Khuntia, and his maternal grandfather was Gopinath Mohanty, who served as a scribe at the Jagannath Temple in Puri. His parents, who had been childless for a long period, had been praying to Lord Jagannath for a child. One night, his father experienced a vision of Garuda, the eagle vehicle of Vishnu, presenting him with a child. The following morning, he went to the temple and offered prayers at the Garuda Khamba (a pillar in front of the Jagannath temple) in gratitude. Two accounts exist regarding Achyutananda's birth: one suggests Dinabandhu Khuntia found a divine newborn there, while the other posits that Padma Devi conceived a divine child shortly after this vision. 

Mahapurusha Achyutananda is believed to have been born through special grace or divine intervention, linked to Lord Jagannath himself (as suggested by "Vibhuti Yoga" in the Shrimad Bhagavat Geeta). This divine association is reflected in his name, Achyuta, which is interpreted as "A" (Shri Vishnu) and "chyuta" (created from). He is sometimes also called "Achyuti," an Oriya term signifying "one who has no fall". 

The Panchasakha played a crucial role in making ancient Hindu scriptures accessible to the people of Udra Desha (Odisha) by translating them into straightforward prose. Among them, Shri Achyutananda Das stands out as the most productive writer, credited with numerous texts known as Pothis, purportedly authored across multiple incarnations. Revered as the Mahapurusha, signifying "a great man," Mahapurusha Achyutananda was a practitioner of Shunya Sadhana who amassed extensive knowledge encompassing a wide range of subjects, including spirituality, Ayurveda (the traditional Indian healing system utilizing natural resources and herbs), various scientific disciplines, and social norms. 

Panchasakha ideology 

Sunya Purusha 

nahi tahara rupa varna, adarsha avarna ta chinha. 

tahaku brahma boli kahi, sunya brahmhati se bolai. 

It has no shape, no colour, it is invisible and ideal, without a name. This Brahman is called Shunya Brahman. The Panchasakhas believed in a concept of God as Sunya (emptiness, void, zero) called Shunya Purusha or Shunya Brahman. This Shunya signifies a transcendental principle that eludes the conceptual nexus applied to human thinking as described in the Upanishads. 

Achyutananda’s culminating work is called the Shunya Samhita where he discusses this philosophy in depth. 

sunyara akara viira sunyara vicara, sunye thai dekha vira e sacaracara. 

dekha e sacaracara sunyare prakasha, sunyu ude hoichanti sunyare vilase. 

Oh viral Look at the shunya by placing yourself in shunya, and meditate on mahashunya, Shunya itself is the form, Ground of all discriminating knowledge. Look at the whole world from the pedestal of Shunya; you will find everything manifested in the Shunya, everything arises out of Shunya and everything flourishes in the Shunya Brahman. 

The philosophy is not the Shunya of the Buddhists, as it is not empty but full, sometimes even called the Purna Shunya (the full/complete void). 

The Panchasakhas project the deity Jagannath as the embodiment of the Shunya Purusha. Achyutananda uses a classical concept of Vaishnavism that uses both form, and formless aspects of God. This is seen in his statement from the Gurubhakti Gita: 

dui je dinare paksi udikari jai, dui je chaksure sehi samsare khelai. 

ekaje na thile kana dui gale andha, enukari nirguna saguna sehi bheda. 

A bird can only fly with both wings. It can have a perfect vision with both the eyes. In the absence of one, it becomes one-eyed, and in the absence of both, it is totally blind. Thus like two eyes Nirguna (god perceived as formless) and Saguna (god perceived with form) are chained together.

Mahapurusha Achyutananda's Shunya Samhita presents a fascinating account of the Panchasakha's origins, linking them to the Mahabharata's Dwapara-Yuga. The text explains that Panchasakha literally means "five mates or friends." This narrative details how, as Lord Krishna prepared to leave the mortal realm at the close of the Mahabharata era, Nilakantheswara Mahadeva (Lord Shiva, residing in Puri with a blue throat from his act of saving the world from poison) appeared and spoke with Krishna. Shiva disclosed that Krishna's companions Dama, Sudama, Srivatsa, Subala, and Subahu would reincarnate in the Kali-Yuga, becoming known as Ananta, Achyutananda, Jagannatha, Balarama, and Yasovanta. Therefore, those who adhere to the Panchasakha tradition believe these five saints were the closest confidantes of Lord Krishna during the Dwapara-Yuga and were reborn in the Kali-Yuga to continue their service to him. 

Mahapurusha Achyutananda established numerous spiritual and energetic centers, known as 'Gadis, across eastern India (the former regions of Anga, Banga, Kalinga, Magadha) and parts of Nepal. These 'Gadis served as hubs for spiritual practices, teachings, asceticism, and offered various forms of support to spiritual seekers, with examples including Nemal, Kakatpur, Garoi, and Jobra Ghat (a riverbank in Cuttack). 

References:

[1] https://magazines.odisha.gov.in/Orissareview/2014/Jun/engpdf/115-119.pdf 

[2] Jamini Upadesa Sutra - Pt Sanjay Rath

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achyutananda_Dasa

[4] https://magazines.odisha.gov.in/orissaannualreference/ORA-2011/pdf/43-46.pdf 

Om ṭat ṣat