Achyutananda Das or Mahapurusha Achyutananda was a 16th-century poet seer and Vaishnava saint from Odisha, India. His Harivamsa is a work in seven volumes and popularly called in Odia Satakhandia Harivamsa. The book, though, is not a literal translation of the original Harivamsa in Sanskrit.
Various lilas of Sri Krishna Bhagavan are lucidly described in Harivamsa Of Acyutananda. The descriptions helped poets of succeeding ages to follow the episodes, anecdotes, and stories of Harivamsa. The language and style are impressive and represent the early phase of writings of Achyutananda Das.
At the time of writing this book, the poet was very poor. He writes in Harivamsa that “I live in Madhyagrama of Ranapur. Padmana Narendra gives me food and clothing. Being counted among Shudras, I am initiated for the sake of cowherd men. I initiate all cowherd men to the holy name of the Bhagavan and keep my mind on the feet of Krishna Bhagavan. Thus I am called mahanta (superior) of the clan of cowherd men, due to the blessings of husband of Kamala. So, I always wash the feet of Gopinatha; O crimson-robed Bhagavan, rescue Acyuta Dasa, the poet”.
Achyutananda Das was part of the famous Panasakha, five friends of Chaitanya. At the time of composing Satakhandia Harivamsa, he spent his days under the royal patronage of King Padmana Narendra of Ranapur. His philosophical ideology of sunyapurusha and nirakara consciousness took concrete shape at a later stage.