Advaita Ācārya had six sons, of whom three, Acyutānanda, Kṛṣṇa Miśra and Gopāla Dāsa, are considered to have understood the essence of spiritual life, while the other three, Balarāma, Svarūpa and Jagadīśa, did not. The book Advaita-carita describes this as follows:

acyutaḥ kṛṣṇa-miśraś ca gopāla-dāsa eva ca
ratna-trayam idaṁ proktaṁ sītāgarbhādi-sambhavam
ācārya-tanayeṣvete trayo gaura-gaṇāḥ smṛtāḥ
caturtha balarāmaś ca svarūpaḥ pañcamaḥ smṛtaḥ
ṣaṣṭhas tu jagadīśākhya ācārya-tanaya hi ṣaṭ

The three sons Acyuta, Kṛṣṇa Miśra and Gopāla Dāsa were born from the womb of Sītādevī and are called the three jewels. Amongst Advaita Ācārya’s sons, these three were members of Gaura’s inner circle. His fourth son was Balarāma, his fifth son Svarūpa and the sixth, Jagadīśa.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura paraphrases Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja’s explanation in this regard in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya: “In the beginning, all of Advaita Prabhu’s followers shared a common understanding but in the course of time some unfortunately adopted differing doctrines. Those who followed the opinions of Advaita Ācārya Himself are considered to be pure Vaiṣṇavas, but those who under some fateful influence rejected his teachings and invented a new doctrine are considered unworthy. We have no need of knowing the names of the unworthy sons of Advaita Prabhu but have listed them together in order to be able to distinguish them. Just as the useful rice grains are separated from the chaff by winnowing, so have the noble sons of Advaita been separated from the unworthy.”

The doctrines of Advaita Ācārya are the essential teachings of spiritual life; those who ignored His orders became useless. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.12.10)

All those who took Acyutānanda’s opinion belong to the group of Advaita Ācārya’s associates. They are great devotees who received His mercy and easily attained the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.12.73-4)

When Mahāprabhu came to Advaita Ācārya’s house in Śāntipura after taking sannyāsa in Katwa, Acyutānanda was either three or five years old at that time.

Advaita’s effulgent son Acyutānanda was still small enough to go about without any clothes. He was omniscient, greatly fortunate and had inconceivable power; he was Advaita’s worthy heir. His entire body was covered with dust, but on hearing that the Lord had arrived, he came to see Him with a smile on his face. He fell at the Lord’s feet and the Lord picked him up, even though he was covered with dust and held him on His lap. (Caitanya Bhāgavata 3.1.213-6)

While holding him, Mahāprabhu said to Acyutānanda: “Since Advaita is My father, you are My brother.” When he heard this, Acyutā responded by displaying a profound understanding of Mahāprabhu’s spiritual identity. He said, “You are the friend of every single living being, and scripture says that You are the father of all creation.” The devotees were astonished when they heard Acyutā show this understanding of the Lord’s identity.

In the fourth chapter of the Antya-khaṇḍa of Caitanya Bhāgavata, Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura writes about Acyutānanda’s single-minded devotion to Caitanya Mahāprabhu in the following way: One day, a sannyāsī came to visit Advaita Prabhu’s house and asked Him what the relationship between Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Keśava Bhāratī was. Advaita Ācārya answered in a conventional way that Keśava Bhāratī was the Lord’s guru. The five-year-old child interjected angrily, “The Lord is the spiritual master of all the gurus of the world; He is the Supreme Lord Himself. How could anyone be His guru?” When Advaita Ācārya heard this wisdom from the mouth of His child, He said, “This boy is My father and I am his son!” And He asked His son forgiveness for His offence—causing the lad to hang his head in embarrassment. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has summarized this story beautifully:

“When Acyutānanda heard from his father that Keśava Bhāratī was Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s spiritual master, he was very unhappy. He told his father, ‘Your teaching about the supreme spiritual master, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, will wreak havoc in the world. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the teacher of the fourteen worlds, but You say that someone else is His spiritual master. This is not supported by any revealed scripture.’ Advaita Ācārya felt great satisfaction to hear His five-year-old son Acyutānanda display such an understanding of doctrine.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.12.14-7)

Mahāprabhu appeared at Advaita Ācārya’s house just when the entire household and other devotees were becoming aware of Acyutānanda’s spiritual intelligence and gave him His blessings.

Acyutānanda had seen Mahāprabhu’s glories at His great epiphany (mahā-prakāśa), for when the Lord had summoned Advaita Ācārya through Śrī Rāma Paṇḍita, Acyutānanda had accompanied Him to Navadvīpa.

Acyutānanda also witnessed the Lord’s punishment of his father for teaching impersonalism. Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura writes the following in his Anubhāṣya: “Śrī Acyutā was the Lord’s devotee from childhood. There is no information on whether Acyutānanda ever married, but he is described as the foremost of Advaita Ācārya’s disciples. On the other hand, in Yadunandana Dāsa’s book describing the disciples of Gadādhara Paṇḍita, Śākhānirṇayāmṛta, it is said that Acyutānanda was a disciple and branch of Gadādhara Paṇḍita. The passage there is as follows:

mahārasāmṛtānandam
acyutānanda-nāmakam
gadādharaṁ-priyatamaṁ
śrīmad-advaita-nandanam

[I offer obeisances to] Advaita Ācārya’s son named Acyutānanda, who takes great joy in the ocean of nectarean sacred rapture. He is Gadādhara’s dearest disciple.

During the concluding pastimes of Mahāprabhu, Gadādhara Paṇḍita remained permanently in Jagannātha Purī. Acyutānanda and Advaita Ācārya’s other worthy sons also came to stay in Purī to be near Him.

Acyutānanda, the son of Advaita Ācārya, lived in Jagannātha Purī, taking shelter of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.10.150)

Acyutānanda came to Purī every year to celebrate the Ratha-yātrā festival during which he danced in the sixth kīrtana group, which came from Śāntipura. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.13.45) He also participated as a dancer in the beṛā-saṅkīrtana, when Mahāprabhu danced in front of Lord Jagannātha.

The kīrtana around the temple started and the seven groups began to sing. In each of the seven groups, one devotee was the designated dancer: Advaita Ācārya, Nityānanda Prabhu, Vakreśvara, Acyutānanda, Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita, Satyarāja Khān, and Narahari Dāsa. The Lord wandered from group to group, but all the devotees thought that He was with them alone. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.10.58-61)

Acyutānanda also participated in the cleaning of the Guṇḍicā Temple. When Lord Jagannātha was in the Guṇḍicā Temple, Mahāprabhu would go there with the devotees to see Him after His morning bath. They would go three times a day and perform saṅkīrtana in the Guṇḍicā Temple courtyard. At the Lord’s behest, either Advaita Ācārya, Nityānanda Prabhu, Vakreśvara Paṇḍita, Acyutānanda, Haridāsa Ṭhākura or other devotees would dance.

After bathing in the morning, the Lord would go to see Lord Jagannātha, taking the devotees and dancing in saṅkīrtana. He would sometimes have Advaita Ācārya dance, sometimes Nityānanda Prabhu, sometimes Haridāsa and sometimes Acyutānanda, sometimes Vakreśvara and sometimes other devotees. The Lord performed saṅkīrtana three times a day in the courtyard of the Guṇḍicā Temple. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.14.70-2)

According to Narahari Cakravartī’s Narottama-vilāsa, Acyutānanda remained in Purī until Mahāprabhu’s disappearance, after which he spent the rest of his life living at the family home in Śāntipura. He also participated in the Khetarī festival.