A bit about "Jnanavatar" Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri

A bit about "Jnanavatar" Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri 

Two short books by Paramahamsa Prajnanananda are very useful. One is a short biography of Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri - disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya and spiritual guru of the world renowned Paramahansa Yogananda. The other is a similar book on Lahiri Mahasaya himself. Today, let's just take up the life of Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri. 

1. Early Life 

Born as "Priyanath Karar" in a "zamindar" (landlord) family in 1855, Swamiji was brought up to be a disciplined and hardworking person. Though he lost his father somewhat early in life, he did not have to face any financial difficulties in his childhood because his mother had enough skill to manage the family property and business well. He was a brilliant student, did not blindly agree to ideas without properly testing them and was also a bit outspoken where truth was concerned. Given the family background, he was favorably disposed towards love and devotion to God, but his devotion never came in the way of his keen interest in mathematics and science. The book says that he always scored 100% marks in mathematics at school. The British education system prevalent in Serampore (W.B.) at the time helped his logical faculties mature rapidly, but he also continued to study the scriptures to 

understand how to lead a righteous life. He once mocked a pandit who was lecturing in the town because he was convinced that the Pandit merely knew Sanskrit and had no deeper understanding of the scriptures. He was reprimanded from the point of view of discipline, but people also appreciated his courage and conviction and his knowledge of the scriptures. 

In due course of time, Swamiji joined a Christian missionary school and during this phase, also studied the Bible in-depth. At university, seeing his keen interest in anatomy and physiology, a Professor remarked that he should first go to medical college and only then come to his class. Swamiji was so deeply interested that he actually acted on that advice and joined a medical college for 2 years. After 2 years, he left medical college simply because he did not intend to become a doctor. He had gained the knowledge he needed on the subjects of his interest and that was enough for him. 

After medical college, Swamiji married as per his mother's wishes and was blessed with a daughter. However, his keen intellect was not very interested in the family business and hence the business had to be closed after some time. He worked in a large company as an accountant for some time, and proved himself to be highly efficient at the job, but that job also did not interest him too deeply. The book says somewhere that he may also have been influenced by his mother's view that a person who works too long for others ultimately becomes a slave. Moreover, the deep desire for God-realization had always been on his mind. Whatever the full set of reasons, Swamiji left that job too, and from then on, stayed satisfied with the income he received from his property. Here, the book says, he was quite wise in his decisions and was respected and appreciated by many lawyers in Kolkata for his knowledge of the law. 

At some point in this phase, Swamiji also acquired a good knowledge of homeopathic medicine. He also studied naturopathy from a German scholar. He was quite keen on physical exercise and music too. Even in his later years, he advised young people to exercise regularly, saying that a weak / sick body would not help in the search for God. He was well-versed with many languages and had a great 

understanding of astrology and astronomy too. He used to seek out eminent personalities from different walks of life so that he could learn from their understanding and experience. However, through all this, his search for self-realization continued. 

After some years as a householder, his wife passed away, and after another few years, his daughter, who was married, also passed away due to an illness. Swamiji considered these troubles to be mainly the results of actions from past lives, and his search for the eternal Truth continued. 

2. Meeting his Guru 

As mentioned above, throughout his early years, Swamiji's quest for the Truth continued unabated. In 1883, though, when he was about 28 years old, he heard of the great yogi "Yogiraj" Shri Shyamacharan Lahiri (called Lahiri Mahasaya or Lahiri Baba for short) from the noble families in Bengal. Lahiri Mahasaya - as is well known - received his initiation from the legendary Shri Guru Babaji, who is supposed to have maintained his youthful form for centuries now, and is said to have the ability to appear and disappear at will. Shri Lahiri Mahasaya was given the task of rejuvenating the ancient art/science of Kriya Yoga by Shri Guru Babajji (also called Mahavataar Babaji by Paramahansa Yogananda), and he performed this role to perfection. Today, Lahiri Mahasaya is known as the original preceptor of Kriya Yoga in modern times and more than a few of his disciples and devotees are today recognized and remembered as fully self-realized yogis. Swami Sri Yukteswar ji was immediately drawn to this figure and travelled to Kashi to meet him. He was accepted as a disciple by Lahiri Mahasaya and from the Yogiraj himself, Sri Yukeswar learnt of the science and practices of Kriya Yoga. After spending many days with the Yogiraj, Swamiji left for his residence in Serampore (as per the Yogiraj's own instructions) and there, he continued his efforts with full seriousness and sincerity. If he had doubts, he would write to Lahiri Mahasaya for guidance or simply go to Kashi to discuss in person. He continued discussing with pundits, philosophers and other great personalities and is even known to have gone deep into the forest to learn from a tribal saint who used to otherwise bar outsiders from attending his rituals. He believed that the teachings of different saints are one in essence, and taught that if people analyzed them with an open and devoted mind, they would perceive this unity and would be relieved of sectarian thoughts. Over time, says the book, many a scriptural truth was revealed to Sri Yukteswar ji, and after a point, he was himself considered to be a fully self-realized yogi - among the few to have had attained the state of nirvikalpa samadhi (or nirbikalpa samadhi, as Paramahansa Yogananda liked to spell it). 

Through Sri Yukteswar, many of his friends also came into contact with Lahiri Mahasaya. One - called Rama - was also initiated by Lahiri Mahasaya and often accompanied Sri Yukteswar to Kashi, where Lahiri Mahasaya lived. The book says that once Rama was down with Asiatic cholera and that his condition was deterirating rapidly. When Sri Yukteswar prayed to the Yogiraj to help Rama, the Yogiraj is said to have replied that he was being treated by good doctors and that he would recover. However, when Sri Yukteswar went over to meet Rama, he found to his grief that the doctors had also given up hope. Swamiji rushed back to Yogiraj Lahiri Mahasaya and Lahiri Mahasaya again gave him the same reply - that Rama was being treated by good doctors and that he would recover. Rama's condition was, however, deteriorating steadily and he soon breathed his last. Swamiji again rushed to his Guru with the news, and this time, Lahiri Mahasaya asked him to calm down and meditate. Swamiji found it difficult to get to meditation in that state of the mind, but obeyed his Guru nevertheless. He then remained in deep meditation the whole evening and night, and in the morning, Lahiri Mahasaya gave him a bottle of neem oil and instructed him to put seven drops in Rama's mouth, so that Rama could come back to life again. Sri Yukteswar could not believe his ears, but rushed to Rama's side immediately. After seven drops of the oil were administered, Rama's body started showing some vibrations and then Rama just woke up as if from deep sleep. After a short while, he started breathing normally too. Swamiji thus got a first hand experience of the possibilities for a yogi and his faith in his guru was deepened further. 

3. The Gita Sabha and Works by Swamiji 

With Lahiri Mahasaya's blessings, Sri Yukteswar started a group to help people realize the teachings of the scriptures - in particular, the Gita. Later, the name of this group was changed to Satsang Samaj, and then again to Satsang Sabha. Some of the members of this group later accepted him as their spiritual guru, though Swamii had to fight a bit of a battle before that. In a nutshell, while Swamiji was highly intelligent and learned, some people in the neighboring localities had reservations about him being the guru of people of an even higher caste. Swamiji dealt with these perceptions head-on and invited a group of highly learned pundits to discuss his teachings - which were illuminated by his own experience of samadhi and meditation. The pundits stood convinced and thereafter, people did not have any reservations in allowing Brahmins to take initiation from Sri Yukteswar. 

Around this time, in 1894, Swamiji met his param-guru (guru's guru), the renowned Mahavatar Babaji in the famous Kumbh mela at Allahabad. The great master was the first person to use the term "Swamiji" for Sri Yukteswar and Swamiji protested, only to be told by Babaji that what had come out of his mouth was his own perception and was based on his own culture, so there was no need to disagree with the term. At that time, Swami Sri Yukteswar had not been initiated into Sannyas and was therefore, not formally a monk. Babaji referred to Swamiji's writings on the Gita and requested him to write a book about the philosophies of the East and the West, which would help people especially in the West. The result of this was the publication of a book called "Kaivalya Darshan" in Sanskrit, with an English translation titled "The Holy Science". An introduction to this book appears in an earlier blog by the present author, and hence the book is not being discussed here again. The purpose of the book was to bring out the underlying unity of the philosophies of Yoga and the Bible, and that purpose was very successfully achieved by the book. Mahavatar Babaji had promised to appear again in front of Swamiji on the day the book would be completed, and he did. 

Other than his writings on the Gita and the great book mentioned above, Swamiji was widely known for his great contribtions to astrology. He completely changed the understanding people had of the duration of the 4 "yugas", by arguing that the yugas follow an ascending cycle of 12,000 years followed by a descending cycle of the same duration. According to his calculations, the world had entered Dwapara Yuga around 1,700 AD and this was corroborated by the great advances made since then in the sciences. This, according to him, could not have been accomplished in Kali Yuga, which is a darker age characterized by a general ignorance of subtle laws and principles. He also showed that many calculations in ancient Indian calendars were based on the positions of planets and starts thousands of years ago, and argued for a correction in the calendars based on the present positions of the same. Pundits may sometimes have disagreed (or, may not have had the authority to make changes based on his advice, but he was nevertheless recognized as one of the greatest scholars of this science in those days. 

In 1903, Swamiji established the "Karar Ashram" in Puri (Orissa), and another few years after that, in 1906, he accepted initiation as a monk from Shrimat Swami Krishnadayal Giri Maharaj, who was the head of an ashram in Bodhgaya. His Guru, Lahiri Mahasaya, had given up his earthly body way before that - in 1895. It was in this initiation that he was given the name of Yukteswar Giri. Prior to this, he had been known by the name given by his parents - Priyanath Karar. He was clearly a contemporary of Swami Vivekananda and held Swami Vivekananda in great esteem. He also maintained good contacts with the other disciples of Sri Ramakrishna - e.g., Swami Brahmananda. To establish unity amongst different faiths was as much the goal of Sri Yukteswar as of Sri Ramakrishna 

Paramahamsa, and towards this end, Sri Yukteswar established a national organization called "Nikhila Bhaarat Saadhu Mandala". He also planned to set up ashrams for different classes of aspirants - the Karar Ashram would be the place for young aspirants, the Pranava Ashram in Varanasi would serve the somewhat more advanced seekers and there would be an ashram in the Himalayas for those who were at least 50 years of age and had no desires left except God-realization. 

In 1910, Swamiji made the acquaintence of Mukundlal Ghosh, son of an advanced disciple couple of Lahiri Mahasaya. This boy grew up to be the world famous Paramahansa Yogananda, who brought the light of Kriya Yoga to the US. Sri Yukteswar's param guru - Mahavatar Babaji - had promised to send him some disciples who would help him spread the message in the West too, and in Paramahansa Yogananda, this promise was fulfilled. 

Other than this, Sri Yukteswar also published other books (e.g., a book on Sanskrit grammar, a book on astrology, and another book introducing English and Hindi to beginners). However, he is perhaps best known for "The Holy Science", the book which brings out the unity between the teachings of the Sanaatan dharma and The Bible. Incidents from his life - including his appearing before different disciples after his final samaadhi - have led Paramahansa Yogananda and others to conclude that Sri Yukteswar was fully self-realized and possessed all the powers ascribed by tradition to accomplished yogis. This may not at all be an exaggeration - given that Sri Yukteswar himself taught that with perfection in the practice of "kriya", the entire universe comes under the control of the yogi. Of course, this should never be interpreted as implying that Sri Yukteswar sought power. Rather, he always taught his disciplies to engage in selfless service during the day, and work on their spiritual practices before daybreak or after sunset. 

4. Messages and Teachings 

The book devotes a chapter to messages by Sri Yukteswar regarding the ascent of spiritual energy in practitioners with different degrees of preparation. It mentions the kind of light aspirants would see between the eyebrows (or, in the mind in general) if say, the earth element was dominant in them at that time or the nature of the Aum sound that aspirants would hear if they were in a particular kind of 

samadhi. Other than that, the messages bring out the importance of rooting out anger and lust, and of keeping the essential Unity of consciousness (chaitanya) in mind, so that divisive tendencies do not make the practitioner sink too deep into "maayaa". 

For practitioners, the description of lights and sounds in meditative states would confirm some of the ideas they would have picked up from different sources, but more than anything, it would bring joy to their hearts to know that such concentrated peace is very much a possibility within the human body. 

To the present author, concentration and peace are the same for the practitioner of yoga - because dissipated (un-concentrated) thoughts and emotions are the very essence of a disturbed mind.  On the other hand, when the flow of thoughts is one-pointed and smooth, the state of mind automatically brings about peace and contentedness. Shrimat Swaami Hariharaananda Aaranya has brought these ideas out very clearly in his commentaries on the Yoga Sutras and the present author remains forever in debt of such teachers. This is of course the main thrust of Maharshi Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, and given the widespread acceptance of Maharshi Patanjali's framework amongst practitioners even today, it is clear that the possibility of attaining to that level of peace and harmonious flow of thought would bring great joy to practitioners' hearts. In that sense, the color of the lights they may see or the nature of the sound they may hear would be of secondary importance. However, for someone who is in the midst of that experience, maybe even the details (color of the light, etc.) may be of some importance. For example, in some contexts, the shades of red are associated with energy and "rajasic" qualities, and shades of yellow and white are associated with "saatwik" qualities and being closer to "absorption". Hence, the details like color etc. may have a different relevance for different practitioners who come with different backgrounds and different levels of preparation. The reader can look through the book for these details, as per the need. 

Sri Yukteswar's teachings were mainly for the serious practitioners - monks or householders. However, he also taught about the importance of righteous conduct, selfless service, logical/rational thinking, and proper education for boys and girls. As for rationality, he said that it is easier for a scientist to be truly spiritual and unravel the whole mystery of creation, because the truly scientific minds may already have the power of attention and focus which is needed to focus on the inner being and discover the deeper dimensions which could prove the spiritual realities to the practitioner. 

To conclude, it is instructive to take a look at the "Five Points of Swami Shriyukteshwar" - also called his "Advice for Ascetics". The points have been put in the present author's words, but hopefully, that has not changed the contents. 

1. The first point of advice is to view life as a service to God. 

2. The second point recommends that the practitioner do every work centered in self-knowledge. 

3. The third point recommends that service should be performed only for the purification of the self. 

   

4. The fourth point is that it is extremely important to be established in "existence, awareness and bliss" - because all other works are secondary. 

5. The fifth point makes it clear that Tapas (right austerity), Svaadhyaaya (self-study) and Iswara-Pranidhaana (surrender to God or devotion, for short) are to be practiced at every step in life. 

This last point is also important for a different reason. With discussion of Kriya Practices often focussing on simple or complicated breathing techniques which are ultimately supposed to help the kundalini energy flow up and down the spinal cord area, the "definition" of kriya yoga given in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is often not even mentioned. According to Patanjali, the three disciplines mentioned above - Tapah, Swaadhyaaya and Ishwar-Pranidhaana - together constitute "Kriya Yoga". Here, we find Sri Yukteswar himself recommending these three practices as being essential at every step, thereby reinforcing Patanjali's ideas that all eight limbs of yoga are important for helping the practitioner attain to his goal. 

Sri Yukteshwar attained his "maha-samaadhi" in 1936, at the physical age of 81. He strived to show the unity of all religions in their essence as paths to God-realization. He also proved that faith and rationality could be woven together seamlessly in the fabric of sincerity. And equally importantly, knowing fully well the diversity of background and skill in aspirants, he could still leave humanity with some advice on how to proceed.  

Sadanand Tutakne