Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri
A rigorous yogi-scientist who fused ancient Vedic wisdom with modern astronomy to guide disciples like Yogananda to the West.
1855–1936 (age 81)·Indian yogi and guru (1855 – 1936)·Birthday: May 10
Biography
Sri Yukteswar Giri, born Priya Nath Karar in 1855, was a unique fusion of mystic and rationalist. A disciple of the householder yogi Lahiri Mahasaya, he approached spiritual discipline with the precision of a scientist. He ran two ashrams, in Serampore and Puri, where he demanded exacting discipline from his students, including a young Paramahansa Yogananda. Beyond yoga, he was a profound scholar of the Bhagavad Gita and a credentialed Jyotishi (Vedic astrologer) and astronomer. His book 'The Holy Science' sought to reconcile Eastern spiritual cycles with Western astronomical knowledge, proposing a unifying theory of world ages. With a gaze often described as penetrating and a demeanor of serene authority, he prepared Yogananda for his world mission, acting as the essential bridge between the Himalayan lineage of Kriya Yoga and its global dissemination.
#1 When Swami Was Born
The biggest hits of 1855
Swami's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1855Born
1860Started school
1868Became a teenager
President: Andrew Johnson
1871Could drive
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1873Could vote
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1876Turned 21
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1885Turned 30
Karl Benz builds the first gasoline-powered automobile
President: Grover Cleveland
1895Turned 40
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1905Turned 50
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1915Turned 60
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1925Turned 70
The Scopes Trial debates evolution in schools
Home: $4,366President: Calvin Coolidge"Sweet Georgia Brown" — Ben Bernie
1935Turned 80
Social Security Act signed into law
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,450President: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Cheek to Cheek" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty
1936Died at 81
Jesse Owens wins four golds at the Berlin Olympics
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"The Way You Look Tonight" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: The Great Ziegfeld
Key Achievements
- Authored 'The Holy Science,' which correlates Vedic Yugas (ages) with the solar cycle's movement around a dual star.
- Served as the guru to Paramahansa Yogananda, authorizing him to bring Kriya Yoga to the West.
- Established and guided two ashrams, the Serampore hermitage and the Karar Ashram in Puri, as training centers for monastic disciples.
- Was a recognized scholar in Jyotish (Vedic astrology) and astronomy, integrating these studies with his spiritual teachings.
Did You Know?
He held a degree in surveying and served as a Justice of the Peace in Serampore.
Sri Yukteswar was known for his strict, sometimes stern, teaching style, which he called 'hard-boiled'.
He instructed Yogananda to wait for a specific astrological alignment before departing for America in 1920.
His body was interred in a tomb in the garden of his Serampore ashram according to his wishes.
“Forget the past. The vanished lives of all men are dark with many shames. Everything in future will improve if you are making a spiritual effort now.”
