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Life Anchored in God

Wisdom is not assimilated with the eyes,  
but with the atoms. 

—Sri Yukteswar

Swami Sri Yukteswar,

 

recognized as a Jnanavatar, 

or an incarnation of divine wisdom, is perhaps best 

known in the West as the guru, or spiritual teacher, 

of Paramahansa Yogananda. In his book, The Autobiography of a Yogi, Parama-

hansaji tells of meeting his guru and the spiritual training he experienced with 

him. Sri Yukteswar was known for his keen discernment, his ability to interpret 

scripture and expound upon the most subtle teachings and his focused inten-

tionality. Living a simple life and extolling the virtues of both spirituality and 

practicality, Sri Yukteswar directed his disciples to live a disciplined life anchored 

in the vastness of God’s omnipresence. He was reported to have been unsparing 

in his efforts to correct disciples when they missed the mark. Paramahansaji 

remarked that he believed that many more students would have come to study 

with his guru, had he not been so forthright. He noted that his own training with 

Sri Yukteswar, even though arduous, left him immeasurably grateful for “the 

humbling blows he dealt my vanity.”

While his devotional nature was rarely outwardly demonstrated, his love for 

God was fathomless. It is revealed in his commitment to his guru and the teach-

ings and in the tireless training of his disciples. Upon accepting Paramahansa 

Yogananda as his disciple (then Mukunda Lal Ghosh), he said to him, “If you ever 

find me falling from a state of God-realization, please promise to put my head on 

your lap and help to bring me back to the Cosmic Beloved we both worship.” Such 

was his commitment and the depth of his devotion. 

Sri Yukteswar was knowledgeable in the Vedic teachings of Yoga, Ayurveda 

and Jyotish (Vedic astrology). At the request of Mahavatar Babaji, he wrote  

The Holy Science, a small book that shows the way of Self- and God-realization 

and reveals the harmonious core of mystical teachings from the East and the 

West. It also includes an explanation of the relationship between the cycles of 

cosmic processes and world events. The direct request from the great yogi Babaji 

to write such a book, at first gave him pause. How would he accomplish it? But 

Babaji reminded him whose work such a divine task really is and promised him 

that when it was complete, he would see him again. True to this promise, when 

the book was completed, Babaji appeared to Sri Yukteswar at the Rai bathing 

ghat on the Ganges. Written there on that spot today are the words: Guru kripa 

he kevalam, which means: God’s grace alone is sufficient. 

LIVING KRIYA YOGA