Swami Shriyukteshwar
The year 1910 was momentous for Swami Shriyukteshwar. While visiting the city of Kashi he ran into a young lad by the name of Mukunda. The meeting between the two was joyous, as if the two had known each other for ages. Mukunda immediately knew that his search for a guru had ended. He had found his master. Very soon it was decided that Mukunda would become Swami Shriyukteshwar’s disciple and would meet him next at Serampore. Mukunda was reluctant to leave Kashi at that point but Swami Shriyukteshwar was firm in his directive and Mukunda relented.
Within 10 short years Swami Shriyukteshwar whipped the impetuous boy Mukunda into shape. He became a realized master and an initiated monk who was given the name Swami Yogananda. In 1920 Swami Yogananda set out on a historic journey west when he set sail to attend a seminar of world religions in Boston.
In 1932 at the age of 77 Shri Yukteshwar met his youngest prominent disciple. This is how the disciple described the encounter: “Standing at the door of his room I slowly looked in, and what a sight I saw! In a lotus posture this mahayogi was seated in a clam and peaceful state. With unblinking wide-open eyes but not looking at any thing. It was a vacant gaze full of divinity. I could not fathom where he was merged. His deep gaze full of divinity greatly attracted me. I have not come across such a divine personality until then.” This meeting was to transform the life of the young textile engineer called Rabindranath and would set him on the course to become the enlightened guru and teacher later known as Paramahamsa Hariharananda.
In 1935 Swami Yogananda returned to India after spending 15 years in US. He did so because he received a direct telepathic communication from Swami Shriyukteshwar to come immediately without any further delay. The meeting of the two was extremely joyous and tearful where the guru and disciple embraced each other. Soon Swami Shriyukteshwar gave the title “Paramahamsa” to Swami Yogananda and from that point on he would be known as Paramahamsa Yogananda.
Swami Shriyukteshwar was clearly making arrangements for his departure. He handed over the title and the administrative responsibilities of the entire organization he had built throughout his life to Paramahamsa Yogananda. By 1936 all this was done and during March of that year he directed Paramahamsa Yogananda to arrive in Puri where he was situated. But sadly Paramahamsa Yogananda had other plans. He had decided to attend the Kumbhmela that was taking place that year. When Shri Yukteshwar learnt about Paramahamsa Yogananda’s plans he was extremely distressed. Those around him had never seen him so despondent, but nobody could understand the cause of this.
On the afternoon of 9th March 1936, at the age of 81, Swami Shriyukteshwar summoned his most dedicated devotee Swami Narayan and told him that he was going to leave his body. He then summoned another devotee and asked him to send a telegram to Paramahamsa Yogananda to arrive to Puri immediately. In the evening he sat in lotus posture and began meditating and asked Swami Narayan to hold his chest and back. Soon he entered into deep meditative state and Swami Narayan felt a mild vibration passed from his heart to the fontanel but Swami Narayan did not notice anything amiss. It was only after some time that he realized that Swami Shriyukteshwar had passed away! A doctor was summoned and he confirmed that the great guru and yogi was no more. Next morning Paramahamsa Yogananda arrived and tearfully organized the last rites of his beloved guru.
Soon the miracles started. The day after his death an old lady came by to visit him. When she was informed that he had passed away the previous day she was shocked and exclaimed, “How can this be? I talked to him today morning as he passed by my house!” She was then taken to his burial place where she offered her prayers and returned home.
On June 1936 when Paramahamsa Yogananda sat meditating in his hotel in Bombay, as he waited for his ship, on his way back to the US. Swami Shriyukteshwar made another appearance. The two of them had a robust discussion that has been described in the Autobiography Of An Yogi.
These were not the only people who had the honor of meeting with the great yogi after his passing. Swami Satyananda had a similar experience and so also a few years later, Rabindranath and his friend were also able to see him.
Swami Shriyukteshwar has mentored some of the most prominent yogis of our times who made huge worldwide impact. The common message of all these great yogis is of unity. It is about the underlying unity of all major religions and spiritual traditions. It is of the underlying unity of the divinity in all of us. And it is a message to overcome our external differences and dedicate our lives in service of others.
Besides mentoring a large number of highly prominent disciples Shriyukteshwar made a big contribution to yogic cosmology. In due time his contribution will be recognized and he will be remembered more for this than his role in being the guru of some world famous yogis.
Yogic Cosmology holds that time is cyclic and that there are periods in this cycle where consciousness flows relatively unhindered, while there are other periods where this flow in impaired. The period of impairment is known as Kali Yuga or the “dark ages”. During this time it becomes difficult for yogis to attain realization. On the other hand the period where consciousness flows unimpaired is known as Satya Yuga. During this period realization can be achieved with relative ease and deeper yogic truths can be understood easily. Between Kali Yuga and Satya Yuga there are two additional periods known as Dwapara Yuga and Treta Yuga as per the cosmic calendar.
According to Shriyukteshwar the widely accepted cosmic calendar that demarcates these cosmic periods is flawed. He believes that the Kali Yuga is much shorter than is widely believed. Instead of being 432,000 years long as widely believed it is only 1200 years long. This means we are out of the Kali Yuga and are into Dwapara Yuga. This happened more than 300 years ago, and explains the world wide explosion of knowledge and science since then. According to Shriyukteshwar that half the cycle of the cosmic calendar takes 12,000 years and the full cycle is 24,000 years. This is different from the commonly accepted cosmic calendar that holds the entire cycle takes millions of years. If Shriyukteshwar is right then it means that since humans evolved around 200,000 years ago and dispersed out of Africa about 120,000 years ago, there have been many cosmic cycles. This would explain how ancient civilizations seemed to have gained advanced knowledge and lost it repeatedly. Though our progress has been cyclic, each cycle takes us progressively higher because the knowledge from the previous cycle is not entirely lost.
Swami Shriyukteshwar lived a simple and austere life that was dedicated in the pursuit of Truth. All his life he pursued honestly the deeper questions that came to him. He never hesitated in taking whatever action needed to get his answers. His life is a message of hope that deeper Truths can be realized if pursued honestly with dedicated effort.
Related: The first part of this story: The Life Of Swami Shriyukteshwar: The Tiger Awakens
Credits:This has been written by Raj Shah and edited by Ketna Shah.