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Dramatis Personae
A. K. Mozumdar, Bhagat Singh Thind, Yogi Hari Rama, Yogi Rishi Singh
Gherwal, Yogi Wassan Singh, unaffiliated early twentieth- century Yogis
of Indian descent
Bikram Choudhury, Hollywood Yogi superstar and founder of Bikram Yoga
(“hot yoga”), disciple of Yogananda’s brother, Bishnu Ghosh
Bishnu Charan Ghosh, younger brother of Yogananda, Indian physical cul-
turalist, guru (direct teacher) of Bikram Choudhury
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (aka Madame Blavatsky, aka HPB), Russian- born
Spiritualist medium, occultist, and central founder of the Theosophical
Society in 1875
Lahiri Mahasaya (b. Shyama Charan Lahiri), received Kriya Yoga doctrine
from Babaji, guru of Sri Yukteswar, grand- guru of Yogananda
Mahavatar Babaji, immortal liberated being residing in the Himalayas, guru
of Lahiri Mahasaya, father of Kriya Yoga
Nirad Ranjan Chowdhury (aka Sri Nerode), associate of Yogananda,
1926– 1939
Pierre “The Omnipotent Oom” Bernard (b. Perry Baker), American- born
Yogi, occultist, and founder of the Tantrik Order of America (1905) and
Clarkstown Country Club in Nyack, New York (1918)
Sri Yukteswar (b. Priyanath Karar), disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya, guru of
Yogananda
Swami Abhedananda, Swami Paramananda, early Yogis of the Vedanta
SocietySwami Dhirananda (b. Basu Kumar Bagchi), childhood friend and
associate of Yogananda in the United States, 1922– 1929
Swami Kriyananda (b. James Donald Walters), disciple of Yogananda and
founder of Ananda Church of Self Realization
Swami (Paramahansa) Yogananda (b. Mukunda Lal Ghosh), disciple of Sri
Yukteswar, founder of the Self- Realization Fellowship, American Yogi
extraordinaire