follow one another cyclically; after a long series, the
universe undergoes a dissolution, or pralaya. After
this interlude, the progression of the Yugas resumes.
The process goes on to infinity. Jain tradition has a
similar progression of ages with different names.
Further reading: Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van
Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the
Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1978); F. B. J. Kuiper, “Cosmogony and Concep-
tion: A Query,” History of Religions 10 (1970): 91–138;
W. J. Wilkins, Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic, 2d
ed. (Calcutta: Rupa, 1973).
Yukteswar, Sri (1855–1936) kriya yoga
teacher
Sri Yukteswar was an important link in the lineage
that revived KRIYA YOGA, especially through his
pupil Paramahansa YOGANANDA.
Priya Nath Karar was born in 1855 in Seram-
pore, a suburb of Calcutta (Kolkata). He received
his primary education at a modern English school
and was later admitted into Calcutta University
but left the university when he found his physics
teacher to be incompetent. He continued to study
informally by auditing classes in physics, chemistry,
biology, physiology, and anatomy at the Calcutta
Medical College. Especially talented in mathemat-
ics, he also studied astronomy and astrology. He
would later become a famous spiritual teacher and
astrologer. He married, but his wife died after giv-
ing birth to his daughter. As a widower, he cared for
his daughter and widowed mother.
In 1883 he met LAHIRI MAHASAYA, who initiated
him into the practice of kriya yoga. Kriya means
“work,” in this case a specific set of mental and
physical practices for SELF-REALIZATION. He mas-
tered the system and soon became a guru of kriya
yoga himself.
Having been raised in Serampore, a center for
Christian missionaries, Priya Nath was greatly
influenced by the teachings of the Holy Bible and
Jesus Christ. He wrote his own interpretation of
the Bhagavad Gita and also drew comparisons
between the teachings of KRISHNA and the teach-
ings of Christ.
In 1894 Priya Nath went to ALLAHABAD for the
KUMBHA MELA, a PILGRIMAGE festival that occurs
four times every 12 years, attended by millions
of people from all over the world. Here he first
met BABAJI, his teacher’s teacher, a semilegendary
saint who appeared and reappeared at long inter-
vals. Although not yet a SANNYASI (renunciant), he
was honored as such by Babaji. In this encounter,
Babaji encouraged Priya Nath to write about the
similarities in the Hindu and Christian traditions,
certain that the West could benefit from learning
of these connections. Babaji assured him that they
would meet again when the book was finished;
indeed, when Kaivalya Darshanam, the Holy Sci-
ence, was published, Babaji appeared under a tree
near where Priya Nath took his daily bath in the
GANGES River.
By the early 1900s Priya Nath was teaching to
wider audiences; in 1902 he established Sat Sanga
Sabha, a religious cultural institution that offered
educational, social, and spiritual programs, includ-
ing courses in kriya yoga and the Yogashastras. At
this time, he received the vows of SANNYAS and
was given the name Swami Sri Yukteshvar Giri
(union with God) by Swami Krishna Dayal Giri.
In 1913, he met his student Mukunda Lal, later
known as YOGANANDA, and later bestowed on him
the title of Paramahansa (great swan). Yukteswar
took mahasamadhi (died) in 1936 while meditat-
ing in the lotus position. His body is buried in his
ASHRAM; his tomb has become a sacred place for
initiates of kriya yoga.Further reading: Sailendra Bejoy Das Gupta, Kriya Yoga
and Swami Sriyukteshvar (Calcutta: Uccharan, 1979);
Swami Hariharananda Giri, Kriyayoga: The Scientific
Process of Soul-Culture and the Essence of All Religions
(Orissa: Karar Ashram, 1977); Paramahansa Yogananda,
Autobiography of a Yogi (Los Angeles: Self-Realization
Fellowship, 1971); Sri Yukteswar, The Holy Science (Los
Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1968).K 518 Yukteswar, Sri