(Shivanandanagar: Divine Life Society, 1980); ———,
The Realization of the Absolute (Rishikesh: Divine Life
Society, 1972).
Krishna Prem, Sri (1898–1965) Western-born
Vaishnavite guru
British-born Sri Krishna Prem was a prominent
GURU in the orthodox Vaishnavite tradition.
Ronald Nixon was born in Cheltenham,
En gland, on May 10, 1898; served as a pilot
in World War I while still a teenager; and later
graduated in philosophy from King’s College,
Cambridge. While at Cambridge, he studied The-
osophy, Buddhism, and Pali and took a Buddhist
initiation.
In 1921, after graduation from Cambridge,
he went to India to take a position as lecturer in
En glish at Lucknow University and to continue his
spiritual search. The vice-chancellor of Lucknow
University, Dr. G. N. Chakravarti, was a Theoso-
phist, who had known Madame BLAVATSKY and was a
friend of Annie BESANT, then president of the THEO-
SOPHICAL SOCIETY. During a party at the home of Dr.
Chakravarti and his wife, Monica, Nixon observed
Monica in a meditative and devotional state in front
of an image of Lord KRISHNA. In 1924, she became
his guru and gave him initiation into VAISHNAVISM
(the worship of incarnations of VISHNU).
In 1928, Monica took the vow of SANNYAS
(called vairagya in the GAUDIYA Vaishnavite tradi-
tion) and assumed the name Yashoda Ma. Soon
after, Nixon took vairagi vows from her and was
given the name Krishna Prem. They looked for a
place to start a community and found a rural area
near Almora; they founded the Uttar Brindaban
Ashram and dedicated a temple to Radha and
Krishna there in 1931. The ASHRAM began and
has continued to be aligned with strict ortho-
dox Vaishnavism, including total vegetarianism,
thrice-daily PUJAS, and a sacramental attitude
toward all of life.
Yashoda Ma died in 1944, leaving Krishna
Prem as her successor. He initiated two people
before her death: her daughter, Moti, and an
Englishman he had known at Cambridge. The
ashram grew and eventually included other Indian
disciples, some of whom built their own cottages
near the temple.
Krishna Prem traveled little, but in 1948 he
visited Sri RAMANA MAHARSHI and Sri AUROBINDO
and the MOTHER. At his death on November 14,
1965, leadership of the ashram passed to Sri
Madhava ASHISH, another Englishman, who col-
laborated with Krishna Prem on publications and
edited some of his work posthumously.Further reading: Krishna Prem, Initiation into Yoga: An
Introduction to the Spiritual Life (Bombay: B. I., 1976);
———, The Yoga of the Bhagavat Gita (Longmead,
England: Element Books, 1988); Krishna Prem and
Madhava Ashish, Man, the Measure of All Things, in the
Stanzas of Dyzan (London: Rider, 1969); Dilip Kumar
Roy, Yogi Sri Krishnaprem (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan, 1968).Krita Yuga
All of the YUGAS, or ages, in the Indian tradition,
refer to throws in an ancient game of dice. Krita
(“the one that made it!”) is the best throw—a 4.
The Krita Yuga, which like all ages has appeared
an infinite number of times and will return an
infinite number of times, is also called Satya Yuga,
or the age of truth. It is 1,728,000 years long. In
Krita Yuga the highest virtue is said to be MEDITA-
TION. In this age, BRAHMA is god. Eternal DHARMA is
said to have all its four feet in this age, while in the
others it progressively has three, two, and one. In
the Krita age there is no distinction between the
best and worst of creatures. Their life, happiness,
and attractiveness are all equal. They are also free
of sorrow, completely good, and enjoy solitude,
rather than crowds. They are devoted to MEDITA-
TION, active in spiritual restraints and austerities,
and act always without self-interest. They are
always joyful and have no permanent homes, but
live in the mountains or by the oceans.K 246 Krishna Prem, Sri