Sri Yukteswar Giri

Sri Yukteswar Giri, born Priya Nath Karar, was a 19th–20th-century Bengali yogi and teacher in the Kriyā Yoga lineage. A disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya, he became a swami of the Giri branch of the Daśanāmi monastic order and ran āśrams at Serampore and Puri. He was learned in astronomy and Sanskrit scripture and wrote The Holy Science (Kaivalya Darśanam), a short treatise arguing for the underlying harmony of Hindu and Christian teaching and presenting his theory of the yuga (world-age) cycle. He is best known internationally as the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda, who portrayed him at length in his widely read Autobiography of a Yogi. He lived from 1855 to 1936, and his life is comparatively well documented for a modern figure, though some of the more devotional episodes recorded by his followers are matters of faith.