About The Author
The Holy Science
कैवल्यदर्शनम्
by Jnanavatar Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri (1894).
In this book, Swami Yukteswar helps us see the unity among different religions and that all truths are but one truth. This is a must read for all those interested in Yoga.
Due to its original publication date in 1894, which places it outside of the copyright period for most works,
The Holy Scienceis in the public domain.
Swami Sri Yukteswar, an ideal exemplar of India's ancient heritage of illumined rishis, is venerated as a Jnanavatar
(incarnation of wisdom
) by people all over the world who have been inspired by his life and teachings. He manifested the self–mastery and divine attainment that have been the highest goal of Truth–seekers throughout the ages.
His Early Life
Born Priya Nath Karar in Serampore (near Calcutta) in 1855, Swami Sri Yukteswar was the only son of Kshetranath and Kadambini Karar. His father, Kshetranath, was a wealthy businessman, and the family owned several large estates in the area.
Even when he was a boy, young Priya's incisive intellect and thirst for knowledge were evident. As is often the case with great minds, however, he found formal education more of a hindrance than a help; his academic training was therefore not extensive.
Kshetranath Karar died when his son was still a boy. Consequently, at a very young age Priya Nath had to assume the responsibility of managing the family landholdings. In early manhood he was married, but his wife died just a few years later; and their only child, a daughter, passed away as a young woman not long after her marriage.
Priya Nath's pursuit of Truth led him to the great master Lahiri Mahasaya of Banaras, who extolled the sacred science of Kriya Yoga meditation as the most effective means of attaining God–realization, and who was the first to teach openly that ancient science in modern times. Through the guidance of Lahiri Mahasaya and through his own practice of Kriya, Sri Yukteswar achieved the supreme spiritual state, in which, as he describes in The Holy Science, [one] abandons altogether the vain idea of the separate existence of his own Self and becomes unified with Him, the Eternal Spirit, God the Father. This unification with God is Kaivalya, the ultimate goal of man.
Writing of The Holy Science
Sri Yukteswar recognized that a synthesis of the spiritual heritage of the East with the science and technology of the West would do much to alleviate the material, psychological, and spiritual suffering of the modern world. He was convinced that tremendous advances could be made, both individually and internationally, by an exchange of the finest positive features of each culture. These ideas were crystallized by his remarkable encounter with Mahavatar Babaji, the guru of Lahiri Mahasaya, in 1894. Sri Yukteswar told the story of that memorable meeting as follows*:
Recorded by Paramahansa Yogananda in his Autobiography of a Yogi, chapter 36.
Welcome, Swamiji
, Babaji said affectionately.
Sir,
I replied emphatically, I am not a swami.
Those on whom I am divinely directed to bestow the title of swami never cast it off.
The saint addressed me simply, but deep conviction of truth rang in his words; I was instantly engulfed in a wave of spiritual blessing. Smiling at my sudden elevation into the ancient monastic order, 16 I bowed at the feet of the obviously great and angelic being in human form who had thus honored me…
I saw that you are interested in the West, as well as in the East.
Babaji's face beamed with approval. I felt the pangs of your heart, broad enough for all men. That is why I summoned you here.
East and West must establish a golden middle path of activity and spirituality combined,
he continued. India has much to learn from the West in material development; in return, India can teach the universal methods by which the West will be able to base its religious beliefs on the unshakable foundations of yogic science.
You, Swamiji, have a part to play in the coming harmonious exchange between Orient and Occident. Some years hence I shall send you a disciple whom you can train for yoga dissemination in the West. The vibrations there of many spiritually seeking souls come floodlike to me. I perceive potential saints in America and Europe, waiting to be awakened…
At my request, Swamiji,
the great master said, will you not write a short book on the underlying harmony between Christian and Hindu scriptures? Their basic unity is now obscured by men's sectarian differences. Show by
parallel references that the inspired sons of God have spoken the same truths.
Returning to Serampore, Sri Yukteswarji began his literary efforts. In the quiet of night I busied myself over a comparison of the Bible and the scriptures of Sanatana Dharma,
* he later recounted. Quoting the words of the blessed Lord Jesus, I showed that his teachings are in essence one with the revelations of the Vedas. Through the grace of my paramguru,† my book, The Holy Science, was finished in a short time.
* Literally,
eternal religion, the name given to the body of Vedic teachings that are the foundation of Hinduism.† The guru of one's guru; in this case, Mahavatar Babaji.
His Training of Disciples
As the years went by, Swami Sri Yukteswar began accepting disciples for spiritual training. His ancestral home in Serampore became his hermitage; later he constructed an additional ashram by the sea at Puri, three hundred miles south of Calcutta.
It was in 1910 that Sri Yukteswar met the disciple whom Babaji had promised to send him for disseminating Yoga in the West: Mukunda Lal Ghosh, on whom Sri Yukteswar later bestowed the monastic name of Paramahansa Yogananda. In his Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansaji has described in detail his many years of spiritual discipline under Swami Sri Yukteswar, providing a fascinating biographical portrait of his guru, from which the following composite of brief excerpts is taken:
Daily life at the ashram flowed smoothly, infrequently varied. My guru awoke before dawn. Lying down, or sometimes sitting on the bed, he entered a state of samadhi*…
* Samadhi (lit.,
to direct together) is a blissful superconscious state in which a yogi perceives the identity of the individualized soul and Cosmic Spirit.
Breakfast did not follow; first came a long walk by the Ganges. Those morning strolls with my guru—how real and vivid still! In the easy resurrection of memory, I often find myself by his side. The early sun is warming the river; his voice rings out, rich with the authenticity of wisdom.
A bath, then the midday meal. Its preparation, according to Master's daily directions, had been the careful task of young disciples. My guru was a vegetarian. Before embracing monkhood, however, he had eaten eggs and fish. His advice to students was to follow any simple diet which proved suited to one's constitution.
Visitors appeared in the afternoons. A steady stream poured from the world into the tranquil hermitage. My guru treated all guests with courtesy and kindness. A master—one who has realized himself as the omnipresent soul, not the body or the ego—perceives in all men a striking similarity.
Eight o'clock was the supper hour, and sometimes found lingering guests. My guru would not excuse himself to eat alone;
none left his ashram hungry or dissatisfied. Sri Yukteswar was never at a loss, never dismayed by unexpected visitors; under his resourceful directions to the disciples, scanty food would emerge a banquet. Yet he was economical; his modest funds went far. 'Be comfortable within your purse,' he often said. 'Extravagance will bring you discomfort.' Whether in the details of hermitage entertainment or of building and repair work or of other practical concerns, Master manifested the originality of a creative spirit.
Quiet evening hours often brought one of my guru's discourses: treasures against time. His every utterance was chiseled by wisdom. A sublime self–assurance marked his mode of expression: it was unique. He spoke as none other in my experience ever spoke. His thoughts were weighed in a delicate balance of discrimination before he permitted them the outward garb of speech. The essence of truth, all–pervasive with even a physiological aspect, came from him like a fragrant exudation of the soul. I was conscious always that I was in the presence of a living manifestation of God. The weight of his divinity automatically bowed my head before him.
With the exception of the scriptures, Sri Yukteswar read little. Yet he was invariably acquainted with the latest scientific discoveries and other advancements of knowledge. A brilliant conversationalist, he enjoyed an exchange of views on countless topics with his guests. My guru's ready wit and rollicking laugh enlivened every discussion. Often grave, Master was never gloomy. 'To seek the Lord, men need not “disfigure their faces,”' he would say, quoting from the Bible.* 'Remember that finding God will mean the funeral of all sorrows.'
* Matthew 6:16
Among the philosophers, professors, lawyers, and scientists who came to the hermitage, a number arrived for their first visit with the thought of meeting an orthodox religionist. Occasionally a supercilious smile or a glance of amused tolerance would betray that the newcomers expected nothing more than a few pious platitudes. After talking with Sri Yukteswar and discovering that he possessed precise insight into their specialized fields of knowledge, the visitors would depart reluctantly.
Master numbered many doctors among his disciples. 'Those who have studied physiology should go further and investigate the science of the soul,' he told them. 'A subtle spiritual structure is hidden just behind the bodily mechanism.'
'All creation is governed by law,' he said. 'The principles that operate in the outer universe, discoverable by scientists, are called natural laws. But there are subtler laws that rule the hidden spiritual planes and the inner realm of consciousness; these principles are knowable through the science of yoga. It is not the physicist but the Self–realized master who comprehends the true nature of matter. By such knowledge Christ was able to restore the servant's ear after it had been severed by one of the disciples.'
Master expounded the Christian Bible with a beautiful clarity. It was from my Hindu guru, unknown to the roll call of Christian membership, that I learned to perceive the deathless essence of the Bible… Never in East or West have I heard anyone else expound the Christian scriptures with so deep a spiritual insight as Sri Yukteswar's.
Sri Yukteswar counseled his students to be living liaisons of Western and Eastern virtues. Himself an executive Occidental in outer habits, inwardly he was the spiritual Oriental. He praised the progressive, resourceful, and hygienic ways of the West, and the religious ideals that give a centuried halo to the East.
Sri Yukteswar was reserved and matter–of–fact in demeanor. There was naught of the vague or daft visionary about him. His feet were firm on the earth, his head in the haven of heaven. Practical people aroused his admiration. 'Saintliness is not dumbness! Divine perceptions are not incapacitating!' he would say. 'The active expression of virtue gives rise to the keenest intelligence.'
Sri Yukteswar's intuition was penetrating; heedless of remarks, he often replied to one's unexpressed thoughts… The disclosures of divine insight are often painful to worldly ears; Master was not popular with superficial students. The wise, always few in number, deeply revered him. I daresay he would have been the most sought–after guru in India had his speech not been so candid…
Amazing it was to find that a master with such a fiery will could be so calm within. He fitted the Vedic definition of a man of God: 'Softer than the flower, where kindness is concerned; stronger than the thunder, where principles are at stake.'
I often reflected that my majestic master could easily have been an emperor or world–shaking warrior had his mind been centered on fame or worldly achievement. He had chosen instead to storm those inner citadels of wrath and egotism whose fall is the height of a man.
In 1920 Swami Sri Yukteswar sent Paramahansa Yogananda to America to carry out the mission spoken of many years earlier by Mahavatar Babaji—to make available to Truth–seekers throughout the world a knowledge of the liberating science of Kriya Yoga. For this purpose, Sri Yogananda founded Self–Realization Fellowship, an international society with headquarters in Los Angeles. During his three decades in the West, he lectured to capacity audiences in most of America's principal cities; wrote numerous books and prepared a comprehensive series of yoga lessons for home study; and trained monastic disciples to perpetuate the spiritual and humanitarian work entrusted to him by Mahavatar Babaji and Swami Sri Yukteswar.
In appreciation of his disciple's devoted service and accomplishments in America, Sri Yukteswar wrote to Yoganandaji on several occasions. The following extracts from two such letters, written in the mid–1920s, convey a poignant glimpse of the divine relationship of loving closeness that existed between these two great souls:
Child of my heart, O Yogananda!
I am melting in joy to see [the photos of] your yoga students of different cities. Hearing about your methods of chant affirmations, healing vibrations, and divine healing prayers, I cannot refrain from thanking you from my heart.
I am so glad to see the photo of the Mount Washington mansion* that I cannot possibly express it in words. My soul desires to fly there and see it. You have worked hard to be the instrument of God to create it. Carry on the work as you wish. There can never be any difference of opinion between us…
* Reference to the Administration Building of Self–Realization Fellowship International Headquarters atop Mt. Washington in Los Angeles, which Paramahansa Yogananda had acquired a few months earlier.
After I return to Serampore, I may try to get a passport for a tour 'round the world, but conditions seem that with this body it may not be possible to do so. I would like to leave my body near you in your place. In that thought I find
great happiness.
About Puri, arrange as to who will take charge. Through Guru's grace I am well. But I am taking leave from all administrative matters connected with the various centers. I cannot accomplish all this detailed work anymore. This is the beginning of my last efforts in connection with organizational work… I am waiting expectantly for you.
His Last Days and Passing
As foreseen by Sri Yukteswar, it was not the will of the Divine that he travel to America. Nor was Yoganandaji able to wrest himself away from his manifold responsibilities in order to visit India. Finally, in 1935, receiving an urgent intuitive summons from his guru—a portent that his guru's days were drawing to a close—Yoganandaji returned to India for a yearlong visit. He was accompanied by two of his American disciples. The following account by one of them, Mr. C. Richard Wright, provides one of the few personal descriptions of Sri Yukteswarji written by a Westerner:
In grave humility I walked behind Yoganandaji into the courtyard within the hermitage walls. Hearts beating fast, we proceeded up some old cement steps; trod, no doubt, by countless truth seekers. Our tension grew keener and keener as on we strode. Before us, near the head of the stairs, quietly appeared the Great One, Swami Sri Yukteswarji, standing in the noble pose of a sage. My heart heaved and swelled at the blessing of being in his sublime presence…
On bended knee before the master I gave my own unexpressed love and thanks; touching his feet, calloused by time and service, and receiving his blessing. I stood then and gazed into his beautiful eyes—deep with introspection yet radiant with joy.…
I easily perceived the saintliness of the Great One through his heart–warming smile and twinkling eyes. Quickly discernible in his merry or serious conversation is a positiveness in statement: the mark of a sage—one who knows he knows, because he knows God. The master's great wisdom, strength of purpose, and determination are apparent in every way.
He was simply clad; his dhoti and shirt, once dyed an ocher color, are now a faded orange. Studying him reverently from time to time, I noted that he is of large, athletic stature; his body hardened by the trials and sacrifices of a renunciant's life. His poise is majestic. He moves with dignified tread and erect posture. A jovial and rollicking laugh comes from the depths of his chest, causing his whole body to shake and quiver.
His austere face strikingly conveys an impression of divine power. His hair, parted in the middle, is white around the forehead, streaked elsewhere with silvery gold and silvery black, and ends in ringlets at his shoulders. His beard and moustache are scant or thinned out, and seem to enhance his features. His forehead slopes, as though seeking the heavens. His dark eyes are haloed by an ethereal blue ring.… In repose his mouth is stern, yet subtly touched with tenderness.
Though to all outward appearances Sri Yukteswarji's health appeared to be excellent, his time to leave the body was indeed drawing near. Late in 1935 he called Paramahansaji to him.
My task on earth is now finished; you must carry on.
Sri Yukteswar spoke quietly, his eyes calm and gentle.
Please send someone to take charge of our ashram in Puri,
he went on. I leave everything in your hands. You will be able successfully to sail the boat of your life and that of the organization to the divine shores.
The great guru entered mahasamadhi (a yogi's final, conscious exit from the body) on March 9, 1936, in Puri. The Amrita Bazar Patrika, leading newspaper of Calcutta, carried his picture and the following report:
The death Bhandara ceremony for Srimat Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri Maharaj, aged 81, took place at Puri on March 21. Many disciples came down to Puri for the rites.
One of the greatest expounders of the Bhagavad Gita, Swami Maharaj was a great disciple of Yogiraj Sri Shyama Charan Lahiri Mahasaya of Banaras. Swami Maharaj was the founder of several Yogoda Satsanga [Self–Realization Fellowship] centers in India, and was the great inspiration behind the yoga movement which was carried to the West by Swami Yogananda, his principal disciple. It was Sri Yukteswarji's prophetic powers and deep realization that inspired Swami Yogananda to cross the oceans and spread in America the message of the masters of India.
His interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita and other scriptures testify to the depth of Sri Yukteswarji's command of the philosophy, both Eastern and Western, and remain as an eye–opener for the unity between Orient and Occident. As he believed in the unity of all religious faiths, Sri Yukteswar Maharaj established Sadhu Sabha (Society of Saints) with the cooperation of leaders of various sects and faiths, for the inculcation of a scientific spirit in religion. At the time of his demise he nominated Swami Yogananda his successor as the president of Sadhu Sabha. India is really poorer today by the passing of such a great man. May all fortunate enough to have come near him inculcate in themselves the true spirit of India's culture and sadhana which was personified in him.
His Legacy for Humanity
The awakened soul that comes into the presence of the Absolute knows God as the only Reality, and sees the transitory scenes of life and death as part of maya, illusion—a divine drama enacted in the omnipresence of the Cosmic Creator. After his passing, Sri Yukteswar gave to the world a profound last testimony to the truths he had so succinctly described in The Holy Science. As Yoganandaji, grieving over the loss of his beloved guru, made preparations for returning to America, Sri Yukteswar appeared to him in resurrected form. The wondrous experience—and Sri Yukteswar's revelations of the true nature of cosmic creation, of life after death, and of the continuing spiritual evolution of the immortal soul—is the subject of an entire chapter in Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi.
I have now told you, Yogananda, the truths of my life, death, and resurrection,
Sri Yukteswarji said to his beloved disciple. Grieve not for me; rather broadcast everywhere the story of my resurrection.… New hope will be infused into the hearts of misery–mad, death–fearing dreamers of the world.
Too long has [man] hearkened to the dank pessimism of his 'dust–thou–art' counselors, heedless of the unconquerable soul,
wrote Paramahansaji in relating this divine experience with Swami Sri Yukteswar. By his life and the imparting of his wisdom, and by his death and the glorious demonstration of his resurrection, the great Jnanavatar bequeathed to all humanity a sublime vision of mankind's inherent divinity as immortal children of the one God.
Chapters
| Holy Science: ForewordProphets nirbikalpa samadhi revelations Jnanavatar Babaji Lahiri Mahasaya Bhagavad Gita samkhya sankhya foreword |
| Holy Science: Prefacepreface tibetan yoga |
| Holy Science: Introductionintroduction giri yuga diagram Babaji mountain Prayaga Tirtha Ganges Yamuna Saraswati Kumbha Mela Tirtha Vishnunabhi sadhus Atmajnanam self knowledge veda gospel yuga Dwapara Yuga Brahma dharma Autumnal Equinox Aries Virgo pisces Vernal Equinox Piscean Age Aquarius leo Libra Daiva Yugas Electric Couple Kali Yuga Treta Yuga Satya Yuga Manu rishi Krita Yuga sandhis Yugasandhis Sukshmabhuta panchatanmatra electricity Sir Isaac Newton Gilbert Kepler Pranava aum Kulluka Bhatta Raja Parikshit Maharaja Yudhisthira Himalaya datva daiva Revati magnetism auras five sensory nerves Raja Vikramaditya Samvat |
| Holy Science: Chapter 1 The Gospelsutras god Swami Parambrahma Maya satchitananda Prakriti Shakti Vasana Bhoga Omniscient Consciousness Chetana Bhokta Genesis Omnipotent kala desa anu Atom Word Time Space patra Revelation john Amen god Kutastha Chaitanya holy ghost Purushottama Premabijam Chit Abhasa Chaitanya Purusha Buddhi Ahamkara Manas Chitta Kshiti Tejas Marut Vyoma Akasha Sthulasarira Swargas Satyaloka Anama Tapoloka Maharloka Alakshya Dasamadwara Mahasunya Bhuvarloka Bhuloka sapta Patalas Bhuvanas koshas Bhakti Sushumnadwara Parokshajnana Radha Trikuti Kaivalya Christ Consciousness Abhasa Chaitanya Sannyasi |
| Holy Science: Chapter 2 The Goalsutras maya evil Purusha jiva liberation soul Avidya ignorance Abhinivesa tenacity Asmita ego Raga attachment Dwesha aversion Artha suffering Paramartha the ultimate goal Existence consciousness and bliss sat chitananda satguru sat-guru |
| Holy Science: Chapter 3 The Proceduresutras maya Yajna sacrifice penance Tapas deep study Swadhyaya meditation aum Brahmanidhana Swadhyaya Pranava Brahman spirit salvation sravana manana Virya Sraddha Samadhi Smriti love concentration Pranava Sabda satchitananda sat-guru moral courage true conception Yama morality Niyama religious rules Niyama sexual desire natural living teeth organs food chikdren disease diet omnivore carnivoe herbivore fruitarian Asat Asana pranayama Pratyahara withdrawal of senses Viratwam Mahattwam Garhasthyasrama nerves Samyama john the baptist Bhuvarloka Devata Avidya sudra Kshatriya Radha Sushumnadwara Lokas Swargas Janaloka Tapoloka Satyaloka Dasamadwara Dwapara Yuga Dvija Vipra Chitta Treta Yuga Maharloka Brahmana Kaivalya |
| Holy Science: Chapter 4 The Revelationsutras maya mantras Pranava aum Chitta sadhana Pravartaka sat-guru Pravritti Pravartaka Yama Niyama Sadhaka Siddha Sabda Patala Lokas rishis Bhakti Yoga Surat Sabda Yoga Bhuloka Bhuvarloka ajna chakra sahasrara vishuddha anahata seven centres seven churches seven chakras swadhishthana manipura Surat Sabda Yoga Swarloka Swargas manus Maharloka Avidya manava Maharloka Brahmarandhra Dasamadwara aiswaryas Anima Mahima Laghima Garima Prapti Vasitwa Prakamya mahat laghu apti guru vasa kama Isa aiswaryas Kaivalya discipline |
| Holy Science: Conclusionconclusion lotus love |
| Holy Science: About The Authorabout rishi Serampore calculatta Jnanavatar death yogananda self realization fellowship discipline |
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