The Householder Yogi PDF

THE HOUSEHOLDER
YOGI
LIFE OF SHRI YOGENDRA
BY
SANTAN RODRIGUES
YOGENDRA PUBLICATIONS FUND
THE YOGA INSTITUTE

SANTA CRUZ, BOMBAY 400 055.
1997
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY THE YOGA INSTITUTE

SANTACRUZ
Nineteenth Reprint February 1995 Twentieth Reprint February
1997 Twenty first Reprint December 2008
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The contents and technique in this book are copyright and must not be
reproduced or translated in full or in part without the prior permission of
The Yoga Institute Santacruz (East). Printed at the Print Arts 15,
Municipal Ind. Estate, V.P. Road,
Vile Parle (W), Mumbai-56. Tel. 2614 9917, 26184531 published by Dr.
Jayadeva Yogendra for The Yoga Institute, Santacruz (East) Mumbai-400
055.1ndia
Shri Yogendraji at 80
C O N T E N T S
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
iv
SPEAKING ON THE SUBJECT
ix
I OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS .
II. THE MAKING OF A CIVIL SERVANT .
13
III. THE PLANS GO AWRY
25
IV. FOLLOWING THE PATH OF THE ANCIENTS
36
V. AT THE FEET OF THE MASTER

VI. A LITERARY CAREER BRIGHTENS ..
VII. THE BIRTH OF AN INSTITUTE
VIII. THE SUN ALSO RISES IN THE WEST ..
IX.
OFFERING THE WEST THE UNKNOWN EAST
X. THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE

XI.
XII.
How MUCH MORE SHOULD A MAN KNOW
IT IS NOT GOOD FOR A MAN TO BE ALONE
43
52
65
79
90
114
122
128
XIII. TWO SHALL LIVE AS ONE
134
XIV. AT HOME
143
XV. THE DEAR DEPARTS

XVI. A MOVE SCUTTLED
XVII.
*VIII.
REFUGEE AT LARGE
THE HOUSE THAT HE BUILT
XIX. THE SPAN OF A LIFETIME
XX. BACK TO PATANJALI AND BEYOND
153
165
177
184
195
218
FACING
PAGE
The revered jather oj the Founder, Shri Haribhai Jivanji

Desai .. .. .. . . . . 4
This humble shelter attached to a cowshed where the
Founder lived with his jather at {Haler) Bulsar . . 5
The Founder standing {extreme lejt) suffering Jrom
pom health at the age oj jourteen with his school
mates at Gandevi .. . . . . . . . . . . 1 6
The Founder sitting {second jrom right) ajter two
years in exuberant health with his classmates at
Bulsar .. .. .. .. . . . . 1 7
Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji. the apostle oj Toga
technology and the guru oj the Founder . . . . 4 4
The lonely hermitage on the banks oj the Narmada where
the Founder received his training in Toga . . 4 5
Sadhu Keshavdas and sadhu Gaurangdas the kalikamli jollowers oj His Holiness with the Founder
the householder Togi extreme right . . . . . . 4 8
Shri Togendraji ajter his practical training in Toga under
Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji
.. . . 4 9
This pioneer Institute, The Toga Institute was
jounded in 25th. December 1918 at Versova beach
near Bombay .. .. . . . . . . . . 7 2
The jacsimile oj the jirst case recorded at The Toga Institute
in Versova . . . . . . . . . . 7 3
The Founder ajter his arrival in America in 1919 . . 9 8
The Founder with Mr. Harm M. Dadma on his arrival in
America
.. .. . . . . 9 9
iv
The Toga Institute in America on a hilltop was

founded in 1920
The leading scientists present on the opening day,
the Founder standing in Indian dress
The Jacsimile oj a case recorded at The Toga Institute oj America
Unmindjul oj his old environs Founder still kept
busy reading and writing jor his Toga mission
Founder with Dr. Surendranath Dasgupta at
Chittagong
The Bohar Math
The Founder in European dress is addressing the
Nathayogins oj the Tillah Math during his visit in
the early part oj 1924
Founder under the bell oj the jamous Shankara
Math in Srinagar
Arriving at Uttarvanithe Kasi oj Jammu the
Founder is seen riding a donkey
The Founder holding coconut, betel leaj etc in his
hands being received by his Father-in-law ( lejt)
and Mother-in-law {right) bejore the marriage
ceremony. .
The Founder and Smt. Sita Devi ajter their
marriage ceremony
The pride and joy oj Haribhai Jivanji Desai, Mogha
his son {right) his daughter-in-law Smt. Sita Devi
Togendra and his two grandsons Jayadeva and
Vijayadev
The Toga Institute during its headquarters at
Bulsar where many oj the activities were augmented
..
The Institute at Beach View Chowpatty
Smt. Sita Devi and Shri Togendraji in 1939
Shri Yogendraji in the clinic he had established at
The Toga Institute at Chowpatty .. Regarded at the greatest historical project, the Crypt
oj Civilization oj America was sealed in 1940 to remain inviolate till 8133 AD
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12
4
124
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13
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13
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0
17
1
The first unit oj the International Headquarters oj

The Toga Institute at Santa Cruz, India The second
unit oj the international headquarters ( i extreme lejt)
was constructed during 1956.
Smt. Sita Devi and Shri Togendraji relaxing ajter
a heavy day oj work
Proj. Julius Ebbinghaus eminent German
philosopher on Kant jrom MarburgUniversity,
Germany with Coun- sul Dr. H. Dietmar and Mrs.
Dietmar with Shri and Smt. Togendra Soviet
academics
The Vice President oj India Dr. %akir Hussain
signing the visitors book at the Institute Participants
oj an educational symposium Eminent scientists
( UNESCO) oj the Harvard University Research
Centre studying ejfects ojyonimudra at the Institute
The medical team deputed by the Government oj
India to assess the claims oj Toga as therapeutics
Distinguished writer Frank Moraes the then
Sheriff of Bombay with Shri Toeendraii at a
convocation junction in 1961
Eminent cardiologist Dr. K. K. Datey, Shri Togendraji, Shri K. K. Shah, Union Minister oj Health, Pt.
Shiv Sharma, and Smt. Sita Devi on the Inaugural oj
the Medical Research unit.
Dr. G. Lozano Director Renter Po Suggestologie
studying 'Toni mudra jrom Mr. Dietmar Bertlog jor
psychosomatic experience
Shri M. V. Kamath, the then Editor Illustrated
Weekly oj India with the Founder and Proj. T. R.
Anantharaman
Members oj a cultural tourist group with the
Founder .. . . . . . . . . . . ' Dr. Caycedo and Mrs.
Caycedo eminent American writers while at the
Institute.
Members oj the Chinese writers union headed by
Mr. Ten Wen Ching with Shn Togendraji
186
186
187
198
198
198
02
203
206
207
207
210
210
211
214
214
Over 100 Toga practitioners, representing many states

oj India attended the all India Toga seminar meetings at
The Toga Institute.
215
Shri Togendraji ajter a Sunday satsang lecture
218
recently
Toga Bhavan unit no. 3 oj the international headquarters providing multipurpose hall and hostel
Jacilities A portion oj Founder's bedroom used jor 218
study and office work. Founder with his pen, portable
typewriter amidst a heap oj books mss. etc.
Mira, the jirst student oj the Founder whom he 219
instructed at Matheran at the request oj
Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji
Members Soviet cultural delegation consisting oj 219
academics including Dr. VisHvepisky and Madame
Papov with Shri Togendraji
The growing Toga family ji%m right to lejt; Shri
21
Vijaydev, Mrs. Jill V. Togendra, their elder son Janu,
Founder and their daughter Bindii, mother Sita Devi,
Smt. Hanse J. Togendra, Dr. Jayadeva Togendra The
222
Togendra jamxly at The Toga Institute.
The plaque at the entrance oj the Institute is a sym- 223
bolic welcome to all students oj Toga
v*
What can flame remember ? If it remember a little less

than is necessary, it goes o u t ; if it remembers a little
more than is necessary, it goes out. If only it could teach
us while it burns, to remember correctly.
MAN, GEORGE SEFERIS
SPEAKING ON JH E SUBJECT
Places tend to be remembered by.latitude and

longitudedull spots on the globe, until people give
them colour and history. Santacruz, literally meaning
Holy Cross, is perhaps doubly blessed. It has a history of
its own. While aviation has air-lifted the status of this
once mosquito-infested far-flung suburb of Bombay, The
Yoga Institute has firmly established Santacruz on the
world map. It took just one man, Shri Yogendraji to
achieve this in his own life time. A living legend thus
took shape.
*
Legends have the distaste of being distant, unapproachable shadows, even mercurial fantasies of the
past. The key word is past and the present has no

factual place for them. They thrive on the free run of the
imagination coupled with our need to glorify, nay deify.
Heroes abound. To get past the halo of heroes, to touch
the shroud that cloaks human greatness, to try to
discover a human face beneath the cannonized look, to
find a common link with the human race, is an exercise
that demands efforts. The outcome is a reward in itself.
Shri Yogendraji proved one. Being neither - a student of
Yoga nor one aware of his immense contribution to the
spread of Yoga, I could afford to be sceptical. Meeting a
great public figure keeps one on ones toes. Before the
first encounter
I prepared myself with the usual literature written by

friends and admirers. Arming myself with these
accolades proved counterproductive. There was an
overflow of adjectives. To me the noun, in fact a
proper noun* was important. This seemed secondary
to most people who let their eulogistic pen sprout
leaves that pale the flower, when fragrance from the
flower could reach a larger field. I let the following
comments culled from different sources speak for
themselves :
Founder is known to his many students as a man
of spontaneous action that is invariably right and
effective. In my life with him I never saw him commit
a. wrong decision. His action was always of the
decisive nature, people have come to expect of him.
One can only say that though he looks like a Pious
Pete, very humble and non-violent, he is capable of
rising to the occasion if need be. He is a man of much
vitality, strength and quite capable of supplying
correction to anyone who so warrants it. His will can
be conveyed either for the natural psychological
growth of a person, or to meet his physical and
physiological needs. Like most great men, Founder
chooses to express his guidance and direction in the
framework of a mission. Sacrificing personal
development to nêet the needs of a desperate time,
this man has never ceased to be an inspiration.
Shri Vijayadev
Toga Pracharak, 1973,
Vol. 9, No. 6, pg. 5.
He has tremendous power and energy as well as
an insight into things.
He can explain things in a very simple and?
rational way even spirituality, which is difficult to

explain.
He is very clear-cut and straight forward, yet at
the same time there is a childlike quality. He wont
tolerate any nonsense still there is that inner core in
him that has the spontaneity of a child. He can cater
to anyone and explain something at their level. In a
simple and most effective manner, he gets to the
essence of things. Founder is a disciplinarian with
an impressive bearing. He is immediately striking.
You know he will never tolerate any nonsense. He
has always been a dynamic power for good. Once he
takes up an issue he will never let it go, he is
absolutely confident and determined. He is really, in
all ways, a true visionary.
Pt. Shambhunath Toga Quarterly, 1978, Vol. 14, No. 3,
pg. 79.
*
In a world abounding in synthetic holiness, Shri
Yogendraji, the Found er- President of The Yoga
Institute, is a refreshing change. A visionary figure
who owes allegiance to no person or institution, his
contribution to the promotion of Yo<ja stands alone.
Like the universal gold standard, this mans
pragmatic approach is a touchstone to which all
would-be teachers of Yoga would do well to adhere.
SPEAKING ON THE SUBJECT '
Now 86 years old, the Founder as he is known to

all, permits, even in his advancing years, no
adornment on the penetrating crystal of Yoga
thought. Like a rigorous old mariner, he polices the
waves of spiritual debates with razor-sharp
understanding and wit to match. This lean wrinkled,
lively old soul is not concerned with form aftd frill, he
has no patron or politician to impress, his mission is
and has always been clear.
As he ays himself:
Yoga has diagnosed the disease of mankind, it has
prescribed the dose, but the patient has been hesitant.
Those who have taken the dose have been cured,
while the others have to face their needs and
problems helplessly.
The life and writings of Shri Yogendraji are a joy to
study. Through his pen flows the incisive good sense and
invigorating analysis of that rare breed wise men.
You dont have to be an adherent of Yoga to chuckle at
his witty observations on the human condition and there
is no need of preparation when it comes to recognising
the truth of a life lived honestly.
This is the universal appeal of the man and his work.
Like the science of Yoga itself, his understanding goes
straight to the core, an embracing, endearing quality of
knowing that is at the satfie time both simple and
breath-taking.
What Shri Yogendraji has lo say can be understood by
anyone willing to honestly confront life and learn the
lessons of experience. As an ambassador of Yoga he is a
walking guide who has never failed the test of
spontaneity.
His example and teaching has not relied on ritual of
I
xii
devotion, and his open manner of living has never

allowed the subject to be bogged down among the
irrelevant side-lights that hover around the perimeter of
genuine instruction.
Peter Ellingsen Journal of
The Toga Institute, Vol. XXII, No. 5,
pg. 65, 66.
TO YOGENDRAJI
In the diamond mirror of thine
soul we see hopes
for the future of humanity.
In time the essence of life,
Time the healer,
And giver of light
We see you honoured In the
gladness of the hearts Of those
yet to come As they will install
you As a Saviour.
And we salute you And honour
you On behalf of The future
humanity,
And we thank God
For the blessing
of the gift of your life to us.
xiii
SPEAKHG ON THE SUBJECT
Glow you Founder Of The Yoga

Institute,
Glow you Father of Yoga Renaissance,
Glow you holy Soul, glow.
Glow all the way And shed light On the
weary paths Of struggling humanity,
In the timeless chain Of life and death.
bySHRI VIJAYADEV *,
All awe-inspiring indeed, enough to make me ill at
ease. My first encounter was a pleasant surprise. Here
was I a brash young man, irreverant and unschooled in
the ways of Indian deference to gurus,.all set to talk to
Shri Yogendraji as I would to a fellow undergradulate
pal. Unushered, a lean but not pale figure walks out of
his bed room, curtesies a hello and before I could
recover my voice, sat in the sofa in front of me and
struck up a conversation, Young Maning me all the
time.
I was allowed to unwind, forget the role of a tape
recorder, or passive listener that I was supposed to
play; a casual smile disarming my non-chalance and a
deep sounding voice making a point or just assenting to
my comments that arose out of rrry ' newly gained
confidence. Within a few minutes we were exchanging
views on everything from life to literature, politics to
urban development and from marriage to bringing up
children. And I suddenly found myself indulging in a
conversation that I was dumbstruck and indifferent to
begin with.
Regular encounters with Shri Yogendraji becamc the
order of the day. On many such occasions, Patanjali, his
grandson, always wanted to be part of the adult
xiv
discussion and inspite of coaxings and cajoling couldnt

be persuaded to leave us. So he stayed and we put up
with his pranks, Shri Yogendraji showing no sign of
irritation, in fact teasing Patanjali and encouraging him
to make his high-sounding childish comments.
Another day we walked the perimeter of The Yoga
Institute compound. Shri Yogendraji, his bearded face
wrapped in a shawl to ward off the chill, walking at a
brisk pace, dusting a leaf here and touching a branch
there and enlightening me on the genesis of his garden;
how this tree took root or how that plant was nursed or
how this one flowers or when that one yields fruit. It
was a gardeners prattle but spoke volumes for interest
and care that went into a garden that now boasted trees.
And the only other thing we discussed was how much
exercise I need and why. All this time not a word about
his own world of Yoga and his place in it.
Knowing my love for excursion, I was once asked to
accompany him on his periodic outings to the Film City,
perhaps the only fresh air spot in an otherwise polluted
city. And the wilds of the Ghats
had gentle pathways for us to stroll up. The beautiful
locale was overwhelming in its splendour. Shri
Yogendraji talked to me about film sets and the unreal
world created in plaster of Paris. A rugged road was now
a romantic side walk. And he talked about the
number of people who would be taken in by this
make-believe world. Further up, the sets sported a
temple. To the naked eyes it seemed devotional.
Strolling to its vicinity, the nails and cardboard
disillusioned the devotee. He commented how the
film gods were cornering more devotees than
sculptured temples. matter of fact statement with no
xv
SPEAKING ON TrfE SUBJECT
bitterness nor any tint of cynicism. He walked beyond

the sets to a point where the lakes of the city could be
seen. The real and the unreal seemed to meet and we
remembered Wordsworth.
There are so many sides to a person and looking
afar, one is tempted to mystify the real and overlook
the human element. One day, a student of the
Institute, on learning I was doing the biography of
the Founder accosted me and asked, You actually
enter the inner sanctum and speak to the Founder ?
I chose to ignore the question. Questions like these
cannot be answered in a single word. The whole
premise has to be stated. It takes an objective
narrative to correct the picture and let the many
facets of the Founder speak for themselves.
I have taken still shots from his life and the reader
who yearns to know will hopefully screen a motioh
picture in his mind. Its time people knew. And there
is no better place to start than from the beginning.
xvi
CHAPTER I
OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS
Two things generally have a lasting impression on a
child's mind; his immediate environs, and his parents. It
was probably these two factors that shaped the future of
Manibhai Haribhai Desai, born on November 18, 1897,
to a village school teacher, Haribhai Jivanji Desai, at
Degam district, Surat.
The turn of the century was rife with rumblings of a
political storm and the first seeds of Independence and a
general awakening were sowed. Macaulays boon in
education had its own repercussions. An effect of the
new education and the rise of an intelligensia nourished
on the study of the Radical political philosophy of
England was the first meeting in 1885 at Bombay of the
Indian National Congress, an unofficial body of
advanced Indian reformers, who organised themselves
under the guidance of a retired English civilian A. O.
Hume. The Congress had an all India outlook and put in
the shade all the other local organisations that had
pompously staked their claim to national status. The
Indian National Congress began by enumerating the
benefits of the British rule but also advocated more
rights for the Indians and as it grew steadily
in its influence, inspite of official attempts to belittle

it, the tone changed to demand native participation in
Parliament. So it threw up its own political leaders
whose influence spread to the far corners of the
peninsula.
This was also the period of Religious Nationalism.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was one of the foremost
nationalists. He stood for a Hindu revival and resisted
the trend towards westernization of Hindu society. He
opposed in 1890 a modest measure of reform (i.e. the age
at which Hindu marriages might be consumated for
girls from ten to twelve). He also organized a Ganapati
festival and another festival in 1875 to commemorate
the coronation of Shivaji every year.
Besides the svadesi and boycott of British goods
movements openly prescribed for the attainment of
economic independence and the destruction of
Englands lucrative trade with India, secret societies
were organized for systematic pilferage and political
assassination. The politics of extremism had arrived,
even in the period of the Indian Renaissance. For this
was also a period of great social fermentation. Raja
Ram Mohan Roy had paved the way with his Brahma
Samaj devoted to reformist activities in religion and
society. It advocated widow remarriage and intercaste
marriage and abolition of early marriage of girls and
polygamy."
The Prarthana Samaj was the Bombay version of the
Brahma Samaj with the same reformist aims. This was
followed by the Arya Samaj which advocated a return
to the Vedas, and Indian culture began to find
2
respectability in the elite and educated circles. Close on

its heels the Rama- krishna Mission fulfilled the urge of
the downtrodden Indian. At the Parliament of
Religion^ at Chicago, Swami Vivekananda boldly
proclaimed before the world the superiority of the
Hindu culture and civilizations, the greatness of her
past and the hope for her future. Instead of the tone 'of
apology and a sense of inferiority which marked the
Indian attitude towards European culture and
civilisation, a refreshing boldness and consciousness of
inherent strength marked the utterances of Swami
Vivekananda.
This was a time for patriots and leaders who would
sacrifice their lives for their motherland. For Mani,
affectionately called Mogha (meaning priceless one)
the clime was suddenly saddened with the loss of his
mother when he was only two. The boy clung to his
father who played the role of a mother as well.
Degam was an unpretentious village with common
wells, its school and houses built close together in
separate rows. The fields were around the central living
habitat. The scenario afforded lots of area for little
children to run around freely and climb the mango and
tamarind trees that grew in abundance.
Mogha had plenty of time to play while his father was
busy at school.
Haribhai Jivanji Desai, the father, was an Anavil
Brahmin, a very robust community of farmers. The
Anavils took to small business like timber merchants
and many of them, if they had large families and less
land to till sent one member of the family to far off
places to earn. Some of the members of the family
3
carted wood from the jungles. Haribhai also did this

task for a while. He used to go in the dense jungles of
the adjoining states of Dharamapur and Bansda where
tigers frequently prowled. He once encountered a tiger
while he was out from his hut, but he flew to safety.
The people who went in the jungles to cart wood knew
the approaching of a tiger from the smell and sound of
the prowling cat. They protected themselves by
sleeping together and building a hedge of drywood
around them, which they lit up. The tigers scared by
the fire stayed away, ^lan and animal drew their own
boundaries.
Haribhai was anxious to study but his father
thought that if he allowed him to go to school he would
not take to the fields and the income of the family
would suffer. Haribhai was determined and while the
family slept he would steal to the attic, light a lamp
and pour over the books that had been smuggled there.
When the father realised that his son Haribhai was
determined, he gave in and sent him to school. From
there he went to Surat and Ahmedabad for three
years,at the end of which he became a qualified teacher
and secured a post as teacher with a salary of Rs. 9/- a
month to begin with. Haribhai, an ardent student,
proved to be a good teacher.
Hanhhai Jivanji Desai, the revered father of Shri Yogendraji.
Tjiis humble shelter attached to a cowshed where the Founder lived with his father at (Haler) Bulsar,
was visited by His Holiness Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji.
Haribhais first posting as a teacher was in Kukeri, a

semi-jungle area infested with tigers. He imparted
education to the jungle tribes of Kanbis who were good,
honest and hardworking; but the area they lived in was
neglected and underdeveloped. They resorted to barren
land agriculture with crude methods of cultivation and
burning of forest products to clear the land. Haribhai
made friends with the locals, but before long was
transferred to Saras, a place far away from his home
village.
It was because of this posting that Haribhai left his
wife at her brothers place at Degam. In this interval
Mogha was born and after seven days, a postcard
announced to the anxious father the birth of a son.
Family reunion had to await the festive holidays and
other vacations but whenever his father came over,
Mogha found the home come alive more than usual.
Ladubhen was the pet name of Moghas mother. She
was a sweet person forever smiling and ready to help.
Hence the name, which means sweet. She busied
herself with all the family chores and was very
hardworking. On one occasion she was busy along with
the other members of the family making papad. Haribhai
was home after a long stint at teaching. Mogha was
asleep in the cradle. Everyone was busy with the
household chores. Mogha must have been about a year
and a half but he still remembers the event.
The cradle was made of soft cloth and I was lying in
it close to a staircase. In my sleep I must have turned
roughly, for the next moment I was on the floor tumbling
down the staircase and crying loudly. The commotion

created brought everyone running to me. My father who
was a school teacher was often away from home, for his
teaching assignments. He had come that day to visit me
and my mother. When he heard the crying he was most
agitated and in the confusion slapped my mother. That
was the only time in my whole life I saw him hurting
anybody. To him it was a case of negligence to duty
which had created great pain to him.
The event must have made a deep impression on the
psyche of the young boy to be recalled vividly more than
83 years later. This unfortunate lapse aside, Moghas
mother was a picture of exemplary service to his father.
Hers was a devoted life of sacrifice and hardship. It was
a joint family of 22 members,orthodox in belief and
customs and there were severe restrictions on women.
They had little liberties but more duties. Most of the
time she was at her mothers place for her two
pregnancies, while father was away.
In the village, plague had descended on the population
slowly but surely becoming a threatening shadow. At
least two members of every family contracted this deadly
disease and died, spreading gloom and despair. People
began to leave their houses and stay in the distant fields.
All the possessions were burned to arrest the
spread of the disease. Moghas mother was infected
with this ghastly disease and died soon after.
Haribhai, devoted to his wife, took her ashes in a
bundle of cloth. He was no believer in rituals yet the
situation demanded a human approach. The ashes
were later sanctified in a well in a temple near Saras.
Mani was taken along, made to stand near the parapet
and bow while the. ashes were dropped. The dead

were to be respected was the message imparted to the
little boy of three.
The maternal grandparents were alive at the time
of Manis thread ceremony. The grandfather was at
least 105 years old and the grandmother nearly 103
years old. Both were hale and hearty never burdening
the other members of the family, never idling their
time but always trying to get through a chore or two.
Mani rarely saw his paternal grandfather and the
last time he saw him caused 'in impression on his
mind that led to an abhorence of disease and fear of
getting sick. The plague was consuming the village at
an epidemic rate. People were deeply agitated by this
scourge. Manis grandfather contracted the dreaded
disease. His father was summoned to his grandfathers
deathbed from the far off village where he was
teaching. The doting grandfather had made it known
that he wanted to see his grandson before he breathed
his last. Manis father was too shaken up to bring him,
but he complied. He held him at a distance for the old
man to see, but the grandfather insisted
that Mani be put on the bed from where he could touch
the child. He moved his hands over Manis head before
he was picked away. Mani recalls the terrifying
experience of seeing the agony and suffering in the
mans eyes.
Death and suffering dodged Manis path even as a
child. Strangely they had something to teach him and
much of his later attitudes were shaped in these
surroundings and trying circumstances. The death of a
maternal uncle was also one such. Morarji Mama, a
maternal uncle went to South Africa to earn money. By

dint of hardwork and frugal existence he had become
weak and thin. The Ayurvedic doctor said he had
tuberculosis. He was in a sad state in the last stages of
the disease but death would not come to end the
suffering and agony. Mani recalls the unpleasant
incident :
I ran from a cowshed where I was playing. I stood
and watched. They placed him facing north. The Hindu
belief required that the dying man be given a bath before
he died to make him pure. So they poured hot water on
him which scalded him and hurried him to his death.
This was his first impression of rituals which have no
logical use and have their own ridiculous complications.
Mani was to learn a lot more from his father. He
picked up his fathers views and ideas learning to discern
and think for himself. The village was a close-knit
community and Mani had the hospitality of three
houses, his own, his maternal uncles and his cousins
home. Each compound was fenced by thorny babul twigs.
One day while going from one place to another Mani saw
a king cobra crossing his way. People who saw it too,
shouted to Mani to halt. Mani however jumped over the
snake. The snake did not even bother him but slithered
away to its hole.
The lesson was not lost on him. Everyone had to be
treated on merit. Man and nature had to coexist.
Traditional views of evil inherent in animals and reptiles
had to be examined and decided on merit, not adhered to
blindly. Mani was to learn much more just being with his
father.
The school teacher was a government employee and to

simple villagers this meant a position of awe and respect.
Haribhai, of course, was affectionate and loving but was
a stern disciplinarian all the same time. He was a
stickler for rules as long as rules did not sound irrational.
He had his own values and would not bend before the
powers that be. One of the regular superior powers that
descended on the village scene was the school inspector
who could make or break a school-teachers tareer with
just a twist in his report to the higher authorities.
Everyone dreaded them and it was customary to bribe
these inspectors with a warm welcome and gifts.
Haribhai was adamant to be different. He neither went
out of his way to receive these inspectors nor did he take
the trouble to bid a fond farewell. They were attended to
with due respect, but without undue fanfare. This sense
of proportion and propriety whilst dealing with seniors
was impressed on young Moghas mind. Years later when
Mogha would grow up and wend his way about, he would
have the courage to carry his own conviction, knowing
that the right way always had a light at the end of the
tunnel. Mogha was to learn much more from observing
his father.
His father also played a role in making Mogha rational
about superstition and religious rituals. The young lad
was never drawn to observe any ritual custom. The awe
and fear of God, the intimidating presence of temples
which delve into every childs psyche were mercifully bypassed as Mogha went through his childhood.
Haribhais teaching postings would take him from
village to isolated towns, areas quite remote from
civilization. These movements gave Mogha a vast
experience of rustic people and places. The constant

unsettled career imbibed in the young Mogha a feeling of
self-reliance and independence. He learnt to adapt
himself to new situations and make do with whatever
was available. While the father excelled at his school, the
son became an expert at keeping house and cooking,
learning the ways of the world at an early age.
In the three villages and a town where his childhood
was spent Saras, Pinjarata, Kacholi and Bulsar
Mogha was to learn as much from rikture as from his
father. Here the facilities were primitive indeed and
Mogha had a close quarter view of the stark poverty of
some areas. He revelled in
10
natures plenty too, making trips to the wilderness.

The wild animals, the hostile terrain and at times even
the riotous natives, provided the young Mogha a scenario
that army recruits would dread. Mogha survived his
initiation.
J
I
Moghas father being a teacher, the local people had
high regards for the young Mogha. This invariably came
in the way of his making companions as most of the
children at his age considered him different because of
his parentage. Mogha also used to accompany his father
when he was a chief guest at local functions and the
children with their awe for respectable persons gave
Mogha the same consideration. Mogha was forced to
withdraw into books and contemplation, being used to
depending on himself. When companions did come by, he
played games and pranks becoming a natural leader,
leading the children atop the crushed sugarcane dune,
feasting on jaggery or race up the coconut tree to freshen
up with a sweet drink. Attraction to physical activity
was a natural outcome of Moghas early village life.
The social strata of life in the village with its unequal
distribution of wealth and position troubled the
contemplative young mind. He viewed with disdain the
hideous class system, the disastrous system of child
marriage and other disturbing practices. His rationality
could not be at peace with these inequalities around.
Mogha, a strong individual, could not bear to see other
individuals destroyed and demoralised by social customs
and traditions.
One event in his childhood probably set him on the
track of a quest which would involve his whole life. One
day, Mogha found himself hastily pulled and dragged
11
indoors into safety from the fun and frolic of his games.
The person responsible for this hasty retreat was his
aged maternal grandmother Premabehn who was 104
years old at that time. For the four year old Mogha, the
grandmothers decision seemed inexplicable. But soon he
watched the wisdom of her move. The dreaded kanphatas
known to practice obscure Yoga practices, who moved
only in their loin cloth with a red wallet swinging across
the left shoulder, made their frighful appearance outside
the door. It used to be rumoured that this strange sect of
Yoga aspirants kidnapped children to perpetuate their
sects. The trident of Shiva which they carried gave them a
formidable appearance. Their ritualistic manners
moving only forward, not retracing a step, never standing
still and always looking straight ahead-would have had
a strange effect on the young lads mind. This could be
the beginning of Moghas concern for Yoga, his desire to
understand the different sects claiming to be yogins and
evaluate them with due regard to his mistrust of the false
prophets of Yoga.
Mogha grew up to be a child of nature, learning her
secrets, understanding her ways and growing up in his
environs, a strong and sturdy lad determined to find the
right answers to questions that troubled him.
12
CHAPTER II
THE MAKING OF A CIVIL SERVANT
Haribhai had ambitions for his son. He wanted him to
achieve some stature of importance. As a teacher he could
afford to educate him. That in itself was not enough. The
son had to prove his salt, go one better than the father.
The English language was introduced at school to help
evolve a uniform system of education that could mass
produce petty officials. Haribhai himself was a petty
official. He was an honorary postmaster in addition to his
post of a teacher. Here he was privileged to have two
runners to bring and take back the mailbag. In the
drought period, when acute shortage of water was felt,
the runner was useful in carrying the water to the school
teacher- postmaster. This was authority indeed, and it
came from the position held. Chances of misuse were
there, but Haribhai was not inclined to be carried away.
When expatriates from Africa sent money to the people at
home, Haribhai was the via media. The grateful relatives
happy with the pickings were eager to press a coin or two
in Haribhais hand, who quite touched by the gesture,
nevertheless refused. The act that rendered or facilitated
help was enough.
Shouldnt Mani have a better position than
this, thought the father. A new avenue had opened up.
The Indian Council Act had created opportunities for
more Indian representation and more Indian Civil
Servants were to be absorbed. The Civil Servant was
the highest rung of the Indian bureaucracy. The I.C.S.
examination, with its inherent glamour and
impediments, was the hallmark of a successful Indian
student according to prevailing attitudes. This was a
13
rung high enough for Mogha, the priceless one. Yes,

thought Haribhai, his son should aim that high, his son
should do his I.C.S. There was no direct demand on the
young lad, but things and events pointed to this
hallowed vocation.
There were sacrifices made by the father to help the
son attain his cherished dream. Given to no
extravagance, he even denied himself bare necessities.
For shoes he used to buy a pair made of rough leather
and since that used to hurt his feet he used to soften the
leather by the application of castor oil. He even refused
help from the neighbourhood women who Volunteerd to
cook for him, as he had to leave for school by early
morning. And he did not remarry. Yet the sacrifices
were seldom forced on the son.
Haribhai used to be very fond of mangoes, but he
gave up this luscious fruit out of self-denial in memory
of his departed wife. Mani on the other hand relished
the fruit and was under no compulsion to forgo this
delight! Yet the love that* was shared was deep enough
to be even a weakness. In one particular incident,
Haribhai almost broke down and forgot his cool calm
selfupsetting
14
even the little child. Mani hadj^been playing in the

yard and in a tussle with an older boy, he had a fall
resulting in a fracture of his right forearm. Haribhai
carried him to the local bonesetter two miles away. The
man asked the father to hold his sons hand firmly so
that he could manipulate the bone in place. When the
bonesetter gave a sudden jerk the stock in trade
Mani cried out in pain. The heart-rending screams
unnerved the dear father who let go of the hand and in
the ensuing confusion the bone had not righted itself.
The furious bonesetter ordered the father out and had
to rely on outsiders to help in the business. The love
and care which he did not indulge in was now nakedly
exposed.
Once Mani and his friends were playing in the
compound when the father who was going out, entrusted
the key of the house to him. A few moments later a
drumming was heard and the excitement of the people
singing in response and rushing towards it sent the
young lads in rapture. After a little hesitation they too
joined the fun. Amidst the beating of the drums and the
eloquent clapping, the key was forgotten. Only the
excitement of the moment seemed to draw their
attention. After the show, the crowds turned home and
young Mani trooped down the kachha road kicking the
dust. On reaching home he saw his father waiting for
him. The realisation about the key dawned and hands
dipped
into
empty
pockets.
Fumbling
about,
embarrassed for words, Mani could find no key. The
father, too, said not a word. Just stood and gave the
young lad a telling looka look of scorn and pain, at not
being able to do ones duty. Mani had not discharged his
duty, had been found wanting in living up to the
15
THE MAKING OP A CIVIL SERVANT
responsibility delegated to him.

The main duty at this moment centred around his
studies. His father had diligently tutored him at home
and school till he was eleven years. All the subjects were
covered, the instructions however were in Gujarati, the
local language. But Haribhai wished his son to learn
English and asked for a post which was close to an
English school. 'Before joining the English school he
requested the inspector of schools to take special final
exams in which Mani did exceptionally well. This would
enable Mani to apply for the post of an assistant teacher
should any exigency demand.
When Manis schooling began, he had a long trek
before he reached the English media school. Mani, a
devoted student did not like to miss school. He would
walk one and a half to two miles to school, daily, taking
only two small meals a day. The terrain itself was beset
with the dreaded diseases which took a heavy toll of life.
Typhoid, cholera, malaria and plague, among others,
shared the spoils. The young lad, given to constant
physical strain, fell prey to typhoid. The unbalanced diet
and the long period without food added to the
seriousness of the disease. So serious was his condition
that on one occasion, he would have died, as he felt
himself being lifted above without his body, but for some
unknown stranger appearing with a cup of buttermilk to
revive his fading health.
16
The Founder (standing extreme left) suffering from poor health at the age of fourteen with his
rchoolmates at Gandevi
The Founder (sitting second from right) after two years in exuberant health with hi3 classmates at
Bulsar.
Mani still recalls this turning point in his life. In his own
words :
It is the common period at the end of the rains and before
Diwali that many diseases are contracted. The water was not
purified and we drank anything, anywhere. No one knew
what the fever was which I contracted. They did not know
the name of typhoid then and my father called it the long
fever. It was a time of atvxkty for my father. I remember I
was so weak that I could not get up even to go to the toilet.
There were no conveniences of bed-pans at that time and my
father used to use a straw tray covered with ash to collect my
faeces, as I lay in bed. It was 23 days or so and the fever had
still not left. I remember feeling as if something was going
away from my body. My strong desire or sam- skara vasana
made me struggle to pull the situation back. I must have
been partly delirious when a stranger appeared on the scene
and asked for me. My father was told to give me a few sips of
buttermilk. He gave me a few sips and I became aware that
the climax of the fever had passed away, and my vision of
going out vanished.
\
Recovery was quick and efforts were made to ensure that
ill health would not make a back door entry again. Life was
to change. Even before his illness, life for Mani had changed
and yet he was blissfully ignorant of it all. It is worth
recounting it, if only to illustrate Manis forthrightness :
Mother having died at an early age and my father not
having remarried because of me, many
of the relatives and village folks started advising my father
that the family name should be kept up. Also there was a
little property, which yielded some financial gain if there
was someone to use it and someone acquainted with the
land could manage the land. So they advised that he
should get me married so that the property too could
17
bewatched over by the other members. On financial and

economic considerations the arguments were compelling
and my father had no choice but to agree. One fine day,
butter and turmeric were rubbed on my body to make me
look whiter than I was. A kumkum mark was put on my
forehead. I was made to fast for half a day and a loin-cloth
was tied around. I saw bullock carts full of the village folks
as we had to go on a journey. My bullock cart was
supposed to be a special one. We had to pass through a
road which was lonely and quiet and as children we had
been told lots of tales of dangers lurking in those areas. We
reached our destination at last. By that time I was so tired
that I had fallen asleep and my maternal uncle put me in
his lap, while I was sleeping and it seems the marriage
took place. In the morning I saw a little girl running
around in the house. I thought that she was one of the
children of the many villagers who had come. We all
returned home and we thought nothing of what happened.
One day, when I was fifteen years old, my father said, We
have to c^ll your wife. I exclaimed, I have no wife, only a
sister. This was a shock to my father hut he respected my
stem attitude and the girl never entered our house.
18
The non-comformist phase began with an independent

outlook to life.
This marriage was to create more complications for
Mani later on, but his immediate attention was diverted to
his failing health.
A lean and emaciated body was not the ideal for a
strongheaded, result-orientated lad. The bounty of energy
and enthusiasm seemed to wane due to the weakness of
the body. The spirit and mind appeared strong and willing,
the flesh had yet to muscle its way into activity. And a way
out came in the form of a friend and guide in the guise of
Gulababhai Desai, the Principal and teacher at his
Amalsad English School. Gulababhai guided and helped
Mani to build a strong body with an athletic physique, and
regain good health. The elements of this superstructure
were yery elementary, physical exercises, deep breathing
and gymnastics perhaps a fore-runner of his
involvement in Yoga and the mission to improve the health
of his fellow people. In just two years Mani emerged as a
strong and healthy sportsman bursting at the seams with
muscles and energy.
This addiction to physical culture stands corroborated
by Gopalji Desai a reputed legislator, in an article in the
Journal of The Toga Institute.
We had, in fact, by then already purchased chest
expanders (both single and double) and dumbells with five
springs. We did all types of gymnastic exercises with their
help. We overstrained ourselves in our enthusiasm and as
a result
remained in bed for three days.
Thereafter we
started a gymnasium. All the
students joined
us in this activity of wrestling,sports, swimming and Indian
style athletics.
19
Mani was a very good wrestler. Villagers of Kacholi still

recount the superhuman feats of strength desplayed by
Mogha. Chotubhai Lallubhi Desai a school friend tells how
Mogha bore the entire weight of a fully loaded bullock cart on
his shoulders while the villagers repaired the axle.
The love for physical culture imbibed by Gula- babhai
master continued. Mani got so fond of gymnastics and
wrestling that he began to skip the moral science classes to
get extra practice in the gymnasium. As he grew in strength,
his reputation also grew. Mani was hailed as a local Mr.
Universe, and the helping hand in times of need and
difficultiesthe strong one in the service of the weak. His
reputation as a wrestler spread far and wide. There was a
very strong wrestler, about 26 years old, a Muslim lad who
had come from Ahmedabad. He offered to wrestle with Mani.
In the match Mani realised that his opponent had no desire
to wrestle fairly and was keen on hurting and maiming him.
Immediately he decided to settle the issue and pinned him
down with a Nelson to clinch the issue. Manis reputation got
another filling and the challenge ^waiting in the wings were
roaring to have a go at the new champ. The match to end all
wrestling came soon after. It was another milestone for the
youth, one that changed the course of his life.
20
There was a school teacher in our High school whose

brother was Arjun Bhim, a very famous and strong wrestler.
The teacher told me one day, My brother wants to have a
bout of wrestling with you. I agreed. The next day the man
came to our home early in the morning. When my father saw
him, he told me not to wrestle with him as he was very strong
and his reputation as a good wrestler was very well .known. I
ignored fathers caution, went outside near the well, rubbed
my hands in the mud and went on the wrestling pad made of
yellow earth. The game started and progressed for long. He
was a powerfully built man, but he wanted the fight to
establish his reputation and challenged out of jealousy. After
about twenty-five minutes or so of wrestling, I could feel that
he wanted to hurt me somewhere. I became violent and
turned over and held him down with all my strength.
Anytime he would try to get up I would make my grip
stronger and rub his head hard to the ground. Finally it was
getting time for the village folks to do their daily trade and
people began to gather. They started to cheer and the game
continued. At last I saw that the man was bleeding from the
nose, and he collapsed. The next morning his brother told me
that he was very sick. I began to feel sad and went to see him.
I could see, as soon as I saw him lying in bed that he was very
ill. Even then I could see hatred in his eyes. The exhaustion
and loss of energy was too great for him, for the next day he
died. I learnt from this experience, very tragically, that too
much of power used was not good and I decided never to fight
again.
But even as a student Mani found that his reputation as a
wrestler had made inroads into the quiet of the school. When
he appeared at Ahmedabad for his matriculation exam, his
skill as a wrestler was the talk of the college. The college
Principal, Robertson, was impressed by this reputation and
wanted to test it in the ring. Instead of the oral English test
which would have put the student hardpressed to show his
21
intelligence, the Principal began to discuss wrestling. And in

this short exchange of wrestling news a friendly challenge
was thrown. Mani was game and a bout ensued. Serious as
he was about everything, Mani wrestled his best and soon the
hefty Principal was off his feet and on to the ground. The
wooden floor produced a loud thud and the students waiting
outside for their tests, not knowing what conspired in the
room, feared the worst. Knowing Manis temper they felt that
in the heat of the matter, Mani might have flown off the
handle and manhandled the Principal. All anxiety was set
at rest when Mr. Robertson proved a good sport and heartily
congratulated his unassuming pupil. Mani had scored but he
had made no enemies.
Even during the examination the social changes that were
taking shape around him held interest for the young lad. The
Arya Samaj movement was gaining strength in Gujarat.
Widow marriages were conducted inspite of stiff opposition
from the orthodox. A friend of Mani, Chhotubhai, came to
him in the interval between two examination papers and
hurried him away. Mani was to act as the witness. It was a
marriage between a friend and
22
a child-widow, who was being married a second time by

Arya Samaj rites. The courageous friend had eloped with his
bride-to-be and now needed the help of a friend to witness the
deed. Mani forever willing to help a deserving cause, was
more than willing.
Mani also appeared for his English School Final
examination in 1915. It was a season of success. Flying
colours in the examinations and spectacular success on the
sports arena had heightened the end of a school career and
brightened the chances of Haribhais ultimate goalto make
an I.C.S. official of his dearest son Mani. The boy was bright,
diligent, studious and athletic, imbued with a sense of duty
and responsibilitythe right material for a subservient role
in the Imperial Government.
So Mani at about the age of 17 was packed off to Bombay
to study in the prestigious St. Xaviers college. As admission
in the college hostel was not available, Mani stayed in a
lodge with a friend. Surviving on meagre pocket money, Mani
took to his role seriously. There were other interests to catch
his young mind. Mani had always liked music and here Mani
enjoyed classical music as well as plays. The teachers were
excellent in developing extra-curricular activities and the
ground was set to make Mani a well tailored personality to
suit the executive needs. But something more than studies
had drawn Manis mind. He had suddenly become
contemplative and withdrawn and the new phase was
puzzling and disturb-
23
ing. Something else other than college education had

caught his fancy perhaps, or had the student just lost
interest in his studies ? What did the future portend ?
.(
24
CHAPTER ID
THE PLANS GO AWRY
The big city blues had struck, or so everyone thought. A
village boy all alone in the big city, with no near relatives to
fall back on, was easy game for distractions, vices and
depression. The search was on for the cause. The professors
were perturbed. Their well structured lectures, meant to
educate the students were lost on Mani as he spent most of
the time gazing through the window reflecting or staring into
the distance. The well- meaning principal, Father Alban
Goodier, later to become Archbishop of Bombay tried to
intervene and understand the youth. The long reflective
moods, at times extending to two weeks, were a puzzle to
Mani himself. How then, could he explain the inexplicable to
the priest who only saw the superficial aberration in his
behaviour? Manis son Vijayadev was to write about this
later:
. . How could the priest appreciate the intense
questioning that hounded Mogha day and night, the abstract
states in which he mused over the way of Indias ancient
creators of knowledge the mystics and the yogins ? At that
time there was no one among the students or staff who could
understand what was happening to Mogha, little less
comprehend his disillusionment with college studies and the
educational principles of the day. The ebb and flow of life that
Mogha saw around him seemed far removed from books and
degrees.
Mogha, another pet name for Mani, was lost in wonder about
the meaning of life. The I.C.S. a vanishing dream was to be
replaced by another dream, perhaps a fever or a fire to spread
its brightness throughout the world. Some cue to this mood
comes clearly in some of Manis early poems written a little
25
THE PLANS GO AWRY
later. The Yogi, a poem translated from the original

Gujarati illustrates this symbolically.
THE YOGI
The banyan roots grace A pitched dark night,
And the solitary desolate place Is devoid of
light.
But from somewhere a song arose Like feeble
lunar glow,
Round the faint dhuni, a yogi froze Into a
mystic smiling overflow.
In his lap a lute he played,
His fingers moved on strings
And well engrossed thus he stayed,
Experiencing a mystic musing.
The voice arose the joy to keep,
His ears sensed a thrill
He stayed in this divine sleep Ending all his

worldly ills.
Sangita Dhvani
It was night and darkness all around. Where the light to
end the worldly ills that cast a gioom over tine bright p\ayfu\
student ? Mani -was waiting for a voice to calm his mind.
If none could analyse the malaise, events themselves
unfolded an answer. Ambalal Chhaganlal Mehta, the fun
loving roommate and a devotee of Paramahamsa
Madhavadasaji, who shared the anxiety over Manis quaint
behaviour decided to provide some divertissement. One
evening while Ambalal and Mani were absorbed in reading
in the quiet of their room a visitor trooped in, disturbing the
peace. He stood near their door and informed Ambalal that a
great yogi Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji of Malser was to
26
THE PLANS GO AWRY
arrive in town that day, Saturday 26th, and give a discourse

the same evening at Madhav Baug. To Ambalals mind the
event was of great import. He hoped that Mani lost in his
own world would use this happening to get over his troubled
mind. Ambalal did not want to miss the event and wanted
Mani to come along with him just for the experience of it.
Mani though still disturbed had not lost his well-cultivated
rational mind and retained his natural poise. Highly
suspicious of sanyasins though Mani was, Ambalal tried to tell
him that Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji was different, not
the normal run of the mill sadhu that abounded in every
corner of the country.
In the room that Ambalal and Mani shared, there was a
photo of Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji. Mani had noticed it
without paying attention to it, but everytime he saw it he
began to see
more into it, or was it looking at him, telling him
something despite his inherent mistrust of sanyasins and
sadhus. The sadhu on the wall appeared to be beckoning.
Mani, though he did not want to admit to himself,
nurtured an urge to meet him. In his heart of heart, a
feeling grew that here was an honest mana great man,
probably a genuine yogi.
His Holiness Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji whose birth
name remained a secret with him was bom in 1798 to a
Mukhopadhyaya family in Bengal in a small village near
Shantipur in Nadia district. His childhood surroundings
and parental influences were such as inspired in him the
devotional attitude and faith in the traditional Hindu
heritage and culture. Paramahamsa had a reputation
which had grown with the years. His early education was
at the missionary English Schools, Calcutta. Keen and
observant he exhibited unusual talent in the study of
languages and acquired a fair knowledge of Sanskrit,
27
THE PLANS GO AWRY
Bengali and English. His parents were eager to see him

married and settled and their view prevailed. Definite
arrangements were made for the bright young lad. On the
first occasion his beloved mother died a few days prior to
the scheduled date. When the marriage was fixed two
years hence his father died and his marriage was scuttled
again.
He was just twenty and orphaned. With no one to look
after him, he decided to join government service and earn
his livelihood. Within a short span of three years, he
earned the favours of his seniors by dint of hard work and
was subsequently promoted to a higher post as an officer
28
THE PLANS GO AWRY
in the judicial department. During this period, a court

intrigue aroused his indignation and he decided to renounce
the world. The foul incident, his keen interest in mysticism,
and his sad plight made the young man rebel and at the
tender age of twenty-three he left his home in search of
higher pursuits. He then entered the Order of Vaisna- vism
or the Path of Devotion, especially influenced by the new
school of Gauranga. His early association with Bhakti rituals
as propagated by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, somehow could
not satisfy the reformist concept that he was looking for. He
made efforts to learn different traditions and after going
around Assam, Tibet, Himalayas and various other places in
India he got an opportunity to get first-hand knowledge of
technical Yoga.
The various achievements and the supernatural powers,
siddhis, that he acquired during this long period of over 60 to
70 years only made him more humble. There are incidents
that have been recorded in this connection. For example,
once in Karachi where Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji was
temporarily residing, a rich man asked cynically, Instead of
using your yogic powers to feed the large entourage of few
hundred sadhus who are with you, why do you move about
with such large groups in different places burdening the laity
with their maintenance ? Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji recited some Hindi lines to the effect that There is no change
in the fact that God himself is the grocer for persons like me
who has to feed hundreds. It is wrong for rich patrons to
arrogate unto themselves the credit for the charity they
make. God looks
after the needs of all. You will see that while we live here,
we will provide food to thousands of spiritual persons
residing in this large city. And it happened that for all
the seven days that this large gathering resided in
Karachi, food and provisions became available to the
29
THE PLANS GO AWRY
visitors. In fact, it was in Karachi that Paramahamsa

Madhavadasaji got the name Sakaria Baba (the saint
granting gift of sugar candy). To Paramahamsaji, it was
the glory of God and no credit due to him personally.
Another incident relates to a collector of Sind, where
Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji lived with his followers.
The bhajans (singing of prayer) of the sadhus and the
ceremonies became a source of nuisance to the wife of the
collector. The latter issued orders to the sadhus gathering
to immediately vacate the place. Paramahamsa
Madhavadasaji and his group respected the order and established themselves at another spot. However it so
happened that the wife of the Collector took ill after that
incident. Various remedies were tried. When other
methods failed to bring relief to the lady, someone
suggested that the illness was a result of the removal of
the sadhus from that area. The collector, it is said, went to
Paramahamsaji. The latter replied, To us sadhus all land
belongs to God. You are not the doer of any action. It is
God. In spite of this you became responsible in removal of
the sadhus and earned some dement. This is indeed not
proper and God has willed that you repent for what you
did. If God so wills now, your wife will be alright. And as
the story goes, the wife recovered soon.
It was Paramahamsa Madhavadasajis constant feeling
that he was a servant of God, and what belonged to him was
for distribution to all. Social service was his motto. In this
sense he was not a recluse that did not care for the
community. He actively thought of otheis, and helped those
who came his way. When he selected Malsar as his abode^
there was no amenity in the area except arid land. He sat
under an improvised canopy that he spreaddressed only in
a black woollen loose robe (kafani). The place came to be
known in time as khakhachowka as the sadhus who dressed
30
THE PLANS GO AWRY
and appeared so because of smearing ashes of that colour.

Hundreds of sadhus would sit together for meals even in
those early days. They would be shouting the traditional
words, Pangat ki harihara, inviting all and sundry to join in.
Of course, some rich people often criticized this large
community feeding. One of them said to Madhavadasaji while
at Madhav Baug in Bombay, The providing of food and
clothes to all and sundry without considerationwhether
they deserve the same or notmakes for persons to become
lazy. These men should work. The yogi replied, Look ! there
is no consideration of deserving and undeserving when you
make charity. It is rather the duty of the rich to support the
poor. The responsibility is greater when the receiver is a wise
man like a sadhu. Look in the sadhu something more than a
beggar. In fact, it is God that comes before you in the form of
a sadhu, to test you and to test your devotion to Him. Those
who can manually toil and earn will never come to
31
THE PLANS GO AWRY
On the night of Saturday 26th August 1916 Ambalal and I

set out for the dharamshala of Madhav Baug. I had mixed
feelings even as I was going there. As soon as I saw
Paramahamsaji I felt that here was a man a great man.
My early thoughts of belittling sadhus disappeared. All my
earlier misgivings seemed to go away, as our eyes met. There
was a feeling of complete understanding and I felt humble
and greatly drawn to the Master. Madhavadasajis eyes were
glued on me. This was on the night of the 26th. I prostrated
myself at the feet of the Master.
On the following day, Sunday, I went back to
Madhavadasaji. It was on this auspicious day that he
initiated me into the trance experience samadhi. He praised
my body and pure nature and appreciated the discipline and
self-fcontrol. There seemed to be an immediate and kindly
bond between the two of us. While I was descending the stairs
he said in the presence of all, Seeing such a one, I gain
strength. Saying this the Master clenched his fist and I felt a
vibration pass through the body.
I returned home, but was tormented by thoughts which did
not allow me to sleep. I went to college on the 28th. but was
too distracted and my attention was not on my studies. I was
longing to meet the Master again so I went that night to
Madhav Baug. The teacher seemed to be already waiting for
me. Appreciating my pure nature he taught me some kriyas.
That night I slept at his place. The following day I went to
the Nursinha
Lodge where we were staying and paid up my bills, left my
books there and without any money, only with the clothes on
my back, I started forMadhav Baug. I was trembling in my
ecstasy and could not walk. I summoned a victoria and told
the driver to take me to Madhav Baug at C. P. Tank, without
even inquiring about the charge. On reaching my destination
33
THE PLANS GO AWRY
I realized that I had no money, so ran inside and got the

necessary money. On seeing me in this excited state, the
Master enquired as to what had happened. I could not utter
a single word but seemed to be overwhelmed by sadness.
Madhavadasaji noticing my total renunciation asked me to
stay with him and requested me to write to my father.
I was unable to write to him so Madhavadasaji requested
Shri Chunilal to write to my father Shri Haribhai Jivanaji
Desai at Bulsar. The letter was dated 29th August 1916 and
was written fro,m the bungalow of Seth Muljibhai
Madhavadas, where the Master lived.
29th August 1916
May Master Haribhai Desai of Bulsar accept the most
loving blessings of Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji. Manibhai
has left the hostel and is now living with me. He has
developed intense dis- passion for worldly objects. Looking to
his tender age, and divine disinterest, it has been decided
not to allow him to go elsewhere. He has stopped attending
the college. It is necessary therefore that you come at your
earliest here. Manibhais love for his father is intense. He
has the finest background. Now you have to come to find out
whether he is not hurrying up too much in his spiritual
quest. He is safe here, and I pray fervently from the bottom
of my heart that God grant you and him the right
understanding to carry through life in the right way.
CHAPTER IV
FOLLOWING THE PATH OF THE ANCIENTS

Haribhai, till this letter arrived, was in the dark
about the complete transformation in his beloved son
and heir. He was visibly disturbed and took a quick
34
decision and rushed to Bombay with a school friend C. L.

Desai. On his arrival he was immediately won over by
Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji, while his son sat
withdrawn and aloof. Paramahamsaji was effusive in his
greetings. With Mani as the interpreter, the father and
the guru laid bare their thoughts, their hopes and their
problems. To the village school-master, his only son
taking the path of a yogin meant more than just the loss
of a prosperous career for his son, whom he had intended
to send to London for the civil service examination. To
him it was a vital matter not merely involving his only
son but a threat to the perpetuation of the family name
and a grave crisis in as much as there would be nobody
to carry on social and religious ceremonials after his
death. For the majority of Hindus still believed that
there was no salvation for a man who does not have a
son to offer the tarpana or water ^ Sacrifice, for the peace
of his soul.
To Manis determined mind however there was
no essential mysticism limited to the pursuit of truth
which he sought and the life in everyday world to
which he was bound. He therefore pleaded with the
Master and said I am anxious to learn from you and
am prepared for everything but I can neither lose
interest in the society nor break ties with the world
the whole kaleidoscope of life around me. I am deeply
interested in spirituality not to seek an escape from
life but to live it more fully.
For the Master this was an unconventional problem,
a certain departure from the orthodox traditions.
Being a modest reformist himself, having faith in
destiny, he gladly accepted Manis unusual request
that he would marry and live a householders life. This
vow being made he encouraged^ Mani to accompany
35
his father to Bulsar for a while. Mani bid a tearful

farewell to his Master, who knew he would return and
be a dedicated and keen student.
Elated with his success Haribhai returned to Bulsar
with Mani. His dejection had turned to rejoicing. Little
did he realize that this homecoming, 30th August
1916 would pass into history.
The bonds between the Master and the student
could not be snapped by distance in miles or even
overwhelmed by stronger family ties. At home Mani
continued to be aloof and had strange moods which
the father found difficult to fathom. The only joy
seemed to be the postmans knock on the door. The
letters which came from the Master speak volumes.
36
FOLLOWING THE PATH OF THE A.NCIENTS
1 3-9-1916
Dear Mani, who is tormented by the fire of separation
accept the auspicious greetings from Paramahamsa
Madhavadasaji now in Bombay.
He received your letter that is full of the sad feelings
of a severed heart. The feelings of the heart appear like
tears which have fallen on this
letter.............. The letter was opened with the
same eagerness as it was written. Your filial love is
extraordinary and I pray to God that this noble attitude
may continue forever. Your physical body, which is
temporary and earthly may be anywhere but your
immortal soul that has identified itself (with the right
source) will remain forever and so there is no reason for
sadness. When the devotee knows that he is of the very
nature of God, where can there be pain ? In case there is
pain, this is a deficiency in devotion. It is likely that to
remove these imperfections, God is testing you.
Whatever impurities are there get removed and they
become pure gold. God will be the customer to make you
his own. That is why you remain intoxicated, dear. Your
utterance (should be) What my Lord does is all for the
good. This oft-repeated phrase of yours should be
maintained before yourself. You should try to integrate
this feeling in every atom of your divine conception. Do
continue with the processes (kriyas) that will counter the
present situation.
The image of your pure personality has played a
magic on me and has drawn me towards you.
May God quieten, your mind and give you happiness
and satisfaction as He is the only hope that may create
no further difficulties.
Whatever you write in your madness of separation is
very pleasant for me, for to the lover whatever writings
37
are communicated in whatever form are like nectar

only and so remain happy,' happy and happy. Dont
forget that sentence Be happy in all conditions.
Vasant has just arrived and has remembered you.
You can come here and gain mental peace. Chuni is
always in bliss. His worldly activity would get over and
he will improve as soon as his past samskaras are
depleted. He is here. Do not worry. You are far and yet
you are near me, that is what I think. It is also your
duty to look after your father and yet, do not forget
your true dharma (mission).
It is not necessary to feel sad. Be constantly
remembering God (Sri Krishna). You will thus gain
peace. This letter has become a long one but you must
quietly and slowly read it and think over it and
meditate on it and come to a blissful state and thus
become of the very blissful nature of God himself.
PARAMAHAMSA MADHAVADASJI
(Translated from the original Gujarati)

P. S. Salutations of Chuni who is the servant of this
servant of God. Please convey to your father blessings of
the holy teacher. Take his permission and come willingly.
4-9-1916
Dear Pupil Mani,
Read the most loving greetings of Paramahamsa
Madhavadasaji.
Your post card was received today. Just as much as
your heart and mind are attracted to me so also am I
getting drawn to you.
This is the law of nature. Dear Mani, come and
overcome the confusion of the world. Vasant remembers
you and is very anxious to meet the heart of heart. In case
38
you cannot come here in your person then my body and

soul will run to you. I keep thinking when shall I see my
Maniya (in affection). Your divine look has made a place
in my heart. I lose myself when I receive your letter and I
exclaim Come Maniya come, come quick. If you do not
come I shall come. Your fire of separation should be
extinguished by knowledge. Start seeing God in all
things. Separation is just to cause glimpses of the divine.
Radhajis separation from Sri Krishna was ultimately for
union. One who is mad after God indeed God is mad after
him. As you cannot write everything in a letter so also can
I not. This is enough. I will send the incommunicable
message through my heart.
PARAMAHAMSA MADHAVADASJI.
Exhilaration which came with the letters was followed

by strange moods. Well meaning neighbours thought that
the young lad had gone mad.
(Translated from the original Gujarati)
Well aware of the fathers sacrifice for Mani they wanted
to retrieve this brilliant young man from this insane
plight. Various rescue measures were suggested.
Someone even suggested that the young man be put in
chains till he returned to his senses. The young mans
affection was sanity beyond madness. How could the
simple folk grasp the significance of the attachment to
the Master. Derision from people around him was
expected. Understanding and solace came from the
Master himself in the form of a third letter.
/
/3
5-9-1916
Dear Mani my own self,
Read with great love the blessings of Paramahamsa
Madhavadasaji.
39
Your two letters received. Replies were written yet you

write that you did not receive my reply. So this letter is
sent via registered post. Find out who took the two
letters sent in envelopes.
If your mind is not steady then reading this letter,
your fathers mind will be at peace. Reading this, come
away. If he does not allow you to come then bring him
along. Poet Narsinh Mehta has said, Abandon that
what causes delay.
If even in spite of much entreating he does not agree,
then keeping the faith in the father intact for the good of
the father, for overcoming your excited state and
drawing away the creation and God, make your mind
strong and adamant and abandon your father. What is
going on is for
40
the good. Purify yourself, this is a purificatory process.

Remember if you give up firmness of mind it will lead to
a catastrophe !
Be quiet ! My dear Mani be quiet ! Start the medicine
of chanting the name of God (Sri Hari). Do not let go even
a moment without remembering Him. Recite the
following mantra loudly and spend time:
Hare Krishna ! Hare Krishna !
Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare !
Hare Ram ! Hare Ram !
Ram Ram Hare ! Hare !
Due to the power of this mantra your father will
lovingly send you to meet me. I have r a great faith in my
Father, Sri Krishna. I know His nature. He never
forsakes him dn trouble who utters His name without a
sense of shame. He comes and He rescues. He makes the
impossible possible. You have faith in God, the test is
when The world laughs at you, your devotion to God is
real. Let the world laugh. It is to your advantage that
the world laughs. Follow the Gita. Be not bothered by
pleasure or pain. Firmness leads to salvation and only
this I say : without fear or pride of your person or doubt
follow my advice. God will give you peace. Write quickly.
I am even more worried than you. I do not know Gods
work but I know through His love that in the last life you
were mine and F\Vas yours. We had great love and so I
write this.
Written by Chunilal as dictated by the Master.
('Translated from the original Gujarati)
CHAPTER V
AT THE FEET OF THE MASTER
Arriving at Malsar, Mani was immediately accepted by
the people at the ashram. The serene atmosphere, the
warm welcome and the sheer cleanliness made it easy for
Mani to take to the new home. His health, bursting at the
seams, was a source of wonder and amazement to his
colleagues. Not for long though. Mr. Muscle-man had to
shed his muscles and within a month Mani became
slimthe,right figure for the life of a yogin.
But the initiation had yet to come. A typical day at the
ashram began early. The inmates were up at about 5-30
A.M. and after attending to themselves at the Narmada
river, used to join in a period of worship and prayer, in
the small temple. Most of the people were Vaishnavites
believers in Lord Krishna. Paramahamsaji was never
present at these meetings. He stayed in his own prayer
room. Breakfast followed, consisting usually of some
milk, chapati-like wheat preparation and sweets
sometimes. If someone had brought some bananas as
prasada (offering) they were distributed. After breakfast
it was time for people to see Paramahamsaji. He would
sit or* a dais like platform on his vyagkracharma (tiger
skin) where lots of people would come with all types of
problems,
both physical and mental. He would give his guidance.
The people would take his darshan. There was no
money charged but there was a photo of
Madhavadasaji in the front reception room, opposite
the temple where sometimes some of the devotees used
to leave their offering in cash or kind. Usually it was
silver. The village folks sometimes brought the fruits
of the field. People came from long distances and quite
43
a number came from the cities. The questions posed

were mainly personal, and about family problems.
Madhavadasaji with his patience managed to give
solace to a 11.
A shuttle narrow gauge train from Dabhoy to
Miyagam enabled people to come to the ashram. The
Maharaja who sympathised with the Indian
revolutionaries of that time had surmised that
Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji hailing from Bengal
was perhaps one of them. Bengal was the home of the
revolutionary movement in India. Once he had come
personally, it is said, to find out for himself and spent
a lot of time speaking to the followers of
Madhavadasaji.
The train also brought mail and the letters which
were received for the ashram were read by Mani. The
replies which were dictated by Madhavadasaji were
written by Chunilal. After this, the Master would ask
Mani to accompany him for a walk, sometimes in the
pasture-land where cows (donated to the ashram) used
to graze. Madhavadasaji being very fond of cows
patted the little ones lovingly as they strolled by.
44
Paramahamsa Madhavadzsaji, The apostle of Yoga technology and theguru of

the Founder, at the age of one hundred and twenty two years.
For the first few days the would-be-yogin was given

a free hand by Paramahamsaji, and Mani, his alert
mind on the look-out, observed things, probing people
around him, learning the ways of the ashram without
being led around. Self-help was the way of the
ashram and Mani spent his rime familiarizing
himself with the duties of his co-residents. Some
members, Mani observed, were devoted and sincere,
others did things as a matter of habit and convention.
They did their duties but did not keep the spirit of it
all. So vhile Paramahamsaji was still to announce his
plans, Manis mind had pronounced judgement on the
various co-residents.
Then came the initiation, which itself initiated a
new way of instruction, breaking away from the age
old traditional practices. The great love between the
chela and the guru called for newer ways to
disseminate information. The close relationship
demanded a no-barrier and no restriction tutorship.
So why keep him at a distance: On the long walks and
the evening boat rides the Master used to instruct
Mani on certain things. Usually the conversation
centred around how to help others. He would
sometimes perhaps talk erf* how to handle a sick
person therapeutically. The Master and Mani always
sat together to eat. Paramahamsaji never trusted his
beloved student <5 to eat with others and so they
shared a common plate. Trustworthy as the inmates
of Malsar were, Madhavadasaji knew that Manis
unconventional life and bearing had aroused jealousy.
He did not want any untoward incident to take place.
After acquainting Mani with the intricacies and
techniques of Yoga, Paramahamsaji took the chela to his
underground retreat where the instruction progressed. It
45
was the inner sanctum where the Master used to meditate

twice a day, and to be allowed to enter here, was a great
honour indeed. Jai Jai Krishna and Mani were the only two
chelas to have this special privilege. They were, however,
instructed separately because of the diverse inclination of
each. For while Jai Jai Krishna preferred the life of a sadhu,
Mani would follow the life of a householder.
Mani was advised to direct his mind to the internal
workings of the body, while sitting down in the sidhhasana
pose. Under the guidance of the greatest Yoga expert, the
two drank at the fountain of Yoga knowledge, perfecting
each movement to make sure that the future generations
would get undiluted benefits of the Masters teaching.
Much of the training was related to practical and
pragmatic use of Yoga and the application of it in various
situations of sickness and suffering. The cause of these
problems had to be first studied and an intuitive skill of
analysis had to be developed. Here again Manis observant
eyes used to follow the Masters acts closely watching the
next course undertaken. Mani, however, would often do
things on his own. Vijayadeva relates an incident which
largely illustrates this point.
Many cases would be brought to the ashram for relief
and Paramahamsaji would pass on selected ones, at first very simple, to his beloved disciple. On
one occasion a wealthy woman from Bombay came seeking
help for pulmonary tuberculosis. The usual procedures
were followed and one of the ashrama attendants gave the
woman a clean piece of cloth (vastra dhouti) to swallow
partially in order to remove mucous from the oesophagus
and stomach. Unfortunately the cloth lodged in the throat
placing the patient in danger of suffocation. The bewildered
attendant ran to His Holiness for help and in reply the yogin
46
turned calmly to Mani as if to ask, How do you handle

this one? Unruffled Mani stopped to think for a second
and gave the woman a little hot water with ghee (clarified
butter) to sip. The simple cure worked and the cloth came
out easily from the frightened patients throat.
Thus the instructions continued from learning and
oberving to acting and resolving. A round of the sick ward
would end up with a wealth of information. A particular
case of interest which happened at the Forest Lodge in
Matheran involved a schizophrenic young man, the
twenty-four year old son of a Bombay Hindu knight, who
had no interest left in his life. The Master left the youth in
Manis charge and departed on a journey but not before he
had given all a lesson in humility,
The Hindu knight wanted to include the guru in the
group photo but Paramahamsaji told him that nothing of
himself would appear in the final print. The knight
believing the guru unaware of the modem wonders of
photography persuaded the
47
guru who reluctantly agreed to pose. The snap was shot

and, lo and behold, the picture took shape with a blank in
place of the guru. Surprise was writ large on everyones
face but the Master later explained to Mani thus. Since he
did not want to appear in the picture he had held back his
prana from vibrating his physical body when the camera
lens were focused on him. The crest-fallen knight was at a
loss for words.
Left alone with the young man, Mani set about his task.
The young man, purposeless and forlorn, had got involved
with a young nurse who had been employed to look after
him. Mani sensed the problem and tactfully had the nurse
dismissed. The next step was to replace the lost companion
by himself and at the same time induce a sense of
discipline. Long walks, a few simple Yoga practices and
counselling formed a part of his daily routine. The young
man had indeed turned a new leaf in just six weeks.
Mani was to learn more from his Master by the simple
example he set. The wisdom, compassion and humility of
his Master were boundless. Every occasion Mani
accompanied the Master provided a chance to learn these
great virtues.
In 1917 on a trip to Matheran, a rickshaw- puller
suddenly fell down and Paramahamsaji was thrown out of
his seat. Mani observed a snake stealthily move away.
Observing the man for a few moments the Master passed
his hand over the bitten foot of the rickshaw-puller.
Immediately
Sadhu Keshavadas and Sadhu Gaurangdas, the kali- kamali followers of his
Holiness with Founder the householder yogin (extreme right) at the Malsar
ashram.
Shri Yogendraji after his practical training in

Yoga under Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji at
Malsar.
the dutiful rickshaw-puller got up and took his two

passengers back to the guest house. Returning home
Mani was asked to fetch a pail of water with lime

(chunam) with which Paramahamsaji cleansed his arm,
which had swollen. The water turned sea-green. The
poison which had passed from the drivers foot into the
Masters arm now passed into the pail.
Minor details do not deter men from decisions they
make. Such decisions are arrived at intuitively. When
one is in tune with such source of power, small details in
the execution of a bigger plan do not matter. The
following example in the Masters life is illustrative :
Madhavadasaji once decided on the spur of a moment
when told about the Bhadhbhuta Tatra (pilgrimage)
which occurs once in every twelve years. The place was
far away and had to be reached by a change of railway
trains. There were hundreds of followers of the Master,
whose accommodation in a train was a problem. There
were not adequate funds either. But, following
instructions, all members of the ashram got ready and
began collecting at the railway station in the early
morning. However, some could not be at the railway
station in the early morning and they could not be
admitted as they did not possess valid tickets. When
Madhavadasaji was told about this, he smiled. No sooner
the news of his departure spread, local devotees began to
flock to have his blessing before his departure. On the
platform after receiving his blessings, everyone
invariably left some money at the feet of the Master.
Enough funds were now available for purchase of railway
tickets for all. Coming to know of the wish of
Madhavadasaji, the station master of Malsar instructed
the next station Miyagam for a few empty bogies to
accommodate such a large number of people. A special
train for his followers with all arrangement for their
smooth journey, entered the station platform.
50
Ways of the Great, Journal of The

Toga Institute, April 1969
Having reached, Bharuch was having a flood. To reach
the opposite bank, boats were used. Mani, along with
some other devotees, climbed in a boat, but the Master
called out to Mani to come out from that boat and sit
with him in another one. Did the Master already know
the fate of the other boat ? For after a little while the
boat capsized drowning two of the people. Surely the
ways of the great are inscrutable at times !
While Mani was with the Master he imbibed many
other things besides technology. One of them being
cultivation of right attitude in the study of Yoga. In
Paramahamsa ni Prasadi he recounts :
The saintly Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji visited a
very rich admirer, and lived with him for a few days in
his palatial home. Mani who was with Madhavadasaji
noticed an ordinary looking servant, apparently too
ordinary, working in the house, outwardly appearing
unintelligent and a simpleton. He was involved in petty
chores all day. The servant was ill one day running high
temperature, and Mani after completing his duties was
about to retire to his bed, when he heard some sound
emanating from a cellar room. Out of curiosity he entered
the room to hear words and sentences such as My Lord !
My God ! My Everything ! These words were being
continuously repeated. Mani took a lantern in his hand
to see who was so lost in God consciousness, this late
hour. He was surprised to see in the dim light of the
lantern, that very ordinary looking servant, lying in bed
and muttering these sentiments even while asleep. Oh
God I. How merciful you are ! How wise ! was being
51
exclaimed by this illiterate man as Mani stood there

wondering at the heightened awareness this ordinary
man possessedan awareness that permeated his entire
being. How poor in comparison are those well-to-do
persons, who display their religiosity through external
paraphernalia of idols, flowers, candles, and incense
sticks, etc.
Mani observed the behaviour of this man for the next
few days, while he Carried out his work. The man was
found to be utterly selfless and very sincere. Here was a
man who had reached'great heights in spiritual
consciousness without* any pretence of it at all.
52
CHAPTER VI
A LITERARY CAREER BRIGHTENS
At Malsar, with enough time given to relax, Mani took
to reading and writing. His love for God was manifested
in Prabhubhakti. The first book from the young devotee
was no doubt influenced by his Masters intense
communion with God. In his introduction to Prabhubhakti,
Mani makes a reference to the values of life, thus
affirming his attitude both to poetry and philosophy.
Typical of his personality is the quotation from Emerson
on the title page, which reads :
It is easy in the world to live after the worlds
opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but
the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd
keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of
solitude.
Disguising his own personality he elaborates later
Emerson knew more than his essay.
To Mani, Truth is, and is One He maintains that all
the different religions in the world are merely the
different ways of realising that One Truth. The fact that
the mango fruit is sweet, is a truth. It remains an
unexperienced hearsay truth until the fruit is tasted. You
should accept any truth as truth, only when you have
experienced it. It can never be the truth for you, as long
as it is borrowed from other sources. Do not accept as
truth whatever I write, without your experiencing it.
Test it first by your intellect, and confirm it by
experience. He elaborates further that all the cults and
sects, are different ways leading to the attainment of the
53
same goal. I find all religions uniform, he says. One of

the couplets translated reads :
If $ou are there like me and I am like you, what
is there to worshipwho is there to worship ?
whom ?
The right effort has to be for the realization of the
ultimate Truth.
Prabhubhakti not only launched Mani as a literary
figure but helped him to begin his career as a publisher
too. After he finished his manuscript he wanted to
publish it. Popatlal, who was a devotee of
Paramahamsaji, used to visit the ashram often. He was
the son of the proprietor of the Diamond Jubilee Printing
Press at Ahmedabad. He printed Prabhubhakti covering
217 pages at a nominal rate of Rs. 100/- for five hundred
copies. But where was Mani to find this sum, small as it
seemed. He had no money of his own and he had
resolved never to ask Paramahamsaji for any money.
Instead he turned to his father when he showed a copy of
his book. The father rejoiced at his literary effort. Mani
accepted the amount as a loan from his father.
Once, when Mani went to Ahmedabad for correction of
the proofs, he had an interesting meeting. One day a
humble looking man, seeing Mani correcting his proofs,
approached him humbly and requested him to correct his
proofs also. Mani came to know that this was the
respected Bhikhshu Akhandananda who had made it his
mission to propagate spiritual knowledge through small
books and pamphlets published at nominal rates. He
used to collect only 4 annas from people coming to the
Press and tear a receipt on the spot and give them a book
in return. In this manner grew one of the most
benevolent publishing houses in Gujarat : The Sastu
54
Sahitya Vardhak Kar- yalaya and the Akhandananda

Press.
While in Ahmedabad there was an epidemic of
plagueThe Press workers which numbered over 100
dwindled down to about 35 and Mani received imploring
letters from his father to leave the plague-infested city
and return to Bulsar. But Mani persisted in being at
Ahmedabad till the book was published.
After the book was released, Mani took permission of
Madhavadasaji to sell his book to the devotees who used
to come to the ashram at Malsar. The Master gave
instant permission and the loan to the father was repaid.
While Mani was in Matheran with the Master, he used
to move about the hills and plains singing to himself. He
kept a notebook and reGOfrded his musings.
Hrdayapuspanjali followed Prabhubhakti. It was his first
poetic collection and here again he expounded the
philosophy that all religions oner some spiritual
uniformity. In the introduction to Hrdayapuspanjali, he
explains that we can find the One among the many only
through poetry. The contents of his poems are much more
substantial than the forms. The poems of this collection
were composed during the period 17-11-1917 to 25-121917. A fine continuity of thought runs through them all.
The poet under the pen-name Masta Mani melodiously
expresses positive philosophy thus :
In the darkness of ignorance, all things appear inert and
placid. None however knows how much of truth or untruth is
hidden in this world.
I returned back from your doorstep, and forgot you, while
leaving your home, though I had promised that I would never
forget you, Dear
The poet, even, at this early age, expresses his inner
55
urge thus :
When the mind is not stilled, how can one gain
peace and tranquillity. *
At this young age Mani was not familiar with writing
formal poetry. He used to just think, reflect and the
words 'flowed to him.
Principal A. B. Yagnik a versatile Gujarati critic, in
an article, Poetic Versatility of Shri Yogendra, Journal
of The Toga Institute, November 1979 says about
Hrdayapuspanjali:
We here enter the poets aesthetic world,

and are delighted with his exquisite
reflections. At this stage he might as well
have been on the road to Yoga, but had not
reached there.
Once while at Matheran, Pandit Lalan, a noted Jain
scholar, who had attended the Parliament of Religions
at Chicago, called on his Master, Paramahamsa
Madhavadasaji, and presented him with a copy of
Rabindranath Tagores Gitanjali. The Bengali verse went
straight to the Masters heart and he desired the work to
be translated into Gujarati. And no one was better
equipped to translate this magnificent work than Mani.
The undergraduate with no knowledge of Bengali was
asked to get cracking. Not that the Masters word was
law, but that, he always knew better. Mani began the
ordeal of learning a new language. This would take
months to get to the poem, so he master-minded his own
shorl-cut process. AftcT he had familiarised himself with
the Bengali alphabet, he compared the new letters with
his native characters and then transcribed the entire
text into Gujarati script. With this technique he could
read the Bengali original ana' get the general meaning. Next
56
he got the stumbling words and phrases explained. Then

getting back to the poems he began to feel the rhythm of
their verse. Word by word, phrase by phrase, line by
line, the poems came asunder, to take shape in a new
language. In ten days, the Gujarati translation of
Gitanjali was ready. The translation won the heart of the
Master who was already aflamed with the original.
Literature is meant to be passed on and in this age the
handing over from generation to generation is done in
print. The Master wanted the Gujarati version of
Gitanjali published. But how could the unassuming
disciple go about it. Again it was the Master who showed
the way and asked Mani to write for permission. Mani
presuming the matter a business transaction consulted
a lawyer devotee, who advised a formal letter to
Rabindranath Tagore. The reply was instantaneous and
brief. The publishers own the copyright. Mani went to
the publishers for their permission. Macmillans, the
publishers, wanted their pound of fleshRs. 5,000 to be
exact ! For Mani this sum was exorbitant. He had never
seen such an amount of money in his life. What could he
do? His immense effort which had produced a
masterpiece seemed to be in vain. Crestfallen, he turned
to his Master to relate the sad outcome. Paramahamsaji
laughed away the story, then pulling up Mani he said,
Did I not tell you to write the letter yourself? I never
asked you to go to a solicitor to write the letter. Half
convinced though not sure but still angry at the outcome
he wrote to the poet in his own words :
Haler, Via Bulsar,
Gujarat.
January 1st. 1918
Mine in Me,
57
Dear Rabindranath,
No reply to my last letter from Matheran dated the
20th. December.
I waited uptil now so long, in happy hope of
receiving a letter and a clear reply, just enough to permit
me to translate your Bengali (original) Gitanjali into
Gujarati.
I had a bright fore-hope in you to get for the
Gujarati-reading public a chance for reading and
meditating upon your sweet charming views; but the
high ambition seems to melt into clouds of disheartening
symptoms.
The translation in prose is complete and awaits
your kind permission.
Macmillan & Co., with no other motive of public
service, is a firm to earn money; and so it is as
impossible to get from them the right of translation as
I were to ask from a stone a healthful fruit.
I have the earnest desire to translate all your
works in Gujarati not from the English (for the above
reason) but from the Bengali, the right for the
permission of which rests with your kind feelings.
If it be your wish to have your Gitanjali and other
poems translated in other Languages into verse for
verse, I will try utmost for the same.
I have not the least idea to gain money from the
books publication, and moreover you know that
especially the Gujarati Literature is dry to its bottom
so this is a work of loss than of benefit.
I am even prepared to give up my translation to
anyone who wants to publish it without my
interfering in it for a pie. The price for the book, after
your permission, will be less than Rupee One.
58
With a strong and affirmative hope in full details.

.*% .
Yours in Him, Mani
Sir Rabindranath Tagore Shanti Niketan.
In due time, a reply arrived.
Shanti
Niketan,
January 7, 1918
Dear Sir,
You have my permission to translate Bengali Gitanjali
into Gujarati.
Yours faithfully, Rabindranath Tagore.
Thus Gitanjali was published in 1918 and Mani who
took the pen name Masta Mani became a rising star on
the Gujarati literary firmament with a new pathway
open to him.
The young lad was inspired and influenced by Tagores
work. The country was in a grip of nationalistic influence
and the next collection of poems appeared as Rastriyagita,
published in 1919. It refers to the homeland, the citizens
and the struggle for freedom.
The beauty of nature used to enthuse and inspire Mani
to write. He said once, I used to attune myself to the
thought, and melody would flow naturally . There ib a
metre called madira which sings like a drunken man and
hardly anybody ever used it. In one of my poems I used it
spontaneously not being aware of this type of metre at
all. Later I checked with a book of poetic theory and
found out that this type of metre does exist. In the
ecstatic feeling, the poetry flowed smoothly and most of it
was inspirational and intuitive. I believe that if a man is
in tune with himself he can express himself without
much
concern for methodology of poetry. Many of the
59
spiritual savants like Mirabai and Narasinh Mehta

were poets. Their poetry was inspirational.
In Manis Sangita Dhvani there are thoughts oqt his
transformation from personal to universal with new
and distinct outlook.
DISCRIMINATION
Echo of misery pains my heart As discerning
doubts rip the mind apart.
Was earths Creator so drowned in pain To
reproduce elements of grief again ?
No never would He let it be ;
How can Bliss Itself create misery ?
Sorrow could not be His sport
For sport's pleasure, not grief to import.
Brahman is Reality in illusory world When
Brahman is bliss where can grief be ?
In void, there is no pleasure, no pain ;
When the universe is void, what is there to imagine ?
May be its all a dream, illusion, sleep :
But can a mere dream cause one to weep ?
As a reflection of eternal Truth so be it,
Could sorrow and Truth ever co-exist?
This world is not real, since happiness is the end; Pleasure
and pain are creations only of the mind.
Even a fool yearns for Eternal Peace,
Why not realize that misery never is !
(Sangita Dhveuri)
As he became more aware of the knowledge of Yoga,
he reflected on the vastness of nature and it began to
inspire him greatly. He accepted the concept of matter
and spiiit as two distinct entities.
60
In this work, he has made use of sanskritized words

and forms, and the intelligent reader cannot - fail to
note that Masta Manis creative genius expressed
itself in many forms, through all of which shines his
deeply reflective mind, dwelling only on substantive
philosophical ideologies.
In addition to his creative and literary work, Mani
became a Boswell to the Master. Paramahamsa ni
Prasadi is a manuscript of the parables and comments,
through which the Master usee} to get his message
across. One such parable, which throws light on the
Masters viewpoint on social change, is illuminating.
India was passing through a period of ferment, at
that time. A reformist movement, led by great social
reformers, was much in the air. Mani was a reformist
and it appears from the following story recounted in
Paramahamsa ni Prasadi that, Parama- namsa
Madhavadasaji himself did not decry a change, but he
kept such a process within certain limits.
There are times when in our life, a conflict is seen
between behaving according to certain accepted norms
of conduct, and yet surviving in certain situations. A
man is dying of thirst, and then he sees water
available from a source that is polluted
61
or socially ostracized. What should one do when

arguments run like this: What is the meaning of life,
when one has fallen from the accepted norms of
behaviour ? Is one just interested in carrying on his
existence, without any commitment to prin- . ciples ?
Also another side of the coin. If one were only alive,
one can live on to do the right things in life. Where is
the question of socially accepted conduct, when no
individual to follow it is left. And so the arguments go
on.
In fact, if one were to carefully analyse many a
social taboo one would see much irrationality involved.
What about the members of the privileged class enjoying
the labour of the underprivileged, and yet denying a
closer association with them f Though there are
arguments and counter arguments, it is sure that when
there is a question of self-preservation, one may let go
certain constraints and compulsions. It must, however,
be clear that under the pretext of self-preservation, one
should not indulge in anti-social and undesirable
activities.
There is the story of a sanyasin (recluse) who lived in
a forest, and one day set off for some distant place,
carrying his traditional bowl [kamandalu) and staff. He
went on walking for a very, long time, and then
realised that there was no habitation around. He was
feeling hungry and thirsty. He saw no house nearby,
where he could ask for food. Tired and weary he sat
down under a tree. He sat
and sat, but he could not find any one coining that
way. By now he was feeling powerless, without nourishment. Luckily, he saw a man coming towards him
62
from a long distance. No sooner the sanyasin saw this

man he exclaimed to him, Brother ! have you any
food? I am terribly hungry and weak. He came up to
the sanyasin and said, Sir, I am a low caste individual,
a sinner. If you have no objection to eat at my house,
food is ready. Please do come. You will atleast get a
dry piece of bread and water to drink. The sanyasin
agreed to the constraints that the other man spoke
about his being a lowborn one but mumbled. I am too
very weak and hungry. He rose and reached somehow
the hut of the low-born. There the sanyasin ate up the
bread that was served to him but refused to drink the
water. He instead enquired if there was a nearby river,
and being told that there was one some distance away,
the sanyasin got up with his bowl and staff, and
trudged his way to the river, washed himself and
drank water to his hearts content, collected more in
his bowl and again returned to the hut. The poor lowcaste man was surprised and asked if the sanyasin
needed anything else, but upon being told he did not
need anything more, the poor man asked very politely
of the sanyasin a question, Sir, at my home you ate
food but refused to drink water. What was the reason
for this ? The sanyasin was happy at the question and
said, that he came back just to answer that question as
he thought that the man would have n this doubt. Now
listen he said, The reason why I ate at your place was
that I was starving and was very close to death, in
absence of nourishment. The consideration of social
taboo was not relevant
there. However, after satisfying my hunger, I realized
that water would be available somewhere here, and that
it was not absolutely necessary then. I gained strength from
food and drank water from a clean place later.
63
The critics had begun to notice Mani, and his learning

with the Master was also very soul-satisfying, but Mani
had not forgotten an old road. Mani set out to be with his
father. Before he could go, Paramahamsaji offered him a
gift nay a rare honour and privilege, a thing which was
least expected, the traditional kamandalu, the begging
bowl which was a sign of monkhood. The bowl had a
power to grant whatever was desired and Paramahamsaji
himself had used it to feed the thousand; following him.
In a way it symbolized delegation of leadership. The offer
was overwhelming and an august honour indeed. But
Mani had ether plans. Grateful as he was to his Master
he declined the offer and decided to go ahead with his
Yoga mission.
CHAPTER VU
THE BIRTH OF AN INSTITUTE

Home once again Mani was accorded a warm welcome.
To the neighbours he was an enigma a yogi and a
mystery man. To his father he was a dearly beloved son
come home again, and Mani was warm to the response.
Showing no outward sign of being unusual or abnormal
he was accepted by all as a member of their community.
However the yogi could not be hidden in a villagers
garb. When for a few days on end he remained silent and
without food, contemplating and meditating, oblivious of
things around, tongues became active and rumour
echoed from wall to wall. Events unfolded which added
dimensions to the already inflamed rumours.
One midsummer night someone came knocking at
master Haribhais open door. The callers, it was learnt,
were relatives of the local police inspector. Could the yogi
64
come to their place immediately? Now what did the

police have to do with the young yogi? No, it wasnt a
polite call nor was it accompanied by a warrant. But
Mani was asked to rush because the inspector was
seriously ill and all medical treatment had failed to
revive him from his semi-conscious stupor. Quick to the
response, Mani rose and followed the anxious relatives
into the quiet night.
At the house of the ailing inspector, the situation

was grave. Perplexed medical men, country physicians
as well as the medical officer sat uneasily, unable to
provide relief. Mani noticed the patients swollen
throat, his stunned appearance and pained expression.
Mani had to act quickly, take over the hopeless
situation as Vijayadev recounts it:
With a quiet but firm voice, Mani called the mans
name, paying no heed to his drugged state. Slowly at
first the inspectors eyes began to open. His lips moved
slightly and to the amazement of all present, he got
out from the bed and staggered in the direction of the
voice. As dear ones gasped in disbelief and doctors
dropped their jaws in wonder, the feeble patient sat
down on the floor at the young mans feet. Mani asked
him, How are you? his eyes looking deep into the
inspectors face. To the nodded reply and mumbled
thanks Mani said, Come and see me at my place
tomorrow morn- mg.
When the inspector did come the next morning, he
was taught a few simple Yoga practices, and given tips
on hygienic care. This gave him initial relief and the
gradual repetition of these practices nursed him back
to health. Everyone raved about the miracle.
65
The miracle had a simple down-to-earth explanation. The police inspector was suffering
from diphtheria and was therefore in great pain. To help
him overcome the pain and also to sedate him morphine
was administered. The doctors who had not diagnosed
correctly were expecting a quick recovery, but the
patient, dulled by the dose of morphine collapsed. Mani
realised what must have happened. Years later, when
asked about this event he explained the recovery thus,
Due to the confusion which occurred during the fast
tempo of imbalance in homeostasis, the patient
apparently lost his own personality control and became
incapacitated to offer adequate accommodation for
protective measures to overcome the crisis. Morphia
deprived him of the initiative. These effects had to be
removed. I did nothing but to supply that which was
lacking and fill the gap till the imbalance was righted.
There is no mystery and no miracle in such simple
things.
Another incident which astounded the villagers
concerned a local lunatic. Sometimes the local people
used to come to Haribhais home more out of curiosity
than respect. Among them were some from Bulsar-Pardi
a nearby village. They referred to an insane relative who
had been chained up in their mango grove far from the
village and whom no -doctor or magician could cure.
They said to him, It would be mercy of the Almighty if
you could cure him and we shall drink water drained off
your feet, in gratitude.
Mani had seen a number of such persons being
brought to his Master and had also accompanied
Paramahamsaji to various places where his Masters
presence was sought for the cure of many such persons.
66
In some instances, as in Matheran, he was initiated in

the cure of such persons under the personal guidance of
his Master. Mani casually agreed to go and see the
victim of alleged witchcraft. The relations half feared
that the mystic who had just returned from the rigours
of a Yoga ashram might demand some exacting rituals
or expensive atonement for the sins of previous birth
like the feeding of a hundred brahmins or a pilgrimage to
most distant places.
But on alighting from the bullock cart at the mango
grove in Bulsar-Pardi, Mani did neither. He did not
even raise his hands to the sky or go down on his knees
and crave the blessings of the Almighty. He just stood
indifferently, as it were, and, having looked around
carefully, smiled at the raving lunatic in a language he
seemed to understand. The insane man became calm
with his eyes fixed on Mani as the latter approached4
him closer. The people all around beseeched him to be
careful lest the lunatic attack his person; but he had no
misgivings. Not satisfied, the village toughs even raised
stout staves in preparedness for anything unusual.
Mani, however, edged further, and the wild oneas he
was called by the villagerssmiled the faintest hint of
friendliness.
How are you? Mani asked more to bre^k the ice
than as an inquiry and made a face pointing to the pole.
He bared his teeth and laughed excitedly and somewhat woefully. As if, having sensed his feelings Mani
told him in a confident tone, I am going to free you
from this pole and bent his knees to detach the chains
from the pole. The man sighed and smiled awkwardly.
He however did not object to Mani holding the free end
of the chain. As they walked out from under the
67
thatched roof, the villagers had already retreated to a

very safe distance.
Mani was leading the insane man behind him and
walked around the garden. Even that short walk
cheered his patient who, though perplexed, appeared
calm and willing. Mani pointed to his bare body and
got the patient to bathe after years, and even to tie a
dhouti round his waist. Given some wholesome snacks,
the man ate with relish and indulged in frequent
smiles as it were to acknowledge some change. He
wore a dazed look on his f&ce when asked whether he
had any home other than the thatched shelter, but
liked the idea of going and seeing the place if it
existed.
Uh-huh, he grunted his assent for the second time
since he had met Mani. By now, he had almost
forgotten to scream and threaten, and had grown to
respect and trust this bearded mystic, who was twice
as strong as he afid many times more understanding
than the frightened superstitious villagers.
As the two approached the house with the villagers
following behind, even the chain was removed. The
prodigal had a faraway look in his eyes till he finally
spotted from amongst the many in a row, the front door
of his forgotten house. He ran towards it. Sitting on a
string cot in his own room, he heaved a sigh, felt rested
and at home.
Hun ain rehavano (I want to stay here), he spoke
with some effort for the first time in many years albeit
with a certain heaviness of the tongue. The desire to
stay there was his self-made decision. He knew he had
someone who would understand him. The householders
were quite unwilling to keep him unchained for the
68
night, but they were prevailed upon to do so. As a

safety measure they called a barber to clip his nails
and he offered no resistance. For nearly a week Mani
continued to visit him daily for two hours. Although
behaving normally, the mans living like a trapped
beast for five long years, had had its effect. He could
not recognize his devoted wife. Half-afraid and halfhopeful, on being coaxed to serve him his meal, she
came forward with her saree well down her face as a
mark of respect for the elders. He graciously accepted
the food without so much as a glance to her, and
stretched out on the cot to which he was once
accustomed.
After that Mani visited him once in a while till he
was well enough to take some interest in his farm and
family. The fame of this near-miracle spread through
the villages. On one of his visits Mani was hailed by a
crowd of farmers. To their unsophisticated mind, he
was a miracle worker with direct access to the
Almighty who can control all that lives and exists.
Was this all witchcraft or a saintly miracle?
Neither, says Mani. According to him, it was all a
process of Yoga quite well known to the advanced
students who practiced it when so inclined neither as
a miracle nor for any consideration but on merit as
they felt it. It is usually an intuitive approach
69
to resolve a situation after probing the subconscious and

getting at the cause, explained Mani. To him there was
nothing unusual in it because the process relates to an
exact science in its own way. A1J facts contain
science, he says tersely and adds, that while no
instruments yet invented could measure the process
leading upto such results, the very success of the
approach itself entitles it to be called a science.
Mani the writer continued to flourish even at Bulsar.
Gems of poems which had been inspired by the quiet
and beauty of Maisar found expression in the sedate life
of the small town.
It was not enough for Mani to write his own poems. It
was equally important for him to introduce the
literature of other languages to starved readers of
Gujarati.
Kavi Tagore was an effort in prose to bring the great
Bengali poets writing to the notice of Gujarati
audience. A new dimension was opened and though in
Gujarat, poets and writers were not well looked upon,
the acquaintance with Bengali poetry enthused new
values and ideas. A national literature was taking
shape and Mani had helped with the spade work.
It was the translation of Tagores Gitanjali, that
proved a great success and was paradoxically responsible for the eclipse of his poetic career.
Sir R. P. Masani a well-known personality of the day,
stumbled on the translation of Gitanjali. Quite aware of
Tagores reputation and the magnitude of the original
work, he was surprised to find the translation had not
suffered in quality. Highly impressed with this work, he
wrote to Mani inviting him to his place at Versova near
Bombay. Mani willingly accepted the invitation and
70-
unwittingly took another step closer to his goal.

After the encounter at R. P. Masanis when Mani was
planning to leave Versova he was met by Mr. Homi
Dadina, the son-in-law of Dadabhoy Naoroji, the great
patriot and progressive thinker. The encounter was to
bear fruit very soon. Mr. Dadina was impressed with
the young man who was so different from the other
young men he had come across. The yogins ways and
manners bowled over Mr. Dadina and soon he invited
the yogin to spend a fortnight with him. The proximity
to the yogin added to the admiration and won over an
early convert to Yoga. As he watched Mani go through
his Yoga practices with a sense of dedication he realised
that here was a deserving cause that needed help, to
make possible to bring the fruits of Yoga to humanity at
large. The host was willing to put his shoulder to the
wheel so that the caravan of Yoga moved on.
Homi Dadina together with a few others started
learning Yoga on the Versova beach. On 25th December
1918, the first batch of students enrolled for a regular
course. This was a red letter day in the history of Yoga
for, for the first time Yoga was taught to the man of the
world. Also on this day The Yoga Institute took birth in
modest dwellings. In a months time the practice of Yoga
was extended to the women also. Passer-bys and other
morning strollers watched the class in action. Many of
This pioneering Institute, The Yoga Institute, was founded at the residence of the
G.O.M, of India, Dadabhai Naoroji, on 25th December, 1918 at Versova beach near
Bombay.
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|l) *Ybrt to yoMr

|MNM in Y Hw to jrcar
V Awre) wuMTtwiB ef Ae atoof
<*) *
M
PfMM tUU .M ... WoJffci ^
^*-V/y
/S4#r
CHUT
(XPAMOCO
3<:
I promise thtt fll fact* stated by -me are itrictly tril*, and agrte to M!ow the rule* and
regulation* of the Yogaahram.
^ f- '***" * * ;
iut_
The facsimile of the first case officially recorded at The Yoga

Institute. It is self explanatory and throws light on the pioneering
activities towards scientific investigations in Yoga.
them had an irreverant view of the situation. In fact

some of them even said Joke karta instead of 'Yog
karta and would cackle away in derision. But those
who had come to scorn stayed to learn and the eager
students wanted to learn more and more. There were
no charges and the only qualification was the desire to
learn. As the students swelled, the message of Yoga
spread and soon people started knocking on the
Institutes door not just for enrolment as students but
even for treatment. The school had thus to play the
role of a hospital also where the ailing thronged. The
expansion in the Institutes activities found a ready
patron. Mr. Dadina who set the wheels in motion and
watched the movement gain momentum would brook
no spokes in the wheel. Again he offered help to the
young guru. In gratitude Mr. Dadina wrote :
15th. February 1919
My dear Swamiji,
I write to thank you for all that you have done for
me. And to tell you how much I have benefitted since
you initiated me in your system of Yoga treatment.
From the very first week I began to feel the steady
advantage from the practice of Neti and Brahma Datan
and the breathing exercises and the diet course which
you have prescribed for me. Fiom the daily notes which
I have kept I find that my weight has been reduced
from 174 lbs., to 134 lbs. without my feeling any
weakness thereby. In consequence I have also been
reduced in my girth
measurement from 44' to 37" and I do not feel any longer that
heavy dull dsyspeptic feeling and on the whole I feel quite
alert and cheerful.
You will be pleased to know I was examined by my own
73
family medical advisor and two other doctors who know

me well for years, and they all declare that they find a
distinct improvement in my general health and were
much interested in your Yoga treatment.
In fact my own medical advisor Dr. H. N. An- klesaria
FRCS London is so pleased with what I told him that he
desired to have an interview with you and to try the
treatment himself, specially as you are so willing to
discuss and give out and to keep back nothing from them.
I may frankly say they expressed a doubt, whether any
improvement in my health will be kept up and
maintained for a long time. At all events I intend to
foliowup the general treatment, diet, and breathing, and
physical exercises, as prescribed "by you and will keep
you informed of my general health.
I shall be grateful if you will kindly take my two sons
under your care who wish to come of their own free will
after seeing the perceptible change in my health and as a
proof of my devotion to your cause. I am prepared to place
my residence at the sea shore at your disposal, and
maintain necessary expense, if you are prepared to take
up other cases.
I shall always speak to my friends of the great interest
in the cause of humanity.
Believe Me, Sincerely Yours?
Homi M. Dadina
Mani willingly accepted the kind offer. The school
became an ashram for the patients. The Sands
registered on 22nd January 1919, the first patient who
was none other than Mr. Dadina himself and his case
was officially entered in the early records of The Yoga
Institute. Here modern science blended with ancient lore
to give common man, the fruits of this union.
On a typical day at the ashram, the early risers were
74
served breakfast and usually there were seven to eight

around the table with the young Swamiji as Mani was
lovingly, called by the patients. After a stroll on the
beach and other light activities, the teaching began and
patients were attended individually and instructed
according to their needs.
The sceptics abounded and the haute couture of the neorich at Versova hardly allowed for anything serious. But
with each success, doubts, were replaced with beliefs. As
more and more patients rolled in, many people were
eager to meet the young swami and Dadina became a
sort of via media.
Ripon Club, j
Esplanade Road,
Bombay 7th. July 1919
My dear Homi,
I spoke to Sir Jamshetji Jeejeebhoy about you and he
has expressed a keen desire to see your yogi and has
asked me to write to you to make an appointment for
Jamshetji to consult him. Will you kindly therefore
arrange to come to the Ripon Club either tomorrow
Tuesday between 2 or 3 for us and bring your friend with
you. If this is not possible then, Thursday at 3 p. m. Do
your best and bring your friend to see him.
With much love,
Yours Sincerely, H. P.
Byramji
The Institute started showing results and the patients
were the testimony. And they announced the wonders of
Yoga to the world. An elated patient was to write in a
letter:
75
Versova, Andheri,
March 3rd. 1919
I was suffering from Hemicrania and the pain was so
acute, so exacting that I was reduced from 122 pounds to
108 pounds which means a reduction of 14 pounds within
a fortnight..
Having read some literature on physical culture and
nature cure and myself being a believer in the same, I
proceeded to Versova for a change and to try some
method of nature cure. There I fortunately happened to
encounter Swamiji, the Founder of the Yoga ashram. I
was charmed by his kind and sympathetic treatment of
myself and at once placed my case under his care and now
I %m very much pleased to say that from the fifth day of
my undergoing the treatment my headache ha not
recurred.
My confidence in nature cure has been doubly
confirmed by this wonderful cure on myself within such
a short period and I feel sure that the profound study of
Swamiji Mani in the science of nature cure and Yoga,
combined with his disinterestedness and his kind and
sympathetic feelings towards the patient who being
guided on the path of nature will not fail to regain his
natural health and vitality.
In these hard times of epidemics and physical
deterioration, India very badly stands in need of a
number of such Yoga ashrams and health sanitariums.
The more the knowledge of Yoga and Nature cure is
defused, the better.
I hereby wish the Yoga ashram all success.
Very truly yours, Morarji Jeram Trikamji
76
In the first few months, patients were successfully

treated for heart trouble, obesity, asthma, prostrate
enlargement, gout, hemicrania, diabetes and other
functional disorders. The unknown lore of Yoga was
making inroads in the territory of modem medicine and
the medical practitioners could not stand as idle
observers.
The medical men were equally keen to earn Manis
favour. B. P. Madon who ran a health cutural
department wilh a nature cure sanitarium, a lending
library and the motto Health is more than financial
wealth is, at times pleaded:
77
2nd August 1919

Surely my son. is anxious to be initiated into your
Yoga processes of health. I will come to pay my respect to
Swamiji and see you once more.
P. B. Madon
And at times cajoling:
8th August 1919
Dear Mr. Dadina,
I undertake not to teach anyone your system as a rule
but I cannot promise that I shall noi make use of any
process for healing a sick person, for it would be a
heinous crime in the sight of God for me if I were to avoid
utilizing a process for a sick person when I know an art,
but I dont think you mean it and if so I shall gladly sign
the form and so will my son.
As The Yoga Institute flowered, when Mani had time
from his patients he continued to write and the
manuscript of Outlines of Toga was written and three
Sanskrit works of Yoga translated Hatha Toga Pradipika,
Gheranda Samhita and Shivsamhita a mammoth
undertaking for so young an author. There were many
offers of big money to restart his literary life also, but
Mani who valued his Yoga mission decided to stick to his
goal/ It was just a beginning and Mani knew he had a
long way to go before he could call it a day.
73
CHAPTER Vni
THE SUN ALSO RISES IN THE WEST
World War I brought about a victorious hangover for
the West. The casuality in manpower and money was
beyond imagination, and the fireworks of victory were
soon followed by a depth of gloom and recession. The
centre of the world had shifted from Britain, still a great
colonial power in the world, to America, the rising sun in
the West. And all the endeavours, the events, the
happenings took a flight to the New World. India too
made its contribution. Swami Vivekananda had already
spread the message of the ancient Hindu religion in the
West. Indian philosophers were making known the ancient thought of this great civilization. Lala Lajpa- trai was
already carrying on the freedom struggle from the
American shores. Shouldnt it be in the fitness of things to
get the technological Yoga renaissance, a foothold in the
great continent ?
The arguments in its favour, were many. America was
at its peak as a world leader. Ideas and fashions accepted
in America found a blind adherent in almost all the
comers of the world. America had the best scientific
talents and the most powerful mass media. It was
essential for the advancement of Yoga, to get this ancient
lore accepted by the best medical brains and then
propagated by the omnipresent mass media. It was a
wonderful dream. Even Manis guru hinted that such a
move was necessary and purposeful. The only hitch was
how to get there. Doubts abounded in plenty but Mani
harboured no doubt at all and knew somehow things
would materialize. Mr. Dadina again offered help by
asking all patients and students of Mani to provide for a
trip to West, especially America. Some generous
79
contributions flowed in and the Westward dream became

a distinct possibility. Mr. Dadina, a constant deux et
machina, agreed to be the companion and the westward
plans were finalized.
Mani was ready but not well prepared, for, the New
World with new customs, an alien way of life and
harbouring people of different temperaments, required a
quiet assessment. The conquest would not be easy. Mani,
the one-man-army had to be prepared. There were few
others who had conquered the West who could guide him.
Manis thoughts raced to Rabindranath Tagore the great
poet, who in all humility had granted Mani permission to
translate his Gitanjali. Perhaps Tagore was the one person
who would be able to help him, forearm him with
instructions and advice. But Tagore was in far away
Bolpur at his Shanti Niketan and Mani decided to write
to Tagore and seek his audience.
3rd. June 1919 Versova, Bombay
Mine in Me
%4
Dear Rabindranath,
I need not introduce myself again in light of my present
name though changed, as being the translator of your
Gitanjali in Gujarati.
I am at present in Late Dr. Dadabhai Naorojis
bangalow and am going to America by the 15th of
July. His son-in-law is also accompanying me. And
before I start, I long to have a finishing interview with
you on a subject of literary and public interest. Care to
write to me therefore, the time and place at which I
can see you.
With blessings to one and all.
Yours in Him, Swami Yogananda
80
A special First class coach was reserved for Mani,

now Swami Yogananda, Mr. Dadina and the prosperous Shapuiji Sohrabji accompanied him. They
travelled across the great Indian peninsula to the
eastern harbour city of Calcutta. From here a special
bogie attached to the train took them to Bolpur and on
to Shanti Niketan. Rev. C. F. Andrews, Tagores
Secretary, came to receive the guests. Both Mr.
Shapurji Sohrabji and Mr. Dadina were elegantly
dressed. Swami Yogananda, simply attired in a kurta
and sporting a beard, was the least impressive. All
along the journey the railway attendant had wondered
who this simple lad was, accompanying the pompous
gentlemen travelling first class. Rev. C. F. Andrews
too was puzzled. He was looking forward to meeting a
remarkable author, not a raw youth of 21. Overcoming
his surprise, >. ' C. F. Andrews led the group to
Tagore.
The stalwart of Bengali literary renaissance and his
young translator met face to face for the first
time. Words, the playthings of poets, failed at this
meeting of two poets. The communication was complete
in the warmth of the embraces. They stayed for two days
and attended the routine at Sh^nti Niketan. Morning
was meant for meeting personal needs. In the afternoon
they discussed philosophy and in the evening Gurudev
spared time for Mani to discuss Yoga and Literature and
also advice on the impending trip to the West. Later in
the evening the poet read his poems and explained the
intricacies of his verse.
Mani impressed Tagore as much as he dazzled the
people around him. In a personal letter to a friend Mr.
Dadina writes,
81
Shanti Niketan, Bolpur, via Calcutta

15th July 1919
My dear Fram and boys,
We are just returning after meeting the great Poet
Rabindranath Tagore and his private secretary Rev. C. F.
Andrews. We were his guests for over 24 hours and
thoroughly enjoyed our visit at his retreat. He conducts a
large boarding school on modern lines which is a model of
perfection. There are 200 boys from all parts of India and
I truly wish there were some Parsee youths. The charge
is only Rs. 20/- per month and I call this true charity and
patriotism. He is a dear loving man.. . and we had two
hours interview with him.
Our dear Swamiji created a distinct impression and
our object being gained, our visit was a great success. ...
We are now the guests of the. late Chief Justicc of
Bengal, Sir C. M. Ghose. . .
Homi
Mani returned to Bombay and before the frenzy of
departure occupied him, he decided to pay a visit to his
father at Haler, Bulsar. He stayed a few days with his
father. It was during this period that Mani was surprised
by a distinguished visitor. It was Paramahamsa
Madhavadasaji. The Master was told of the plans and the
joyful tidings had hurried him to shower his blessings in
person. It was a unique privilege for a chela to be visited
by his guru when it should have happened the other way
around. Gopalji Desai who was a witness to this, records
the momentous occasion thus :
It was in this opposite house that wc can sec from
here and where we are still staying that I had seen
Paramahamsaji come and meet Mani. The Master was a
82
magnificent person and in humility he had come to meet

his disciple before his departure to America.
What more could Swami Yogananda care for ? His
beloved guru had blessed his mission. With a heart
overflowing with love and gratitude he returned to
Bombay. Soon it was time to leave. It was decided to
make a start at London. The capital of the Old World still
had its advantages and if the attempt did not bear fruit,
then the missionaries of Yoga would sail West to
America.
On 25th September 1919, with hopes in his heart and
high expectations from his Master, Swami Yogananda
and Dadina set sail on board the S. S. Kigoma to conquer
the West, or as he was to tell the reporters in America to
teach the Westerners how to live. The journey to London
was uneventful and a warm reception was not forthcoming. The young Yoga zealots were the guests of Sant
Nihal Singh, the well-known and highly respected
correspondent of Reuter. Nihal Singh used his influence to
get people interested in the embryonic mission and Mr.
Dadina floated amidst the cream of society trying to tap
a generous heart or open a charitable wallet in the hope
of establishing a home for yogic studies. But the time and
clime were inappropriate and nothing could sway the
conservative attitude in their favour. The stiff upperlip
Englishman given to snobbery and indifferent to the
culture of the East, would not give Swamiji and Yoga a
patient ear. The intellectual and medical men were even
less enthusiastic and the Yoga institution was scuttled
even before the foundation could be laid.
Meanwhile Swamiji rambling through the London
streets, took time to examine the intellectual happenings
in London. He took to reviewing books brought to him by
83
Sant Nihal Singh, for the London press.

One of the books that was reviewed was Cave of
Gaurishankar by Swami Ananda Acharya, an aspirant for
the Nobel Prize. He also met Binoy Kumar Sarkar and
Dhan Gopal Mukherjee, intellectual
Bengali giants of that time. The young critic from the
East for the first time, appraised the philosophy of the
West. Yet no one found the time to examine the fund of
knowledge from the East, that the young Swamiji wanted
to disseminate. Least deterred, he carried on his own
work of writing to complete a manuscript on Yoga.
He also befriended an Indian doctor in London. Dr.
Phiroze Dinshaw who was more than willing to help his
countryman and made himself the guinea pig. He was
suffering from chronic bronchitis and offered himself for
treatment. Obediently he followed the simple practices of
Yoga therapeutics and within ten days found himself on
the road to recovery. With this initial conquest, hopes
brightened as Dr. Dinshaw was willing to testify to the
efficiency of Yoga. His fellow medical men however were
not interested and the efficacy of Yoga suffered a severe
blow.
On a November afternoon Swamiji was wading
through the crowded thoroughfares of Ludgate Circus
aimlessly looking around, his London experience yielding
no promise for the future. His reverie was interrupted by
a loud clap. Looking up he saw someone frantically trying
to draw his attention. An elderly man gesturing most
excitedly was asking him to come up. Swamiji wondered
at this intrusion and before he could turn around and
walk away the stranger was with him pleading him to
84
come upstairs. Swamiji obliged. Walking back with the

stranger the suspense mounted as they passed a large
signboard announcing Dr. D. J. Elliot, Phrenologist. He
was not at all sure what the stranger wanted but once in
the study of the doctor, the old man put him at ease.
Without as much as a word of explanation he ran his
wrinkled fingers on the yogins head. He was making a
study of Swamijis skull. Swamiji now realized that he
was saddled with an aged doctor also who had a peculiar
interest and was relieved when he remarked, I have
never come across such a wonderful head with marked
depressions and elevations. That was the end of the
thoughts for Swamiji but Dr. Elliots study was just
beginning. After more than one hour of deep study, he
later handed in a report, that was enlightening :
Your finely grained organisation makes you very
susceptible to those finer vibrations which surround the
material form of man, consequently your mind will be
very receptive and responsive to those higher and
spiritual vibrations which appeals to the highest instincts
of human nature. We use the word spiritual in its widest
sense, as embracing all that can be known ~in the occult
and mystical sense. Your physical and mental
inheritances are remarkable and unique, evidently you
were created for the work of a philosopher or scientist
and those influences were in operation, impressing your
physique and mentality in your prenatal condition. From
your birth^ tyou must have been wonderfully directed,
sustained and trained by unseen forces. This must be so,
otherwise you would not have reached such maturity at
yotrr early age.
Although you possess all the qualities of the ascetic,
yet it cannot be said that you are a visionary. Your keen
understanding of human nature and disposition to be of
85
practical service to mankind at large, is evidence of a

wide interest in what affects the best welfare of the great
human family, hence, the peculiar and unique blend of
those philosophical and scientific qualities possessed by
you
in a very high degree ........... from the phrenological
standpoint you have a well poised head upon your
shoulders giving you a large degree of balance of power,
hence, however intense you may be in thought, feeling
and action, at the same time there is much self-control
and calculating power behind your outward expression
and this will be one of the secrets of your success, in your
studies, in your work and in the application of the
principles of your philosophy. ... It is no exaggeration to
say that you have all the qualities of a public teacher,
lecturer and consultant. Your quiet confidence and the
clearness with which you can explain a complex matter
will inspire confidence in others. . . . . All your moral
qualities are large and these will play an important part
in your lifes work. Your fine sense of justice and moral
obligation will be very apparent to those with whom you
come in contact Your business is to teach, to impart
knowledge, to elevate human nature, to show man how
to live. Although it is natural for you to live on a high
plane of thought yet you are very human and will be
quick to understand the frailties of human nature and
will know how to guide men that they may get the most
and the best out of life. . . . You have acquired in your
short life what many could not reach to ever at the age of
70. . . . There can be no doubt but that the special work
you have been set apart to do is sure to meet with
success, but England is not the place for you. It is too
conservative. You are wise in going to America, there you
will meet with appreciation and your mental abilities
and powers will be recognized. This excerpt from the 22-
86
page phrenological report accurately foresaw events and

the dejected Swamiji found new life.
Though the London experience was unsettling,
Swamiji was made of sterner stuff. Time and again the
missionary zeal was tested and the iron will had come
out supreme. The real test was still to come and bracing
themselves for the worst, Swamiji and Dadina sailed
West again, this time bound for America, the land of milk
and honey.
The voyage to America on board the Baltic was stormy.
Did it portend a call and a home in America ? Swamiji
did not know the answer. But the Baltic was tossed up
and down in the storm, at times being heaved to a height
of fifty feet. The experienced captain on the last trip of
his long career did his best to ride the cyclone but the
intensity of the storm lasting for fifteen days made the
people at home believe the ship to be lost.
The harried travellers reached N$w York on 19th
December 1919. The reporters who were there at the
docks to cover the news of the missing ship were eager to
get firsthand accounts from the lucky travellers.
87
Seeing Swamiji alight in a night cap and bathrobe

their curiosity was aroused. Who was this man ? What
had he come for ? To a pointed question as to why he
had come to America, Swamiji replied, I have come to
teach the Americans. The reporters were taken aback
and had made a mental note of this personality.
At the port was Lala Lajpatrai known as the Lion
of Punjab. It was about that time that he had
received permission to return to India after his long
exile of many years due to his involvement in the
national movement. Seeing the robust and resolute
young Mani, he thought he too was a revolutionary
and came to speak to him. On hearing of the young
lads yogic mission, he was very pleased and offered
every help possible. Swamiji simply gave him the
address of his* father in Bulsar and told Lala
Lajpatrai to just give his father a message of their safe
arrival. The story goes that this great man did keep
this promise. When the train carrying him stopped at
Bulsar, thousands of people of the small town had
come to greet him. Formalities took, away most of his
time and the train was about to start, he, however,
made the train wait for a few minutes and inquired if
the school master Haribhai was there. When finally he
located him, he delivered his message of the beloved
sons wellbeing. Such are the ways of the great.
Swamiji and Mr. Dadina were comfortably settled
at 125, Riverside Drive. The search was on for a home
and Mr. Dadina followed up any likely interested
citizens offer of help. The East had come West, but
could he still call it a home ?
CHAPTER IX
OFFERING THE WEST THE

UNKNOWN EAST
88
America was not really a haven, but it was not as cold

as the English society. Politics and racial barriers were not
strongly exercised and the one good thing about Americans
was their open mindedness. They were willing to listen, if
not follow. In one of the first letters to a friend in India,
Swamiji states his first impressions :
26th February, 1920
Here is a country of materialism and commerce, the
vibrations are quite different; all seems to be superficial,
they have no reality at the bottom ... to work in the midst
of such people is undoubtedly trying and still more to
convince them of any new philosophy.
And in another letter to Popat, he writes :
How much easier it would be if I can only induce those
sleeping sages of the Himalayas to come to the West and
open the eyes of the people who can never take a thing for
granted Hvithout a direct perception. They need the bite of
a snake before they can realize that it is a snake and even
then the trouble is that they will call it a scorpion.
89
Their reasoning is that battle of intellect which never

can find its way within its own limits. They ought to
be supplied with things and facts which their lower
senses can comprehend, otherwise it has no meaning
for them.
In some ways, however, the Westerners are right
and there I give them credit for the same. They believe
that in preference to a theory against a practice, they
would rather have the practice. What is the use of
knowing that fire burns, when you tty to take a live
coal in your hand. They are no doubt smart, but their
smartness is sometimes rather expensive. And that is
why they would not like to walk on the fine thread of
imagination and intuition. And it is right here that
they lose the advantage of the instincts. They are
those rigid logicians who lose the dollars for a cent
only because their reasoning cannot carry them any
further. Really it is a pity to see them struggling like
this.
Swami Yogananda had still to find hib feet in the
new land. Friendships had to be struck, sceptics had
to be won over. In this effort, he wrote about his
mission to several people whose names he had been
recommended.
23rd January 1920
Dear Mrs. White,

It is to this Science of Sciences that I call the
publics attention. It is the oldest philosophy and
science that was known to humanity, formulated by
those ancient forest sages of India. Think of five
thousand years back when all the nations were in a
state of barbarism, that this harmonious system of
philosophy was preached in the Indian forests.
Remember the words of your own leading mystic, Mr.
90
OFFERING
THE WEST
UNKNOWN
Flagg who
writes that,
If a THE
study
of Yoga EAST
should result
in the conclusion that its whole meaning has never yet
been found out, it would not be wonderful, for the world
is yet young and the true student should not be sorry to
know that a field of investigation had opened before
him of wider extent than any other that has yet been
explored, or even known to exist.
In a letter written to Dr. Dinshaw, a friend in

England, it is evident that Swamiji has already set
about his business in real earnest while exchanging
courtesies with local men. He is driving his friends to
help him in his projecta task master who knows what
he wants.
Dear Phiroze and Sonabai,
20th December, 1919
We landed yesterday after a terrible suffering of a

storm. It was an awful experience which continued for
three long days. In New York we were reported to be
lost (at sea) but by the grace of God we are both here
safe.
Accidentally I met Lala Lajpatrai today. He is given
permission to go to India. I shall deliver my first lecture
on the New Year. My magazine
will be out perhaps next month and I wish you to write
something for it. I shall put that under the heading From
our own Medical Authority, instead of giving your name,
which may perhaps stand against your way.
For the first two articles that you send to me, I suggest
you to write all about the practice of Brahmadatan and its
scientific effects on various organs ... I think you will write
the article more carefully as it is to be given out before the
public for medical authorities to think about. Such things
will bring you in the light. I have given you this delicate
91
OFFERING
THE WEST
THE
UNKNOWN EAST
task. The more
reasonably
and
scientifically
you treat it,
the more the medical attention will be drawn and the
advantage is that you know the practice yourself.
I sincerely hope that you might be following the few

hints that I have hurriedly given you and realising the
benefits thereof. It seems simple but it is very difficult to
follow these things religiously. In such cases the fault is
not with the science but with the patients . . .
Yours in Him, Swami Yogananda
At that time, the Americans were also obsessed with the
extraordinary, be it scientific invention, or a supernatural
happening. On the advice of some friends it was decided
that one could capitalize on this passionate American
interest and just for the sake of attracting people Swami
Yogananda agreed to do something out of the ordinary.
But the ordinary citizen would not lend respectability to
such an event. Rationally-trained people would prove
belter witnesses if called to testify. Accordingly, a
conference of leading medical practitioners of that time
was organized in the flat on 125 Riverside Drive, which
they occupied. The place was large enough, and quite a few
people came to the conference.
The incident was spectacular by any standard. The
knowledgeable men of the West had seen nothing like
this before. Here was a man doing unusual things and
achieving unusual results, such as perspiring when it was
terribly cold, then moving about without his warm clothes
in the, extremely cold weather.
The scientific mind could not believe what their eyes
perceived. What about cause and effect ? Unlike the
Londoners, the more they were baffled, the more they
became intrigued and the more their interest increased.
92
OFFERING
THE WEST
THE
UNKNOWN
EAST to Popat, a
In a letter
dated 26th
March
1920
addressed
friend in India, he writes :
. :. You know that this International University the

great institute to which I refer will be an ideal place for
study of all kinds. There will be both physics and
metaphysics. In this, only that which is useful for human
evolution will be encouraged. There will be harmonious
culture of body, mind and soul. A system for hygienic
living, based on our own Hatha Yogar philosophy *ill be
constructed for the students as a primary rourse'of study.
I also intend to have a good sanitarium where Nature
cure method will be applied. And, do you know what
these doctors are doing here ? Oh, it is terrible. They have
constructed strong thorn hedges of their own accord
beyond which they cannot go, even if they wish to. The
very thorns that protect them make them liable to suffer
also. I think that they will never advance with this idiotic
selfishness. A few days back accepting the request of a
rich family, I allowed six of the leading doctors of New
York to study my demonstration and what was the result
? They were simply nonplussed. The one said, Oh, it is
marvellous; something that is worth studying. Thats
wonderful. The other said, We ought to investigate it ;
that is remarkable. etc. But what was the result of their
three hours, conference in my apartment ? Nothing. On
the contrary they never showed their faces again. But,
another doctor who is very sincerely devoted to this
cause, after a few days told me that there .are certain
laws of their inner circle by which they are not allowed to
assist any such cause. And how pitiful it is to think of
their slavery and meanness. I do not like to misjudge
them but this is what they are. Let us leave them aside to
suffer their own actions.
Now, the scientific part of this University will be to
investigate secret laws of Nature and to apply them to our
93
OFFERING
THE WEST
THE UNKNOWN
EAST
everyday actions.
There
we will
have a laboratory
and
everything. In the metaphysical part, there will be
comparative study of religion. Theology will be taught on
the basis of common sense without dogmatism. Everybody
will be allowed to follow his own religion, the religion in
which he believes, the individual religion of conscience, and
thus each man will have his own religion. . . .
It was time for another show of strength not the

physical but the knowledge of the East. This time the
Swamiji had a new repertoire that baffled the scientific
observers again. At the meeting the following members
were present, besides others. Dr. George S. Amsden,
medical Superintendent of the Bloomingdale Hospital at
White Plains, New York, Dr. S. J. Meltzer of the
Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research, Dr. Charles W.
Hack of the Life Extension Institute of America, Dr. A. G.
Bell of the Hygiene Reference Board, Dr. B. Michai- lovsky
of the New York Hospital. . . .
The demonstration included the processes of neti, dhouti,
basti, a few complicated asanas, voluntary breathing
through only one lung at a time, the control of body heat
at will. The discharge of electric light in a dark room from
the fingers, its transmission beyond walls, its introduction
in another body and its voluntary control by switching off
the thumbs, were all demonstrated. The World Magazine of
11th September 1921 in an article entitled, India The
Land of Miracles by Vincent Anderson reported,
Homi Dadina, a prominent Bombay businessman, a
prosaic Parsi brought to New York in 1919 a yogi, Swami
Yogananda who startled the medical nien by exhibiting a
complete control over every organ of his body. He could
swell one lung to ID rice the size of the other. He could
make electricity stream from his fingers and could stop his
watch. . .
94
OFFERING
THE WEST
THErevived
UNKNOWN
The flagging
interest
was
byEAST
this surge of
astonishment. Their eagerness only spurned Swamiji
onwards to his goal. Very frankly, he ajid them about his
mission. He even showed mem case histories of his
patients at Versova, India. Seeing the practical use of the
unknown jore, the medical men were even more astonished
and determined to bring this effort to fruition.
Things did not move as the Swamiji expected. However,

a few friends were always there to understand and urge
him on. To them he could unload 3is mind.
7th April 1920
Dear Mrs. Behr,
You know that new things have always to face deadly

weapons and sometimes the attack is so cvere that we
almost feel disheartened. But in all cases truth at the back
is the only hope of
ajCcess.
I know that our meeting is not mere coincidence, z is more

than that. It seems intentional. May
be the Will of the Unknown forces working behind us. It is
because I see in you the future of my universal mission
and I sincerely feel that you will do all that is possible for
the good of the cause. I shall be happy to attend to the
calls of my duty in your arrangements for*the
development of my cause and I assure you that you will
not find me wanting, in response. But there is something
very peculiar about me. I appreciate things, I feel them
but I do not like to speak about them. So whenever you
find me wanting in appreciation try to generously feel
that in reality I do appreciate the thing but I do not show
it and you know the nature of the yogis. . . .
Swami Yogananda
They formed a committee of three people to look for a
95
OFFERING
WEST THE
UNKNOWN
suitable place
for an THE
Institute.
All three
wereEAST
reputed men
of position. Mr. E. B. Schley, Mr. Harris Hammond and
Mr. Max Behr. They decided to look for a proper place to
get their work started.
The three of them together with a real-estate man

wandered the area of New York and New Jersey states for
a find. Many places were visited but none seemed as
compelling
as
Mr.
Harrimans
Estate,
which,
unfortunately, was not available. Swamiji spotted another
place just opposite, and the place being beautiful, the
owner Was contacted. He was a respected lawyer who had
this mansion as his summer home and was not using it.
When told of the plans, he willingly gave the estate for
96
Shri Yoeendraji in America in 1919
Shri Yogendraji (right) and Mr. Homi M. Dadina who accompanied him, at the
New York Central Park, after their arrival in America during 1919.
the work without any charge. Thus a beautiful area on

Bear mountain, in Harriman, near Tuxedo Park, New
York, had the honour of being the first foreign location of
The Yoga Institute.
Once the place was given for use, the young gusu and
entourage shifted to the new abode...But the place had

nothing to make it a home. No bed linen, no untensils, no
cultery and crockery. Over lunch at the plaza, Swamiji
confided his dilemma to Mr. Schley who immediately
asked him to make a list of the immediate requirements.
A lengthy list was drawn and handed to him. He cooly
took the young man to the Bloomingdales departmental
store, casually introduced him to the Manager and ordered
that the listed items be supplied to The Yoga Institute at
Harriman and the bill sent to him. The store-man was
amazed at the order but complied. Thus the furnishing
took place as if a Geni had obliged a masters wish.
On 26th February 1920 Swamiji wrote to his friend
Popat in India.
To myself in P.,
The public are simply mad over this philosophy but to
commercialize it is a very dangerous game. So that we
have to be careful in that otherwise all their reverence
disappears in a moment.
To get the Institute working, there was a technical
difficulty. The American Government required
a medical man to be associated with medical institutions.
Dr. Charles W. Hack agreed to act in the capacity of a
medical consultant.
On Wednesday, Jun,e 30, 1920 at 4 p.m., The Yoga
Institute of America was formally opened to the public.
An astrologer friend to whom Swamiji had written about
the opening of the Institute said auspiciously.
Crystal Bay, Minn, 19th July 1920
99
Swami YoganandaMy friend,

............. It is my judgement that if you go ahead
and try and push the business of the institution at this
time you will make many friends and have as good a
success as could be expected in this line of work. This
particular line of work as I have explained before is
difficult to start in this country. You have good
indications, in my judgement, as it is possible to have and
very good success eventually
Fredrick White
Mr. Max Behr, the son of the lady who had done so
much to get the Institute started, had the pride of being
the first patient. From that day the excellent results
obtained made the people flock to the Institute. ^
Sometimes the cures were miraculous. Once, Swamji saw
a lady sitting on the door step and
crying. He casually asked what had happened when
he recognized her as being Mrs. Stroebel, the wife of
the plumber. She exclaimed that the resident doctor
had examined her hands and said nothing could be
done for her as her arthritis had progressed too far
and refused her admission as a patient. Swamiji
examined the hands which looked very deformed,
swollen and useless, not being able to handle
anything, but he took up the case as a challenge, and
within a few weeks the grateful lady wrote:
Monroe, New York, Oct. 6 1920
SwamiDear Sir,
I want to express to you my gratitude for the help I
have received through your treatments. As you know I
100
was losing the use of my arms and hands and after six
weeks treatment I am again going about my work
again in comfort.
Verv sincerely yours, Geio W.
Stroebel
The cases were many and varied, from the ones that
dodged the medical practitioners of that day, to the ones
who were interested in natural forms s of health.
After curing a highly venerated elderly Priest, the
clergyman wrote in gratefulness:
4th October 1920
Dear Swamiji,
Returning to my home 4n New York after a stay of
three weeks in The Yoga Institute of which you are the
honoured head, I take special pleasure in telling you how
greatly I have benefited by the exercise and treatment
which I took while in the Institute. For 15 years I was the
sufferer of constipation in its severest form, but after the
third, day at the Institute I have had no recurrance of
this problem. I am continuing at home the breathing
exercises and literary guidelines you gave me and.. I am
confident that inspite of my handicap of 68 years I shall
recover my health and the sense of well-being, which was
slipping away from me. Wishing you all success in your
good work.
Dr. James B. Wasson
But teething troubles were not over. One day Mr.
Dadina informed Swamiji that money was in short supply
101
and bills totalling hundreds of dollars had to be settled.

Swamiji was least perturbed by the problem which
haunted Dadina, who looked after financing. As the
plight continued with no hope for redressal, a phone call
from Mrs. Harris Hammond came, inviting Swamiji and
Dadina to lunch. At her place though no mention was
made of their problems she surmised the problem and
without ado, she called Mr. Dadina aside and asked
about their difficulties. Without hesitation she gave them
a blank cheque.
- r-r Yoga Institute of America, on a hilltop, was founded in April 1920 on Bear
Mountain near Tuxedo Park, New York.
102
Die leading scientists present on the opening day, from right to left : Mrs. C. -S'.
Hack, the Founder in his Indian dress, Mrs. Pearl Sinclair, Dr. A. G. Bell of the
Hygiene Reference Board, Dr. S. A. Bhisey, Dr. G. S. Amsden f the Bloomingdale
Hospital, Dr. C. YV. Hack, the Resident physician ind others.
YOGASHRAMA
n>
OR
THE YOGA INSTITUTE

1 a. Your full name
ia. &fajumi
k Profflliflt
t.
c Bcnidencc (lull addrcaa)
It
t PrcKal Ik kMarried or amflc c. How

m*M7chiUmi
} a. SUea how lol an you autfariaf? k Aai frsn what? c

Ua4ar wboac traataarot whara you?
i.Kmitow Hiit
J a. /fi+isWMH.
aff.cl you?
It ffiry4 a. Haw ia nw hoakh at *rr<? IL HOW ia year alacp?
MyU.
c What ia your prtaaat <!

4 Whet art your habita?
S * (Wltion of heart
5
-sw.
ii CoodltiM o1 narroua ayatm
j Art y*u rtaiy to uoJtrft thr trratrt ?
9 Whit nade you join thU institution
A
--.
(mr treatment ?
niJÂllSL
The Facsimile of a
the patient had been
evident.
(U 0
case recorded at The Yoga Institute of America. That
recommended to join the Institute by a physician is
7.
Consciousness : Its Origin

Individual and Universal. Opinion of science
and Metaphysics
8. Light of East to West
Exchange of materialism for spiritualism
9. Philosophy of Aspects
Religion of Self and the conflict of religions
10. Truth about Psychic Phenomenon
The law of Vibration, the Law of Karma etc.
11. Why I came to America
Scheme of International University of Physics
and Metaphysics
12. Ethics from Physical aspect
Necessity of morality proved from scientific
basis
13. Monistic aim of Life and How to realize it
Application of Geometry to understand
psychology
14. Life Here and Hereafter
Comparative study of different views on this
subject
15. To Live a Hundred Years
The ways and means for Longevity
16. Control of Psychic Prana
Exercises for concentration on lotuses of
psychic centres
'*
17. Religion of Love
On Sufism, Christianity, Swedenborga- nism
etc.
18. Logic as Gymnastics
Difference between knowledge and realization
19.
The Cosmos
Something for the physical scientists to
learn
104
20.
The Yoga Philosophy

Philosophy of harmonious culture of body,
mind and soul.
Men like Prof. A. V. Jackson. Bernard Mc- fadden,

Dr. Benedict Lust. Margaret Sanger of the family
planning movement, Dr. Hereward Carrington of the
Psychic Research Society were among the thousands
w'ho wrote or came to the Institute for guidance or just
to pay their respects.
To many it was amazing how the simple routine of
the Institute could bring about such results. Some
were aware perhaps that behind the young tireless
worker was a force of dynamism which was tapped.
Here was a person who had learnt to channel the
energies of the body for upliftment of the human, race.
With the powers he humbly possessed he announced I
have come to this country to help the people and to
raise them from the turmoil they have kept themselves
in. One day, a German widow of a rich Haitian came
to the Institute with her two sons. She had been suffering from epileptic convulsions for a long period of time.
Dr. Hack dismissed the case as not possible of cure.
There was no vacant room at the Institute at that time
so she rented a cottage opposite.
Swamiji could not afford to visit them daily but whenever
time was available a visit was paid. One night at 11
oclock, one of the sons came to call Swamiji as bis Mother
had gone into a convulsion and the attack was severe. Dr.
Hack told Swamiji not to go at that time, as nothing good
would come of the visit anyway and no harm if he went in
the morning. Swamiji with his intuitive hold of things left
with the son. In the drawing room was this lady covered
with blankets. She was frothing at the mouth and the
105
convulsions were in progress and she had her eyes closed.

Swamiji knew that this was a case that needed his special
help. He requested the boys to leave him alone in the
room. He raised his hands and as if infusing the woman
with new blood he transferred some of his prana in her.
The convulsions stopped and the woman fell asleep.
Swamiji knew that the cure was permanent. He called the
sons in and said not to disturb her and she would be
awake the next morning. In the morning she got up and
asked for tea as if nothing had happened. This miraculous
cure was greatly applauded as even six years later they
reported that there was no recurrence of the epilepsy.
Of course to Swamiji it was no miracle. It was the use of
inherent forces within all of us which had been developed
to a high degree.
It was the experience gained at the Institute that made
Swamiji go back to writing, when he had free moments
from his very heavy schedule of work. A massive collection
of data showing testimony to the efficacy of Yoga was completed duiing
this period. The manuscript Outlines of Toga aroused
the interest of various publishers. Among the
comments were :
Brentano: January 27th 1921
We have read your manuscript Outlines of Toga which
was submitted to us by Mrs. Rubles. We believe it to
be a .very fine manuscript of its type . . . . we are
holding your manuscript awaiting your further
instructions.
106
Macoy Publishing House : 16th August 1921

We have been reading your manuscript with great
interest. . . when they are ready for publication we
will be glad to add them to our catalogue and give
them all possible publicity. We believe that your
series of books will be most successful and valuable.
The MacMillan Co.: 27th May 1922
Since the receipt of your last letter, our readers
rendered a definite report on your work on Yoga, and
they declare it of unquestionable value.
G. P. Putmans: 7th February 1922
We have looked over the manuscript of Outlines of Toga
and personally we have been enthusiastic
about it. We have secured the Counsel of several of our
readers. Dr. Hereward Carrington has this to say :
This book in my estimation is an interesting and
valuable one and on the whole will have a good audience.
... I should be pleased to write a preface to introduce it to
an American or Eastern audience. It is a book Putmans
mav well have on their Ust
The boom period was on. America proved to be the

dream come true. But Swamiji trained from childhood to
judge things objectively could not be blind to the great
countrys shortcomings. Letters to his friends exemplify
his shrewd observations.
Do not think for a moment that America is simple. It
is the most crooked country in the world I know of.
107
Physically it is mysterious.
Think of a man becoming a multimillionaire within six
weeks and then starving to death within two years. Here
life is a fluctuation, no reality both physically and
spiritually. Once the balance goes up and then it comes
down to maintain the equilibrium of nature. Their rise
and fall are just the same. . .
But he had also made some sincere friends in the New
World. One of them Mr. Charles O. Gregg wrote once.
28-11-21
. . . We propose to stay by you if it takes every cow in

the barn so sit tight.
You left the other day leaving behind on me a
wonderful influence of your massive intellect, your
wonderful personality and your deep knowledge of
Yoga. Before I had seen you I was unwilling to address
you as Swamiji for some reason, the fundamental being
there are several worthless persons who assume that
title while in fact they are big humbugs. My dear
Swamiji your buoyant and enthusiastic eloquence along
with your bright eyes and solid forehead has made a
complete conquest of me and I hope I shall have a small
corner in your memory for me.
In one of his early letters to a friend in India he had
written.
I came with my mission without any interest in
finances. . ..
I
i
108
If one wants to give them something they would not

tike it only because you want to give them. But, on the
contrary if I set a price to my knowledge they would
buy it at any price and that is the most funny part of
their character. However throughout the whole cycle, I
am not the loser because I do not want to gain
anything. I have come to give them and if they do not
take it, I will push it down
their throats. It is the duty of a Mother. She has to look
after the welfare of her future generation
Qften, in the whirlpool of existence he had plunged
himself in, Swamijis mind used to turn to his guru. In one
of his early letters to his Master he wrote.
12th February 1920, New York My
Dear Maharajaji,
... .It is due to some trifle misunderstanding that we
were separated from each other, but that has nothing to
do with our mutual love. I have chosen my own way to
help humanity and you have yours. However, none is
responsible for truth as it is swa-dharma. I deeply regret
not to have seen you before I left India, but my love for
you is still untarnished.
I wish your blessings in my cause and hope that you
may not be wanting in response.
I am busy at present with the press and lectures. The
enclosed cutting will show my activities here and my love
for you. I still remember my days of old with you when I
used to sit undisturbed in concentration. I know they
were prosperous days for my body, mind and spirit. Oh,
how I wish I could get them back.
With love to all of your circle and self.'
109
Yours in Him, S. Y.
110
And back in his native land his guru shared in his

success, In a letter to his chela he complimented him on
his successful efforts.
I am proud of your work in America. You are doing the
same thing for me that Swami Vivekan- danda did for
Paramahamsa Ramakrishna. And this I fully realize. . . .
Let these Yoga kriyas be spread throughout the world I
knew that you would go to America and follow Swami
Viveka- nanda in memorizing his guru. It is presettled
......... Be sure that you will be quite successful
in your undertaking. So remember that your work has full
sympathy and blessing from me. And what do you want
more?
Swamijis joy at the blessings of his Master was deep.
He wrote to his friertd Popat.
20th December 1920
Dear Popat,
No doubt it was a great surprise to me to receive

Maharajajis letter a few days back. He apparently seems
to agree with my mission and sends his heartiest blessings
for success.
I know the nature of the Yogis. They are mostly twosided. Once they are tender and lovable while the next
moment they are harsh and strict. I know it has some
meaning but the majority misunderstands it. They are not
those that are blown away by the wind making their face
sour because of a certain comment. . .
Ill
8th December 1920
Dear Maharajaji,
And who can be happier than me to receive your letter

after a long time.
I found your satisfaction in my cause and your blessing
was a joy to me. You can hardly imagine the condition of
life that I have to face. But I take pleasure in the sacrifice
which Lord Buddha gave for the world at large. And his
one tear was sufficient to balance the rest of the world. It
is something imaginable and something that can be
realized too.
Experience 1 found is an exercise for soul. It is a
realization for broader circumferences. Who would be
foolish as to run away from it and let the soul shiver in
timidity. No doubt, it is easy than to face experience
because it is often bitter; but, after you once get used to it,
it becomes a sort of pleasure. That is his past-time, the
collecting of pebbles on the sand and throwing them back
in the vast ocean. How pleasing it is when you lose
yourself into it the realization of the Infinite through
those manifold diversities ? It is just like a diver. It is only
the first thrilling sensation that you have to pass and
then the ocean becomes your friend.
And what joy to realise that fathomless deep Tato vacho
nivartanta aprapya manasasaha that Gnosis from which the
mind and speech turn back baffled.
To me the joy of senses is my joy of soul, filtered
through myriad objects of his own. Then why should I
renounce ; why should I fear them?
112
My taste is my own satisfaction because it is self created. You have one way to work and [ have the other.
However, we are working for the same goal and that is
what we want.
With blessings to you and the rest,
Yours in Him, S. Y.
Sad news was to rock him soon. His revered teacher
passed away leaving all in gloom. Swamiji too was
overcast. The Master however could become immortal in
the chela's work.
Another letter was to change the course of Swamijis
life again. The letter was from his father
CHAPTER X
THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE

The letter from the father brought sad news. Swamijis
father now advanced in age was ailing and lonely. He
needed attention and care. In keeping with the promise
he made to him, Swamiji was summoned home. Though
involved as he was in his work, Swamiji heeded his
fathers call and immediately decided to go home leaving
his mission in America at the primary stage. But
Swamiji' dicf not plan to take the money lying in his
name with an American Bank. He said, I had come to
America with empty pockets and that is the way I plan to
go back. Arrangements for his departure were made in
accordancc with his wishes. During his work, Swamiji*
had won over many friends who would see that the
departure was taken care of and due comforts were
assigned to him on his way home. The relationship with
certain people like Mr. and Mrs. Charles O. Gregg and
Mr. and Mrs. Perkins had developed into strong bonds of
113
love. The interest they had shown in his mission and the
miraculous work done in their country had won their
ready admiration and hearts. During his mission Mr.
Charles O. Gregg once wro|e :
16-8-1921
. . . . We will surely arrange to spend some time
with you in New York in October to be put in good
shape.
And when he left New York they wrote, We talk of
you every day and our best wishes are always with
you.*
Thus showing that the relationship went beyond
the concern for good health.
While at the Union League Of Philadelphia he
dedicated some more time to write and undertook the
translation
of
Patanjalis
Togasutra. A
sad
mishappening though was to befall him before he left
the shores of America. With all his manuscripts and
books packed in three wardrobes, Swamiji got ready to
leave Ansonia Hotel, where he had to stop en route to
the wharf. When he came to the lobby he found two of
his wardrobes missing. On enquiring from the porter
it was found that they were lifted away by some
unknown person. These trunks contained part of the
manuscript of Outlines of Toga and strangely enough
much of the missing work was to appear under
another name from a reader of his manuscript
entrusted to a popular publisher.
Arriving on the Continent a two months tour was
undertaken where interesting contacts were made.
114
When he landed in England, he checked in at the

Russell Hotel a place reserved for royal guests,
statesmen and the nobility. Seeing the bearded
* In appreciation Swamiji dedicated Toga Personal Hygiene to Mr. C. O.
Gregg.
Swamiji, the porters of the hotel did not care to lift

Swamijis luggage. True to his nature Swamiji went to
the counter and demanded of the Manager that due
services be extended to him as to any other guest. The
Manager seeing the authority behind the words,
immediately asked the porter to treat Swamiji as any
other guest.
On the boat from London to Bombay, Swamiji ran
into another person who was a distinguished
academician. The youthful yogi was allotted a first
class cabin next to the Captains. Also travelling by
the same boat was Dr. S. N. Das- gupta, the great
Orientalist and philosopher who was returning to
India after a successful term as professor at
Cambridge. The erudite don saw the young man
browsing through books in the ships library. Intrigued
by this interest he casually asked him his name and
where he had come from. Prof. Dasgupta was amazed
to learn that the young man was not just a book worm
but a great Yoga teacher, scholar and Founder of The
Yoga Institute in India and America. Greatly
impressed by his earnestness and knowledge the two
became great friends. They sometimes played chess together and discussed Yoga philosophy. At parting, the
international authority on Indian philosophy ard
professor of Sanskrit invited Swamiji to visit him in
Chittagong, Bengal.
.
Swamiji finally reached Bombay by tlie end of 1922. He
115
felt that this was just a temporary break ~ from his

mission in America. He had plans to return and expand
his work at his Institute. He
wanted to use this vacation as he saw it to delve deeper
into Yoga.
News from America continued to pour in. Friends and
well-wishers were anxious about his return. On seeing
the Indian sociological scene at that time he wrote to
Charles O. Gregg on 9th October 1922 :
Dear Charlie,
In America, the car even has a cloth to cover it but
there are millions of human beings in India who have
nothing to hide or respect their sense of modesty. The
social evils of this country are to blame for this awful
curse and as long as they are not abolished I do not think
there will be any uplift of the nation. A girl having
become a widow at the age of five years has to remain a
widow to the end of eternity as it were and has to sit and
wait her death in the dark recesses of her own home,
piteously lamenting her fate for which she was not at all
responsible. There are possibly million? of such
unfortunate women in India and this is only one of the
evils of our country. How can you expect her to be happy
unless she establishes her social normalcy? The political
freedom does not mean everything. It is all a very sad
thing and needs a revolution. What India actually needs
sometime is to die out before she can be even
reconstructed and this revolution I am going to head
sometime, if not now. Withr blessings.
As Ever, Swami Yogananda
One of his American students, Bozena Brydlova,
originator of the Brydlovan theory of numerals and
116
author of 10 Unveiled dealing with numerals based on her

45 angle concept, wrote :
24th July 1922
Dear Swami,
Please write me when you can. Strange to say that

many times a purple cloud has sprung before my vision in
the past three months. I somehow am sure that it was
whenever you perhaps thought of me, as it was the same
one that I saw at the An- sonia. I shall always associate
you with that colour. It is truly the predominant colour of
your thought when directed to m e . . . .
Bozena Brydlova
Perplexed friends and admirers sent other letters
during the interval drawing his attention to an Indian
having assumed the name of Swami Yogananda. He got
this confirmed later.
2nd June 1924
Dear Swami,
. . . . A week or so ago I was amazed to see an

advertisement in the newspaper stating that Swami
Yogananda was to deliver a series of lectures in
Philadelphia on psychological subjects. Thinking that
perhaps you had unexpectedly returned to the States, I
went to hear one of them on Immortality.
I found however that it was not yourself but another
gentleman, a compatriot of yours, who gave the talk. He
was a man of about 35 years old, with long hair reaching
almost to the shoulders, but without any beard whatever.
117
He wore an orange coloured turban and gown and spoke

excellent English. I include an advertisement of the
lectures and the circular that was distributed to the
audience. Isnt it a coincidence that another person of
your name should appear in Philadelphia ? . . . .
Lewis B. McSorley
Other letteis followed from anxious students inquiring
about the same thing. It seemed that there was an
imposter at large using the name of Swami Yoganandas
It had to be established to the now-credulous American
followers that this was another man altogether and to
avoid confusion and to safeguard the interests of his
followers he had already decided to change his name. The
Bombay Government Gazette of Thursday, 25th January
1923, announced:
It is hereby notified that the undersigned has changed
his name from Manibhai Haribhai Desai to Shri
Yogendra.
Thus Swami Yogananda became Shri Yogendra and all
the students and the public were made aware of it. Home
coming was not much of a change in life. The father was
happy to have his beloved son back but both being of a
stern rational mould there was no undue emotionalism.
Each continued their chosen path though under the same
roof. Shri Yogendra newly returned from a posh standard
of living immediately switched over to the humble house
and simple living without undue fuss.
It was time for more research in Yoga. The West was
a witness to the wonders of Yoga but more proof of a
118
scientific nature were required to make a lasting

impact. Shri Yogendra set his mind on looking for
documented evidence. Not much was known about the
history of Yoga and he decided to find out more to make
the history more factual. The apocryphal sources had to
be verified and an academic investigation seemed to be
the only way to lending authenticity to the ancient lore.
Shri Yogendra decided to use the hospitality of Dr.
Dasgupta to corroborate the research in Yoga. With this
in mind he left for Chittagong. The Orientalist would
perhaps confirm most of the intuitive knowledge that he
had picked up from his guru.
The two had quite a few successful philosophical
exchanges, the theorist could extend his empirical mind
to investigate the problems posed by the young mind,
but when it came to the practical aspects, the learned
Professor was unable to do much. The two months
passed ih Chittagong was an experience in itself. Shri
Yogendra listed many future references and arranged
demonstrations for professors and medical students of
Chittagong
119
Unaffected by his West-oriented life, back

home at the sarne old cowshed at Bulsar.
Founder is planning for the future of his
Yogic mission.
The Founder with Dr. Surendranath Dasgupta (right) in a characteristic pose, metaphysical
discussions included not only Yoga but also other systens of Indy Philosophy.
College. Dr. Dasgupta presented a copy of his work The

Study of Patanjali, on 6th February 1923 at Cliittagong.
He composed a Sanskrit couplet in appreciation of Shri
Yogendra which, in English translation, reads :
You are capable of piercing your target with the aid
of Yoga like an arrow being always engaged in pursuit
of Truth with a mind that is well- balanced.
A different perspective is available from Maitrayc
Devi, the daughter of the Professor and herself a wellknown writer of today. In a letter addressed to Dr.
Jayadeva Yogendra she writes :
Yes, I remember Yogcndradada quite well.
I was then eight to nine years old. He was handsome,
very handsome indeed. My grandmother would say, If
only he were cleanshaven, he would look like Sri
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Yogendra was accepted like a
family member. My father and Yogendra sat in the
library discussing philosophy. Yogendra demonstrated
some yogic acts, dhouti, neti etc., for the benefit of my
fathers friends. He would show many asanas, many
impossible positions and postures and create a
commotion among the professors of Chittagong College,
neighbouring household friends and relations. At that
time no one knew that Yoga could be practised by
ordinary
men and ......... I cannot tell you how long he stayed
with us. The experience was so unique for our family
that its importance was not in the extension of time but
its intensity.
CHAPTER XI
HOW MUCH MORE SHOULD A MAN KNOW
121
Shri Yogendra moved Northwards in quest of more

knowledge. While the East had proved illusive, rumours
trickled through, that the North had monasteries of
learning that had been beyond the reach of the modern
world. So Northward the yogi cast his eye. Shri Yogendra
for all his other worldlincss was a man of the world. He
knew he had a mission to teach Yoga to the people and he
had to master the ancient lore. He also had to have the
wherewithals to run an organization that would help
disseminate the knowledge he had gathered. Where
would the money come from ? America had proved true
beyond a dream. Hardly had any financial problems ever
cropped up that remained unsolved. India, was home, yet
seemed to be different. Here one had to beg for money.
Though there were industrialists and philanthropists,
they had their own motives and their own axe to grind.
Even while serving humanity, one had to beg for their
favours. Though there were plenty of offers pouring in,
none seemed to be inspired by selfless motive and
sacrifice. Shri Yogendra not given to charity refused to
bow before the monied almighty. He chose to chart his
own course, plough his lonely furrow on his own steam.
He
decided to go into small scale businessthe YOCO
Book Polish. It all started when Shri Yogendra
realized, how easily books were lost to fungus, termites
and pests. He found that Dr. Das- gupta had used
something like varnish to protect his books. This had
however defaced the books. If some similar weak
solution could be used without spoiling the books, the
demand from such a product could be tremendous. By
trial and error method, Shri Yogendra arrived at
YOCO, which he began to market in a small way. Soon
interested dealers started pouring in enquiries and the
122
sole selling agency was awarded to Chaganlal & Co.,

one of the most distinguished firms. A few years later
YOCO got international recognition when Oxford
University Press contracted for the International
market.
In a letter dated 14th. March 1923 Shri Yogendra
wrote about this project to one of his American
friends.
Dear Mr. Griffin,
. . . . In the meantime I have taken up a home
invention of a very great literary friend of mine who in
order to keep his books free from moths etc., has made
a certain mixture of a few things which serve the
purpose of varnish. It is great. It preserves the books in
big libraries from any destruc- v tion and keeps them in
good condition for years. I call it the Book Varnish
not boot varnish ! I believe it to be a great thing. It is
just like any other liquid polish for wood etc. and kept
in bottles.
123
It is very simple. There are only four things to

use....
As ever,
Shri Yogendra
It was on one such business trip which Shri
Yogendra undertook, that he combined his search for
yogic manuscripts and Maths. Shri Yogendra had
quite a few people in the north who wanted to be his
agents, so he was assured of boarding and lodging in
the north. In Punjab and Kashmir where lie lectured,
large crowds used to collect at short notice as at the
Ayurvedic conference in Lahore and the Arya Samaj
convention at Jammu Tawi.
Shri Yogendra spent two months in Punjab
March and April 1923 visiting Bohar and Tillah
hermitages and taking notes for a comprehensive book
on Hathayoga which he intended to write. In between
commercial
dealings
meant
for
financial
independence, he made notes on what he saw in Yoga
techniques. Here he came in contact with the oldest
traditional institution of Go- raksha and Matsyendra,
known popularly as nathayogins. Shri Yogendra with
his usual nonconformist ways and disregard for
formal rituals and rites was once debarred from going
in one of the Maths as the keeper at the gate wanted
to see his sacred thread before entrance coiild be
allowed. Shri Yogendra fortunately had the thread in
his pocket that day. He went a few yards away and
donned it and showed it to the person at the gate
124
-:.e pounder in European dress (shown by an arrow) is addressing the Natha i'ogins of the
Tillah Matha during his visit in the early part of 1924.
The Founder under the bell of the

famous Sankara Matha in Srinagar,
Kashmir.
Arriving at Uttaraveni, the Kasi of

Jammu, the Founder is seen riding a
donkey the sole conveyance available
to reach the innermost recesses in
Kashmir.
who being satisfied of his purity let him enter the

portals of the sacred precinct. The place was
interesting, but not much knowledge was gained.

His fame had preceded him to Lahore and other
north Indian cities on his way back. One of particular
interest was Pt. Thakur Datt Shariha of Amrit- dliara
fame. Panditji had the resources and means and soon
offered Shri Yogendraji a chance to open up a modern
institute near Simla Hills. Plans were afoot and
everything seemed to go well for once, when the
untimely death of Panditjis son in Europe, pulletf the
carpet from under his feet.
Shri Yogendraji also met another social worker in
Lahore, Lala Khusalchand later known as Swami
Ananda. He was a known reformer and the Editor
Owner of Daily Milap. At Ajmer Harvilas Sharda
invited Shri Yogendra for lunch. Treating the young
yogi to a sumptuous meal, he asked him how he had
enjoyed the food. Shri Yogendra told him that it was
delicious. The reformer then dropped what lie thought
was a bombshell. The meal was cooked by an
untouchable. For a Brahmin like Shri Yogendra eating
the food cooked by an untouchable was unthinkable at
that time. But Shri Yogendra was progressivly modern
and above such things. Without batting an eye he told
his host, So what ? Please congratulate the cook. The
host embraced Shri Yogendra thus acknowledging him
as his own.
The encounter was just another test that Shri
Yogendra had to pass to prove to the world his
sincerity to the cause of Yoga and his faith in humanity.
Kashmir was no different. By rail or road, on foot or
125
horseback or donkey-back, Shri Yogendra .was on the

trail of knowledge but the trip yielded nothing, or at
best, precious little.
Although he covered many parts of India, his quest
for an international organization did not prove
successfuJ. Another advocate of Yoga, claiming
discipleship under Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji
seemed to be dogging his footsteps. Most of the
groundwork done by Shri Yogendra was often usurped
by the imposter. The young yogin visited Bombay as a
guest of Nurotam Morarji where Prabhashankar
Patani was also a guest. The latter offered his plot of
land at Lonavala with a bungalow for his Yoga
Ashram. Shri Yogendra however, after this
conversation left for Calcutta and Chittagong and they
never met. But the Yoga Ashram was scuttled through
comedy of error, and it fell into wrong hands,
notwithstanding hollow promises by social workers
and philanthropists, he continued to cherish his plan.
Encounters with the political leaders of that day
proved worse. Most of them were grossly selfish and
arrogant. Shri Yogendra met Sarojini Naidu and
Vithalbhai Patel on a journey to Calcutta. Vithalbhai
was at once interested in Shri Yogendras work but
could do nothing to help. On the"contrary he wanted
Shri Yogendra to drop his plans and join him in his
political movement. Shri Yogendra had watched the
delegates of the Congress go in style to a conference.
He posed the question, Why hold sessions in different
places and travel in luxury from Gaya to Madras when
the majority of the countrymen, who are the life-line of
these leaders, live below the poverty line ? Something
called conscience and honesty was missing here and
Shri Yogendra could not have any part in such a
126
superficial show.
YOCO was all that was left of Shri Yogendras
yogaskram. He was a keen business man whose eye on
the profit line was dictated by selfless service. His
American experience had taught him a lot. Advertising
was still new in India but Shri Yogendra used a large
part of his capital for advertising.
The base was getting ready but when would the
pylons be erected ?
CHAPTER XII

For the man of the world there comes a time when he
has to choose a partner in life and let his family tree
branch out in another generation. But for a
yogi .............
Shri Yogendra had promised his father one thing that

he would return and be a householder. He would marry.
Now that he had returned, the second phase of his
promise was awaiting fulfillment. There were reasons
galore why he should be married right away. The
community logic demanded that the ailing father needed
help. A woman would brighten up the home and would be
handy help with the household work. At the same time
Shri Yogendra was overburdened with his numerous
activities. His literary phase was on and there were
hectic bouts of writing. To make matters worse, he was
his own publisher and what was worse still, his own
selling agent. YOCO business was also progressing and
expanding which needed another helping hand. And a
helping hand was hardly around the corner. While marriage seemed a way o u t . . . . would any woman d o . . ?
Shri Yogendra had his own view. He wanted a bride that
127
would share his life, be a partner in his life

goal. A girl from any community would do as long as
she was cultured and educated. In a letter to Prof.
Dasgupta he bared his innermost thoughts.
As to marriage one thing has to be settled
definitely now, that I shall marry during the next
year. Even before I came to Chittagong my relatives,
personal friends and especially my father insisted on
my getting married. I was reluctant then, for I
thought that a man might just be out of his troubles
than in getting married. A woman to me always
looked like an unsolicited trouble and if I can avoid
her much the better. At Chittagong you threw the
bombshell on this subject. One thing I am afraid of in
marrying is that if I did not get the right girl I shall be
worse off than what I am. It is not so much the
question of getting one as getting the right one. My
ideal of a wife is too hard of satisfaction and unless I
am willing to compromise with the next best, I believe
I shall be disappointed in my enterprise. In the
meantime I have asked Father to show me refined
cultured girls in our society so that I can make a
selection. If I fail in this I am prepared to go out of our
community to secure just the kind I want, and I am
sure father has no objection in that matter. My family
consists of myself and my father, who is now about 64
years of age and for the balance of our society, I care a
little. I do not know the difficulties that may arise on
your side in this question. I mean whether the family
in most cases would be willing to have the girl marry
someone from outside or may raise a hundred
objections in this matter. All that I am now prepared
to write to you is what
Nietsche wrote to Nayenburng, I will tell you in
128
confidence what I need is a good woman.

Interestingly enough the incident, when he was
married in his childhood without his consent and
knowledge seemed to be waiting to be resurrected now by
some of the community members who saw in him a bada
sahib. They insisted that the woman he had openly said
was never his wife, be brought home to him. The
insistence necessitated his dissolving the marriage in
court.
No girl was found right enough in the community to be
his bride. The tradition-bound community had
deliberately kept its women subservient and illiterate.
The community had also not forgotten the incident of his
first marriage and so were unwilling as a matter of selfrespect to allow their daughters to marry him. So he had
to look elsewhere for a bride. When he was up North, this
was the one issue that kept being thrust at him. But the
North did not conquer his heart.
Dr. Dasgupta wrote.
I cannot propose any easy solution but I suppose if you
want a beautiful and educated Bengali bride, yrou must
have a residence here and you must be known as a man
of means. Both these require that you should remain for
some time in Calcutta and get properly introduced to the
right persons and become intimate in the elite social
circle of Calcutta. You cannot get a Suitable bride with a
fourteen day return ticket.
In fact Mrs. Dasgupta was so charmed with him from
his earlier meeting that she would have
been happy to suggest that her sister marry him. But
Shri Yogendra was hardly the type who would settle
down in Calcutta as would be required. He also did not
have such a long time to wait for his bride. He came
129
back to Bulsar.
In the meantime Shri Yogendra had advertised and a
lot of replies poured in but the right bride was still
elusive. Then things happened.
It was Bangalore, the year was 1927. A tall handsome young man was on a visit to the South. It was Shri
Yogendraji. He had spoken several times in Madras and
Mysore on the rightful place of Yoga in the life of the
householder. There was widespread appreciation for
what the young man spoke. A group of admirers
including Shri Ram- chandra Rao Scindia took a fancy
to this visitor from Bulsar. They were eager* to know all
about him. Will he become a sanyasi ? Will he marry ?
What were his future plans ? The young man was not
intending to be a sanyasin. He planned to marry and
bring up a family for he believed that by his own
example he would make Yoga acceptable to modern men
and women.
This was a pleasant surprise to Ramachandra Rao
Scindia. For his friend Shri Venkataraman Rao, a
Zamindar from Tanjore was an admirer of this young
man and had a marriageable daughter. Scindia was a
man of action. He arranged for a visit by the young yogi
to the house of Venkataraman Rao.
Anand,
Journal of The Toga Institute Genesis of Modem Toga,
February 1967.
The incident is recounted by the prospective bride.
Here I was 16, an age my traditional family thought
ripe enough to give me away in marriage. Mine was a
cultured traditional South Indian Brahmin family, where
the ties of family kinship were close. The search was in
progress for an educated cultured person who was well
settled in life. It seems about fifty people were seeking
130
my hand. But my parents gave me a chance to choose my

own partner from those who were found suitable by them.
To my parents chagrin however, I was difficult to please
and did not respond favourably to any of them.
On one auspicious day a meeting was held, at which
time, a person from the north who was searching for a
suitable bride and who knew my father came to see me. I
had determined to say no to anyone who came to see me
as though I was an animal in the zoo. Then the hand of
destiny, or whatever you may call it took over, probably
for my own good. As soon as I saw the handsome and
serene personality with the beautiful spiritual glow
radiating from his dignified bearing, all my
determination to say no vanished and in its place, an
emphatic yes came to my lips.
On seeing Shri Yogendraji just one look was enough for
me and my decision was made firmly, for it was he for
whom I had been waiting. I did not look for physical
attraction nor did I know anything about his education
and economic status. It seems he also instinctively made
up his mind that
131
" r e Founder holding coconut, betel leaves etc. in his palms being received'by his aiherin-law (left) and Mother-in-law (right) before marriage.
r ounder and Smt. Sita Devi after their marriage. The young girl in the centre < her
sister Jaya, while a close relative is standing behind the sofa.
he would be happy to have me. All the family members

were overjoyed to have him as a son-in- law, for his calm
presence attracted all with its princely stature, dignity
and deep understanding.
Destiny with Toga
Smt. Sita Devi
The self-effacing mother of the bride who preferred to
remain in the background like the orthodox Hindu
housewife that she was, found herself in a dilemma. Here
was a stranger who talked of obscure matters, whose
future lay uncertain in material terms, who proposed to
settle thousands of miles away, who spoke a different
language from that of her daughter, how could she as a
mother consent to her daughter marrying him? But even
as these thoughts were being aired by the relatives,
Sethu Bai had come to a decision. She became the first to
give her consent to Shri Yogendra marrying Sita - her
elder daughter.
Thus the wedding took place and the Daily Post of 30th
August 1927 announced :
A REFORMED MARRIAGE
An interesting special function took place at
Malleswaram, Bangalore where Shri Yogendra (Bulsar)
of Bombay was united in marriage to Shri- mati Sita
Devi, daughter of Mr. S. R. V. Rao, Zamindar of
Koilampundy on the 29th instant. A large number of
friends were present for the occasion, among whom were
Messers. Ramchandra Rao Scindia, Vayeeda G. S., Subha
Rao and others.
133
CHAPTER XIII
TWO SHALL LIVE AS ONE
Marriage was the beginning of a new life, and Shri
Yogendra and his new bride, after the celebra* tions
were over, took the road home. Sita, the shy little girl,
was a woman and wife overnight. Was he a lord and
master at hand or just a friend ? She hardly knew about
the man she had married - not just mind and status but
even the mission he had vowed to accomplish, yet the
ties that bound them seemed deeper than one manifest
by a chance encounter.
It is strange how things take place. Here I am in one
corner of the South at a time when going from one state
to another was like going overseas. He was from the
North and still the miracle occurred in the South, where
we first met to unite and to follow up the great work.
In the quiet of the togetherness she and her husband
were still trying to break the silence of the newly wed.
What is the opening line? What does he do for a living ?
Was he the4 scion of a zamindar? Truth had not yet
dawned, but something grand came their way. A sort of
regal invitation to witness the Dassera festival at
Mysore
just 3 days after their marriage. Here was a royal
treatment. The grandeur and the splendour of the
Maharaja was let loose and the young bridal couple
were witness to it all, not a streetside view but a
grand debut from the royal visitors gallery. Sir Mirza
Ismail who knew Shri Yogendra and had high regards
lor him, invited him to take a seat in the coveted place
134
in the reserved gallery. It was a grand beginning for a

marriage which began as a simple Hindu ceremony.
Sita was astounded and dazzled not so much by the
royal pomp and splendour but by the due respect
shown to her husband. Was he a scion of the royal
family ? How close does one get to the celebrated ?
And what was he distinguished for ? These questions
were not answered immediately as Shri Yogendra had
to dash back. Rather, he decided to leave" his wife
behind and rush back to his work. There was no point
in rushing her too into the maze of his life. There was
time for that. At the Dassera time it was Sitas' first
parting with her parents and the umbilical cord was
not completely severed. So Shri Yogendra felt wiser to
get back to his work while Sita got used to the idea of
leaving her parents. Economics was the first priority.
There was not much finance rolling in. Not being an
agriculturist, every household item had to be provided
for and the pension that his father received was
hardly enough. So it was to remunerative activities
his attention turned while Yoga and the mission were
temporarily left at a lower key though not
forgotten. Even though there were no regular classes,
invariably people would drop in for lessons or for
treatment and Shri
135
TWO mil. LIVE AS ONE
Yogendra had no heart to turn away the needy. All this

called for strenuous work and long hours and reduced
recreation. Shri Yogendras health was going to pieces
and he decided to call his partner in life to share his
world.
Off to Bangalore after a few weeks the enthusiastic
young man trooped again and this time they travelled
back together.
Sita was still not at home with her husband. The
conversation was restricted to monosyllables or at best
to one liners. In the silence of their first-class coupe they
had the chance to be by themselves again, but not for
long. A fellow passengers interruption was a sheer
killjoy. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The
stranger recognized Shri Yogendra as a Yoga scholar
and wanted him to deliver a lecture at Hubli. He could
detrain there enroute to Bombay. While Shri Yogendra
willingly obliged, Sita bit her lips in surprise. The
successful businessman husband of hers was a yogi
indeed. Was it a gain or a loss? Was it something to
shout about or a painful truth? Nothing mattered other
than the fact that her husband had status and a position
that was recognized and appreciated.
I am abidingly proud and humble to be in the glow of
such a luminous personality. I realize that his greatness
makes me feel very small by com- parision, but he ever
encouraged and lifted me higher and higher on the path.
If I am lesser, it is the fault of my own samskaras.
The lecture at Hubli was quite a success inspite of the
short notice. It was the first time his wife was a witness
to the event and Shri Yogendra was happy to share his
136
knowledge with his new partner. The journey home had

opened avenues of attachment.
I was both lucky and pleased to be by his side, as a
partner in his inspiring pioneering mission of Yoga.
When I read and heard about his earlier great work and
also his mission formerly of spreading Yoga to the
West I was awe struck. His great scientific success
and ideals enthused me to follow him in his cherished
work, with spontaneous joy and enthusiasm which
welled in my heart. I was charged with the spirit of total
surrender to his ideals and singleminded service to the
cause of Yoga so dear to his heart.
.Home was Bulsar, and the young couple was given a
warm welcome by bis father, relatives and friends. The
shy bride was warm to the response. She recalls how
Chotubhai L. Desai the devoted classmate of her
husband had sent choice mangoes, each one a special
variety, wrapped individually. The school friend had
coined the name Sita Ram for the young couple and had
written about his friend:
I firmly believe that there is no individual in our
community who can rival my worthy Yogendra in
matters of living, physical, mental and spiritual. I shall
be pleased only when I will realise that I have done my
duty towards my friend. The AnaviJ community has
failed to realise the capacity of a man like Yogendra who
I believe will be the greatest man like Tagore in India. I
was labouring under the idea that the Anavils will
honour such a high person, but to my deep regret there
is nothing like that.
I intend to honour my worthy friend Ram Sita
137
(Yogendra and Sita, but now both are one) before a large
audience of all castes and creed of Kacholi village.
Yours C. L. Desai
Shri Yogendra had always laboured with no
equipment to back him up. Carrying the brunt of his
mission was no ordinary task. Now here was a wife and
friend to help him and take quite a load off his mind. The
presence of his wife gave him free time to continue his
literary pursuits, and spare time for writing articles for
newspapers once again. There was so much to write. His
research work in Yoga needed to be made known to
laymen the ultimate goal of Shri Yogendras mission.
Shri Yogendra wrote his book Rhythmic Exercises a
simplified programme of asanas which was published in
Bangalore. This had the same contents as Physical
Education, Volume I for men and was an instant success.
Reviews appeared which acclaimed the book.
A fine book of harmonic gymnastics.
Daily Mail
An exceedingly useful hand-book
exercises
on
physical
Physical Culture
This work combines the rarest features of the ancient
and modern gymnastics as well as the Eastern and
Western Physical culture. Here is a scientific course of
daily exercises based on the rhythm of breath. It" is simple,
scientific and workable. The book is a beautiful work of
art and must be in the hands of every lover of health and
physical culture.
Shri Yogendra knew that the time was ripe for action
quick, neat and simple. He decided to strike when it
138
was hot. Simple booklets were the need of the hour and
he began to pen these and sell them at the nominal price
of Re. 1/- each. Thus began the Yoga Health Series which
was a series of ten volumes. The titles included Breathing
Methods>Way to Live, Mental Health etc. The euphoria was
at its peak but book selling agencies had other ideas.
They wanted something more substantial : a well
researched book in Yoga. This would be a standard work
and would require a lot more time and energy. The work
however was slowly taking shape midst the multifarious
and untiring work of the devoted couple.
The young bride was feeling her way around in the
small household. Coming from a sheltered home of the
South of India she had to familiarize herself to the ways
of the two people with whom she shared this new home.
One was her vibrant husband who was bubbling with
energy and ideas and the other a devoted and simple
father-in-law who understanding^ ministered to their
every need. Haribhai proved to be an excellent father-inlaw to this young girl who could not easily communicate
with him in the beginning due to the language barrier.
He used to be so humble, she recalls. One day the
Maharaj (cook) who was especially kept to cook when I
came after marriage, made pooran poli. I thought it should
have been rolled finer and said so and started taking the
dough in my hands and rolling it out. The cook started
shouting that I should not disturb him in his cooking and
if I should touch it he would not eat in the household and
would resign. I could not understand this behaviour and
explained that I was also a Brahmin and had washed my
hands and had come to help. Anyway the angry man
walked away. I declared, Dont worry I will cook
henceforth. This was a bold decision and both the men
139
were happy at my outburst, but in practice they found

that 1 had to be guided a great deal as I had not been too
used to this new type of very simple cooking. My fatherin-law used toêt the vegetables and ration and would
help in cutting the bhajiever so neatly. He \vas a great
man and never made me feel small or unwanted.
But it was not all work and no play. A friend of
Haribhai, Shri Taphkirwalla spoke to1 them once about
the great Maharana Prabhatdevji who was an excellent
Veena player. There was a desire in the heart of the young
music loving maid to hear
him and introductions were made. This proved to be a
most rewarding relationship as the young Sita was
now introduced to the beauty of Hindustani music. In
the South as a child, her parents had made all types
of efforts to cultivate in her a love of Carnatic music
and many gurus used to try and inculcate in her
through the violin a love for that music. But because
the insistence was on perfection, at the young age,
perhaps she never used to participate in the feat
joyfully. But being tutored by Prabhat- devji was
another matter. He painstakingly used to show the
notations of this Hindustani music of the North and
the young bridegroom took an interest also in his
wifes musical interludes. He used to transcribe the
notations for her and in this exercise a deep love for
music grew in him also. In the end when they were
enjoying some of the greatest music of the greatest
musicians of that time Omkar, among them, he
became a very receptive music lover. Prabhatdevji
also worked in creating an orchestra and many of Shri
Yogendras guests were regaled by his music. As a
special gesture he used to come to their home on his
birthdays.
140
Those were happy days a great deal of work and

a great deal of joyful living. They did not socialize
much with other people. There were few with whom
they were close and the rest of the time was in the
shelter of their unfolding mission to which they gave
of themselves wholeheartedly and with enthusiasm.
In 1977 Sita Devi now nearing her Golden Wedding
anniversary wrote.
As my mind travels through this long passage of
joyous union, I am inspired by his work and
achievements. His tremendous hard and completely
selfless work, clarity of vision, a tremendous bounty of
knowledge he has stored within himself, softened by
wisdom have wrought miracles which are hard to
describe. I can say with all humility that he is a great
personality, a genius, a philosopher and an all-knowing
person, the yogi ...........................................................
CHAPTER XIV
AT HOME
A year and a half after Shri Yogendrajis marriage

there was another cause for joy. Sita Devi delivered a
baby boy. The grandfather and the new father were
happy. Their concern prior to the birth made them keep
Sita Devi in a private nursing home in Bombay, rather
than send her to Bangalore, where she would be miles
away from them. They named the child Jayadeva the
name of the diety of victory.
And to add to their joy another son was born just after
a year. He was called Jayadeva Jr! The two were like the
mythological brothers guarding the gates to heaven. The
sweet chubby children brought great joy to the vibrant
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family.
The proud parents took Jayadeva their first bom, to
Bangalore when he was about ten months old so that the
grandparents there could share in their joy also. Sita Devi
had a grandmother who was living at that time. She was
blind but she insisted on seeing the little one, and fondly
caressed her hands on his little face to see him. She was
greatly charmed by the young one.
When the . second son was born there was an incident
which has etched itself on the memory of many. The healthy
baby was born, in the Bulsar missionary hospital and there
was cause for joy but soon it gave way to fear and
dejection. The young mother started haemorrhaging and
the blood did not seem to be stopping in spite of all the
necessary medical know-how and techniques available at
that time. There was nothing like cross-matching and
blood transfusion in that small town. Her life wag fast
ebbing and the doctor couple, both friends of the family
began weeping silently and called out to the father of the
babe saying, We have tried our best but we will not be
able to save Sita Devi. The young yogi grasped the
situation and felt in a flash that at this point in his life he
needed urgently his life partner to stand by him and
augment his life mission of propagating Yoga. Intuitively
he resolved that this was an emergency which required
his special treatment. He came close to his wife and as he
was approaching, the young wife saw him in her dazed
and sinking state and said I am going. He made his
voice firm and said, No, you cannot go. He recounts that
in this period he transferred some of his prana to her, as
he had done in emergencies both in India and America.
Did the medical men present at that time comprehend the
magnitude of the gesturethe transferring of bioenergy
from one lx>dy to another ? The unpretentious and un-
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AT HOME
assuming way it was carried out most probably failed to

make an impact of its magnitude on them.
Dr. and Dr. Mrs. Cautrell who were the witnesses of
this phenomenon were the outgoing missionaries at that
time and they introduced Shri Yogendra
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AT HOME
and Sita Devi to the incoming doctor Dr. John W.

Fox. In Dr. Fox, the young missionary surgeon, the
young couple found a wonderful friend. Dr. Fox was an
immensely popular practitioner and had been highly
successful in his profession. The people had great faith
in him and he would charge nominal fees for his
treatment. Thus it was natural that Shri Yogendra and
Dr. Fox should meet and become good friends. Sharing
common interests, Dr. Fox was able to discuss medical
problems with Shri Yogendra. He thus became more
familiar with medicine as it was then practised. In fact,
whenever there was a complicated case, Shri Yogendra
was always informed and was able to watch the adept
surgeons hand. The young wife eager to learn more
and with a humanistic touch in her visited the hospital
often and even sat during the lectures Dr. Fox gave the
nurse trainees. She learnt a great deal from the ever
willing teacher that she found in Dr. Fox. The presence
and companionship of Dr. Fox was a great boon to Shri
Yogendra. Dr. Fox also took a great interest in Yoga
and was always trying to understand the scientific
basis of this great science. He used to go through Shri
Yogendras manuscript and suggest the medical terms
wherever necessary. He also wrote the forward to one
of his books- Toga Personal Hygiene.
The book took nearly two years to complete and
when it was ready in 1930 the question of a publisher
was floating in Shri Yogendras mind. Who would take
such an ambitious project in hand ? Shri Yogendra had
not much finance to back it up and any publisher had
also to be the financier of his book. Among the many
printers and publishers, the Basel Mission Press at
Mangalore was suggested. It seemed a far fetched idea,
but Shri Yogendra gave it a try and wrote to them and
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asked for printing quotations. Instead of sending the

estimate, Mr. Rauleder came down personally to
Bulsar to discuss the matter. This was a great thing for
a small author. There are times when somethings
happen which baffle us. One explanation may be the
intense will to publish the book well, had Nature
provide the answer in the form of a right person. The
deal was made when Mr. Rauleder asked Shri
Yogendra if he would come to Mangalore to read the
proofs.
No costs were mentioned nor advance demanded as
was the custom. Shri Yogendra was apprehensive but
his pioneering spirit could not be subdued. Soon he
went down to Mangalore full of hope. He stayed with
Principal T. Mangesh Rao who went out of his way to
make his stay comfortable. Mr. Rauleder was all out to
speed up the publishing yet made sure that the quality
was not affected. At one time, while reading some final
printed pages, he discovered that a comma was not at
the place indicated which changed the meaning of the
sentence. He pointed it out to Mr. Rauleder who being
as precise as his young author friend obliged by
scrapping all the pages and reprinting the same with
necessary. correction.
When the book was finally ready Shri Yogendra
started feeling uneasy. What would he do for the
payment ? He had no money with him.
Mr. Rauleder hardly seemed concerned with financial
details. Without the mention of payment, he packed the
books and bid Shri Yogendra a fond farewell. Some books
were left loose and Shri Yogendra began his journey home,
gazing at his own book, amazed at the largesse of a virtual
stranger. On the bus to Mercara he found a fellow
passenger admiring the title of his book. Very soon he
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AT HOME
asked for a copy and when he flipped through it he asked

if the book was on sale. Shri Yogendra introduced himself
as the author. Highly intrigued the fellow passenger
bought a copy. The other passengers overheard the conversation and showed their interest. Soon all the copies
were gone and Shri Yogendra had enough money to travel
from Mercara to. Mysore. At Mysore the hostess was
literate and showed an interest in the book* She and her
friends picked up twelve copies and soon Shri Yogendra
had enough money to travel to Bangalore and Bombay.
Fortune smiles on the brave and Shri Yogendra had come
through successful in a difficult situation. The book no
doubt would go a long way in projecting Shri Yogendras
mission in life. The book was Toga Personal Hygiene.
On his return from Mangalore, his book a prize
possession in his baggage, the young husband rushed to
share the news with Sita Devi. His enthusiasm was cut
short as he approached the gate. He saw his father
holding a gunny bag with a worried look on the old mans
face. Seeing his son made the old man look even sadder
and Shri Yogendra was puzzled by his attitude. When he
approached nearer, he found to his horror that the gunny
bag contained none other than his beloved little son.
Jayadcva Jr. The sight was unbearable. The child was
suffering from both dry and weeping eczema all over and
the skin of the child which, including the lace looked like a
battle scarred surface. The child too young to understand
the cause and effect of disease was mute with pain. The
travel-weary father immediately summoned his good
friend Dr. Fox. Dr. Fox seemed as helpless as his friend
and did not know what to do. The distraught father at the
end of his patience shouted to Dr. Fox in a fit of frustration, Is there nothing you can do to relieve this child of
his disease? Dr. Fox took it calmly and tried to placate
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AT HOME
Shri Yogendra. Look he said, I have done my best. My

entire medical knowledge has been at the disposal of the
child but nothing seems to cure this eczema. The father
was at his wits end sullen and troubled. What could have
been the cause of it all ? On investigation he found that
one of the servants suffered from eczema and probably
during the handling of the child had passed on the disease
to the innocent little one. All hope was lost and the child
had to bear the pain and irritation day in and day out
without complaining. Every day the grandfather would
hold the child in the gunny bag soiled and unkempt and
take him to the compound, hoping the air would relieve
his pain. One day a fakir was passing by. The mendicants,,
^vere a regular sight in those days and were often a
beggarly nuisance. The grandfather tended to ignore the
fakir, but the man came nearer and seemed curious
to know what was in the gunny bag Seeing the child in
pain, he asked what was wrong with the child. Lending
a patient ear, the fakir asked if lie could suggest a
remedy. Haribhai was distrustful of sadhus and fakirs
and his first reaction was to dismiss the fakir. But the
hopeless situation had left the door open for unthought
of options. Uncertain of the fakirs remedy, he hesitated
a little and then decided to have his sons opinion on
the issue. Shri Yogendra being deep in thought was as
unconvinced as his father, but decided to give the fakir,
a try almost as a last resort. He told his father if the
medicine was for external application they would try
the medicine, but if it had to be taken internally they
would rather not risk the medicine. Agreeing this far,
Haribhai went out to the fakir to get the medical advice.
The medicine was the seed of a common creeper which
had to be pounded into a powder mixed with a bitter oil
and applied. They followed the fakirs instructions and
found to their great joy that it really worked. Each day
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AT HOME
brought great improvement in the childs condition and

soon within two weeks the child was completely cured.
Everyone was amazed at the quick recovery. A few
days later when the fakir came to solicit the news of the
child, he was welcomed and told the great news. A
beaming grandfather proferred the fakir a ten rupee
note towards payment of medical treatment but the
fakir would have none of it. It was not his practice to
accept favours for services rendered. All he requested
was that this treatment be used for other patients as
well but no money was to be recovered from such
patients. The experience was unusual and even Dr. Fox
. was amazed by this apparently simple but effective
remedy.
The children grew up and the parents laid much stress
on their primary education. They taught the children the
three Rs at home. But much indirect learning was being
absorbed in the unique home which was also an unusual
institute. The little ones grew up with a love for selfless
service and untiring zeal for the good of all but they were
never, treated as children of a great yogi.
Today, many years later Jayadeva recounts an incident
when as a little school lad, a few of them got to talking
and boasting in their childish ways as to whose father
was the most influential. One of the rich boys whose
father was a multimillionaire boasted that his riches
could buy anyone. Another whose parentage was of a
police inspector said that the might of the Law could
override all. The thoughtful little lad quipped that his
father was a great writer and the pen was mightier than
the sword.
There were problems due to their similar names so the
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younger got a preface to his name Vi- and became

Vijayadevadouble victory. The little boys wrote about
this event to their good friend Dara Dadina son of Homi
Dadina.
Shri Yogendrajis interest in the proper upbringing and
education was evident as in the following letter :
MMC\\
The Class Teacher Std. VIA,

Sir. C. J. N. Z. Madressa, Navsari.
Dear Mr. Vashi,
Master Vijayadeva reports that on the 8th inst. one
Mr. Takle, a teacher of your school, on the allegation that
he was talking to another boy asked him to leave the
class. Since no such fault was proved the boy naturally
refused to be unjustly punished. It now appears that this
said teacher is used to such coercion, for it is only now
revealed to me that this love for apology was first
perpetuated once before through intimidation in a
solitary room. As a matter of feet boys should be taught to
respect Iruth and not any false dignity of a teacher when
he is in the wrong. In such a case any compulsion
disturbs the psychology and moral stamina of promising
boys. The very process where it is to be found in an
educational institution is extremely repugnant. The most
sane and tolerable course is to warn the students
concerned against such alleged breach of discipline, but
none should seek apologies on unjust grounds. Master
Vijayadeva had, even under threat of injury, consistently
stayed away from all strikes and is known for his loyalty,
good conduct, love of discipline and justice to all his
previous headmasters. He could not by any stretch of
imagination turn otherwise in a few months at your
school.
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Fortunately having known us personally for years and

also as a class teacher, you should prevail upon the
teacher concerned by an appeal to his
sanity and tolerance in such petty matters rather than
encourage him in the display of authority' through
intimidation.
Yours in Yoga,
Shri Yogendra
The friendship between Dr. Fox and Shri Yogendra
was to survive many a difficult times. They had
become so close as to call each other friendly names.
Dr. Fox was fondly calk'd Old Tub and this reference
was to be used for years in the personal
correspondence exchanged between the two.
Dr. Fox later somehow gained the displeasure of his
seniors who instructed his headquarters to repatriate
him to the States. News of this leaked through, in the
devoted community of the ever grateful patients. They
were indignant and were moved to action. This news
was to upset Shri Yogendra greatlv. Never having let a
just cause go down for lack of support he mustered the
local peoples help and sent a memorandum to the
Elgin Mission Headquarters. Furious correspondence
was exchanged with this Central Body responsible for
Dr. Fox. When all efforts failed to convince them to
retain Dr. Fox at his post, Shri Yogendra started a
move to re-establish his practice in Navsari. A place
was found through his efforts and the healing touch of
this great surgeon benefited thousands at the Navsari
Hospital, where he was installed by the grateful
people. A special flower decked bogie driven by a
grateful patient drove him to his new field of labour.
150
CHAPTER XV
THE DEAR DEPARTS
The happy family spent its time in the verdant
surroundings of a tranquil and unsophisticated town
Bulsar. It was here that The Yoga Institute situated in
rented houses changed its headquarters to four different
places due to different situations. In some of these places
there was provision for indoor patients also and the work
and activities continued ceaselessly. The young couple
were combining various activities, lifting the load of the
people and pressing ever forward with their mission of
making Yoga known to the world as a science of happy
and healthful living. To that end the prolific writer
continued to write and the magazine Toga was published
since 1933 with authentic articles on all aspects of Yoga.
With his love of beauty and technical precision he insisted
on the standard of his works to be always of the most
superior kind.
Together with the activities, the children grew up to
mischief and fun, the young mother was learning the
ropes of her vocation, the vibrant pioneer devoting his
time between business and commitment to duty. And the
grandfather, benign and patient, a friend to his
overworked son, playmate to his grandchildren, leisured
the hours away in his retirement. Death was to interrupt
this happy family soon.
Age had slowed down Haribhai Desai. Though he could
do with some relaxation he consciously partook of all the
burden of family chores. One day while going for his
purchases and posting in the town, he had suddenly felt
very tired and requested a barber he knew to show him a
place where he could rest. The barber immediately took
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THE DEAR DEPARTS
him to a cot in his residence. This request had surprised

him because it was the first of its kind that Haribhai had
ever made. The worried barber sent a message to Shri
Yogendra. Thus in the evening when Haribhai reached
home the son was alert and watchful. He saw that
Haribhai looked, tired. Sensing that something was wrong
with his heart the son offered him some glucose water.
Haribhai refused to take it but on the sons persuasion
took a little bit but vomitted immediately. He refused his
meal also. Shri Yogendra requested Sita not to let him do
any further chores and to lei him rest.
Before going to sleep in the night, Haribhai who was
accustomed to filling a pot for drinking water which he
kept under his bed filled it himself, refusing Sitas help.
He also did his other usual duties like closing the
shutters. He did not want to disturb his routine and did
his bit until the very end. At about three oclock in the
morning, the :>on who was apprehensive and watchful
saw that he got up to go to the toilet. Shri Yogendra
quietly and un- obstrusively stood near the doorway. After
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THE DEAR DEPARTS
Haribhai returned from the toilet, the son quietly

watched him return to his bed. Shri Yogendra switched
on the light which Haribhai noticed and had his last look
as if in parting and he seemed fully satisfied. He put his
head down on the pillow. That was the end of a life of
utter selflessness and devoted service. The son was
overcome with sorrow. The young wife kept looking at
him unable to gauge what had happened. The children
slept quietly in their own room, but were later brought
out to see the dead body of their grandfather. Jayadeva
stood stiff and stunned and shed no tears. Vijayadev
began to cry loudly and was soon removed. Shri
Yogendra went out to his cousins house at Bhagda a mile
away to get some people for the funeral preparation.
Jamubhen, his cousin quietly told some menfolk from the
household to accompany him. The ceremony was quite
simple a cremation without rituals. Haribhai had once
told his son that after he was gone, he need not take any
trouble. He may be treated like a piece of wood. Since he
did not believe in any ceremonies the son obeyed his
wishes. Shri Yogendra inherited nothing from his father
except a few cots and cooking utensils. He did not collect
even the money from his fathers saving account at the
Post Office in Bulsar. His In Memoriam which he wrote in
the Journal Toga in November 1935 is a moving tribute
from a devoted son to his revered father......
He was well read to an unusual degree and could talk
on any subject, historic, economic, politic, moral,
philosophic and also scientific even though in most cases
he held definite views. His greatest achievement was to
live the life he preached. During the long span of life, he
was never sick. He denied all pleasures of life, never
visited a city, never tasted delicacies, nor had been to the
theatre or festivity. He was content, so content that you
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THE DEAR DEPARTS
could not move him to wear new clothes or even to

distract him from his old monotonous simple routine.
H6 loved work and worked all the waking hours even
to the last moment of his death. Quite unassuming he
lived a most humble life, a most honest life and a most
active life. He obliged others but accepted no obligations.
He served others but would not let others serve him. He
lived not for himself but for others. He lived to serve. He
was a karmayogin.
He did not express his love for others but his love was
inmost and intense ; he merely offered his services
unreservedlyin token of his love. He believed in love
which sought no expression but through action. He
harboured no single thought in his mind, he was carefree,
childlike in his expression of things and opinions on men.
His was a saintly living being. Very few needs if any,
he had and those came to him naturally since he cared
nothing for himself. His death was happy, enviable and
peaceful and was the thing which he deserved and
desired. No pain. No* thoughts disturbed his earthly life
for he passed away while resting without the slightest
misgiving that he was to slip peacefully unto the
Eternal Peace.
Overwork and exhaustion which he invited upon
himself unknowingly in his zeal to be useful to the
Founder in his single handed struggle of delivering the
message of scientific Yoga to the world, wore him out ; and
then followed the inevitable. His body knew no rest for he
loved to serve, he lived to serve and he died serving Peace
unto Him !
Bereaved of his father, Shri Yogendras commitment
was at an end. He had promised his father that he would
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THE DEAR DEPARTS
look after him and would always be around whenever he

needed him. It was a solemn oath from one who had
chosen the ways of a yogi often taken to be a mode of
total renunciation. Shri Yogendra wainted to combine the
best of the yogi with the best of the householder. He had
so far acquitted himself very well. Looking after his father
a dutiful son, being a husband, a breadwinner, a warm
father. He found that his Yoga interests suffered not so
much for his duties but for his out-of-the-way location. He
would have definitely preferred to be in a central location,
where he could reach out to more people. Also people who
wanted to see him could hardly make it to Bulsar. Quite a
few foreign enthusiasts and distinguished personalities
would come to Bombay hoping to see Shri Yogendra and
then realising that there were still four hours of travel
left, hopelessly gave up meeting him. A classical example
was the managing director of the Standard Oil company,
who had read Toga Personal Hygiene, when he was in
Rangoon during the war and was on his way back home.
He decided to break journey at Bombay and have a brainstorming session with the brilliant young author. He
landed at Bombay and asked someone how he could get to
Bulsar. When he was told to take a train journey of four
hours he was crestfallen. A journey such as this, given the
infrequencies of the trains, would have taken almost a
day. Another day to return and a few hours squeezed in
for the all important encounter. The journey-harried Yoga
enthusiast realized that such a trip was hardly possible
under his tight schedule and much to his chagrin he gave
up the visit, the very reason for his coming to Bombay.
Shri Yogendra felt that things had come to a head. No
doubt there was the Post Box number 481 in Bombay,
and a faithful friend Mr. Buch who cleared it and send
him all the letters most regularly while his abode, The
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THE DEAR DEPARTS
Yoga Institute, underwent several changes. But an out-oftowner was hardly able to make an impact. His father
being dead, there was nothing at all to hold him back in
this one horse town. Eyes cast to the city where things
happened. Shri Yogendra decided to scout for a place
under the bright Bombay sun.
After much scouting, Shri Yogendra came across a
place, 8, Babulnath Road in May 1936. He paid a months
rent in advance and moved in with his two heavily laden
truckload of personal luggage and Institute all-in-all. His
landlord was a noted political leader. Believing in the
forthrightness of such a public leader, Shri Yogendra had
hardly expected any problem in settling down in his new
home. His expectation was shortlived. Arriving at the
doorstep of his new home, he was taken
156
\e Yoga Institute during its headquarters at Bulsar where various activities were
gradually augmented.
The Yoga Institute when its headquarters were at Beach View Chowpattv
Bombay.
Shrimati Sita Devi and Shri Yogendraji in 1939 visiting

Matheran while the Institute was at Cbowpatty.
^
aback to see the supposedly vacant house bubbling with

activity. On close examination Shri Yogendra found all
the rooms occupied. Who were the residents of the
rooms, he was officially the sole tenant of? He
approached the landlord and was told that he should let
the occupants who were nurses of a nearby hospital,
stay. Shri Yogendra argued that he had paid the
complete rent. Instead of evicting the illegal tenants
the great leader requested him to share his room. Shri
THE DEAR DEPARTS
Yogendra was indignant as he descended from his

landlords room. How was one to deal honestly in a land
where trust and faith had no meaning ? Here was a
man, a leader, a representative of the people, someone
in whom the people obviously reposed their trust and
he was expected to look after his peoples interest, fight
for their rights and secure the freedom of their country.
But the great leader was hardly a man of his word,
even though he seemed to be a man of a word too many.
When one could not even trust him over a few rooms,
how was one to trust him over the fate of a constituency, of a city and a country ? Whose interest was
this man serving ? This was Shri Yogendras first hand
knowledge of the workings of the political leaders mind
and the knowledge was disturbing. Knowing that
justice would not come from an insincere person he
decided to take the law into his own hands. Asking the
porters of the two trucks waiting outside to unload the
luggage, he ' ordered them to keep it in the room and
even in the area where the illegal occupants sat.
Harried and pushed about with a barrage of luggage
being thrown around, the nurses ran out of the rooms.
A new home takes time settling down. A signboard
was hung announcing The Yoga Institute. Curious
passersby who saw it stopped in to see what it offered.
People who were aware of the earlier activities of the
Institute, were glad to find it active again in the' city
itself and rushed to take advantage of its services.
Foreigners who were in Bombay could come over and
take instructions and even treatment. The medical world
was still an unconquered territory and many a medical
men spread the rumour that this was all hocus pocus,
tried to decry the Institutes achievements and made no
attempt, despite the young pioneers open invitation, to
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THE DEAR DEPARTS
investigate the benefits scientifically. To make matters

worse, there was a rival institute which tried to grab the
visitors as soon as they descended the steps of The Yoga
Institute and convince them about the merits of their
own therapy. And Shri Yogendras activities as a writer
also continued inspite of his hectic schedule. The
magazine Toga continued to come out and delight many
around the world. Memorabilia. was a book which
deviated from his former ways of thinking. It was
compiled of epigrams which reflected, some changes
which had come to him after his tryst with the West. In
1934 the third edition of the book called Life Problems
arrived on the scene like a cannon with live bombs. The
book received a lot of critical attention. Justice said : It is
a book which can thrill and shake your whole existence.
This excellent book of* practical epigrams represents an
outline of the genius of an exceptionally thoughtprovoking author noted, Current Thought.
Educational Review reported : Like Ibsens epigrams
these thoughts make you think desperately. They are like
bombs, intellectual bombs, destroying the old fogyism of
reactionaries and hypocrites. What it undertakes to do is
to make you think and act straight.
This is a book containing epigrams on such subjects of
interest as love, marriage, society, politics, religion etc.
and these. are very striking and thought-provoking. The
writer seems to have a real insight and has given much
thought to the ordinary problems of life and to have risen
above the conventional way of looking at things and
holding opinions on them. His remarks are very shrewd,
incisive and sometimes well nigh revolutionary It is a
very clear work which is well
worth reading and keeping. Wrote Shri Rama- nand
160
THE DEAR DEPARTS
Chatterji in the Modern Review.

A few examples from Life Problems illustrates Shri
Yogendras depth of understanding of human life and
civilization.
Only that marriage is truly sacred which is undertaken
with the fullest understanding of mutual responsibilities.
Then what does it matter whether such a marriage has or
has not the sanction of our various institutions ?
I cannot do a thing that I want to, for the society tells

me that it is against Society, the law tells me that it is
against Law and the religion tells me that it is against
Religion : and by the time they the society, law and
religion decide what I can do, I find that it is these
things which I do not want to do.
What a great contrast it is between the study of
modern science with all its latest developments and the
study of society, law and religion which consists in
memorizing a lot of statements from musty old books
written by men who never saw electric light except in a
thunderstorm, and who never crossed a bridge except
that of bamboo !
*
Expression of opinion is a matter of light to be enjoyed
by all but criticism is a privilege to be restricted to a few
who are competent to criticize.
*
161
THE DEAR DEPARTS
Why do I look at the world with suspicion ? For

experience has taught me to do so. Why do I look at the
dark side of things ? For the darkness is overwhelming.
Why am I so pessimistic in my outlook ? For certainly I
do not want to be disappointed afterwards. Amen !
*
Because I will not sell myself to the demands of

religion, society and law, I am cursed, discussed, talked
to, talked about, held up, hung up and pretty nearly
killed ; the only reason why I am still clinging to life is to
see what will happen next.
It is unnecessary to visit a forest to see wild life since it

has shifted to the streets of civilization where, if you know
how to spot, you find lions, tigers, bears and even lambs,
rabbits, donkeys and jackals.
*
A soldier kills about a dozen men in his life, but a
commander kills by thousands. We do not even remember
the former, but we honour the latter. A man lives a quiet
life and breaks no ones heart, but an extrovert giant has
a master passion that calls for many a sacrifice, and
regardless of many a heart he breaks, he attains his own
aim. We call this man a great man. Do not our heroes and
great men either kill many a head or many a heart ? Does
not our civilization teach us to respect them, to honour
them and, at limes, even to believe them as gods ?
With only the ten numerals, we have created a world

full of mathematics and from a little stock of this
162
THE DEAR DEPARTS
universe, the Absolute, the Soul, Will, Space, Time and

Matter we have generated global confusion in philosophy.
Why not have your own philosophy ?
*
It costs you many times more than the cost of your
umbrella, should you seek the aid of Law to secure it
from a thief. Do not the wise prefer to forgo justice just
because the law is getting so costly ?
*
When a man steals from a man, it is theft ; when a
man kills a man, it is murder ; but when groups of
people steal from the pockets of others in broad daylight, it is trade or business ; and when a nation
murders another nation, it is battle or war. Why should
justice and morality be allowed to go by majority ?
*
Shri Yogendra had his characteristic ways of dealing
with his life problems. Just above the Institute resided
a solicitor who hung his wet clothes over the balcony
covering the Institutes entrance and dripped water into
the library, putting the residents and visitors to
inconvenience. Shri Yogendra often requested the
solicitor to desist from such practice, but the profound
interpreter of the Law wouldnt yield his right of way to
a lowly yogi. Shri Yogendra knew how to deal with such
situations and promptly began to pull the clothes as and
when they were hung out and soon the solicitor
discovered to his dismay his clothes disappearing like
dew under the sun. Shri Yogendra who had known how
to deal with such people indeed had the last laugh !
163
CHAPTER XVI
A MOVE SCUTTLED
It was not all laughing matter, in his home. The
business was picking up but the place was hardly the
right atmosphere for one professing to propagate a
healthy mind in a healthy body. The house was at the
bottom of a hill and much to the familys discomfort they
found that moisture would seep through causing all sort
of ailments to the children. Nine months in this house
was enough to make him want to change. Where would he
move to ? Not back again, to the backwoods of the village.
. . A search began and a new home seemed possible, oftce
again, in the city. Shri Yogendra was told of a neighbour
who was building a house nearby on Chowpatty. Mr.
Zaveri, a neighbour happened to be quite interested in
Yoga and primarily in the work Shri Yogendra was doing.
Without much ado he agreed to let out a flat in the new
building. It was a heaven sent blessing but the rent also
soared heavenwards! From the sixty rupees they paid
earlier, Shri Yogendra had to now fish out a sum of One
hundred and seventy five rupees. A high price indeed, but
the location was worth it all. The building situated
opposite the Tilak statue was called Beach View and
commanded a beautiful view of the sea. Many people still
flocked and found relief from the treatment offered by
Shri Yogendra and Sita Devi. The high society was the
newly converted and with the inflation in his rent and the
fact that a slight rise in fees would not hurt the frequent
visitors, Shri Yogendra raised his fees. The poor and the
unfortunate could still avail of Shri Yogendras healing
touch without access to money and wealth.
The family had settled down but the heavy work still
164
A MOVE SCUTTLED
occupied their time, and there was little or no time for

entertainment or games. The children were entrusted to
the care of a reliable servant while Sita Devi joined her
husband in his mission. A regular visitor, Mr. Gautier
Tibon the director of Paillards radio agency dropped in
and saw the happy family without any means of
entertainment. On realising that they even lacked a
radio he offered them one. He asked Shri Yogendra to
drop in at his show-room and pick up any one of the sets
from those on display. Shri Yogendra strolled down to
the shop and saw an array of radios and radiograms on
display. Sophisticated and decorative sets earned no
approval from his discerning eye. Placing his hand on
one insignificant set he said he would take that one. The
amazed shop keeper wrapped up the gift. The radiogram
proved much entertainment to the family. Vijayadev
recalls :
This was the first contact as such he iiad with the
outside world and to tune the set at news time, my
memory is very clear of Father bending over telling the
children to be quiet. We would watch
bemused as Father would sit and listen to the goings
on around the world. I dont know what effect this had
on Father but for my brother and myself it presented a
welcome opportunity of hearing the cricket scores
between India and its rivals.
The radio has remained a part of Shri Yogendra.
Even today he would interrupt an interview session to
listen to the news, come back and comment on the
goings on around the world.
The Institute was still finding its feet in the new
city, but it was also spreading its wings in other
countries. In 1933 when the journal Toga had
165
A MOVE SCUTTLED
reappeared as an official magazine of the Institute, it

was exchanged with many other journals around the
world and spread a lot of goodwill along with the
message of Yoga. By 1934 there were nearly a million
copies of literature and titles in circulation in over 30
different countries to bring home the message to far off
lands such as Arabia, Lativia and Korea.
By 1935 the membership of the Institute was
thrown open to the public and its activities continued
to increase. Prof. N. K. Bhagwat, Fellow of Bombay
University wrote, I am downright glad to learn from
you that you have shifted your headquarters to
Bombay. I believe that this is the right place for it is
here that the Institute will be of immense use to and
within the easy reach of those who need such a
facility.
Among the increasing activities were regular
Sunday talks by Shri Yogendra and other distinguished personages who had built up a close contact <5
with the Institute, and some of whom were on the
advisory body. The Times of India of 17th March 1937
reported : A .series of lectures on Yoga will continue
every alternate Sunday. Among the others who will
deliver lectures are members of the Advisory Committee
of The Yoga Institute, and various recognized scholars
like the Shankara- charya Kurtakoti of Nasik, Dr. John
W. Fox of America, Dr. S. N. Dasgupta of Calcutta University, Prof. A. B. Gajendragadkar and others. The
idea of these free public lectures is to make the public
Yoga conscious and thus create a healthy outlook upon
the subject, first by removing the false notions about
Yoga and its many practices which are current due to
unwholesome propaganda and secondly by supplying
authentic exposition of the true Yoga fundamentals.
166
A MOVE SCUTTLED
The inaugural address will be delivered by the Founder

today on The Message of Yoga.
Continuing the news report it said, Speaking before
a crowded gathering at The Yoga Institute, Shri
Yogendra deplored the fact that at present there is more
frivolity than seriousness in our concepts of life and
living this is the root cause of modern troubles. He
attributed the wrong notion about Yoga prevalent today
to its adherents who carry the beggars bowl in one
hand, hypocrisy in another and flattery to their
benefactors on their tongue. He emphasized that Yoga
is an art of living healthilyphysically, mentally and
spiritually. The message of Yoga consists not in renunciation but in due performance of our daily
acts with dexterity and discrimination ............What is
urgently needed is the establishment of many Yoga
centres where training in the art of living is given by
those who actively live i t . . . .
There was an ambitious scheme still alive in the heart
of Shri Yogendra for a Yoga colony with hostel for
modernized study of Yoga and a retreat for the
enlightened. The Illustrated Weekly of India and many
other newspapers carried news item of a big scheme.
Shri Yogendra was also invited by different groups for
his lectures. Among the notable invitations was one from
the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, to talk on
Yoga for the Householder. While being welcomed to the
august body of scholars at this lecture the chairman
placed a garland around the neck of the distinguished
speaker, Shri Yogendra, but he, in all humility said that
there was another who really deserved the honour and
put the garland around the statue of Shri Bhandarkar.
After Shri Yogendra returned there was a letter from
167
A MOVE SCUTTLED
Mr. Gode, saying:

I was wondering whether you will favour us with
some of your learned lectures again at the Institute.
Your last course was indeed instructive and it is but
natural that we -wish for more of it now. Kindly let me
know what time would suit you so that I may make
necessary arrangements.
The activities increased at the Institute and some of
the most distinguished and affluent personages of the
day partook of the help given at this Institute.
Mr. Brijlal Nehru the uncle of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
was a regular visitor. On one day Pt. Nehru came along
with him for discussing plans for the growth of Yoga but
for some reason did not climb up the steps.
The people of the scientific community and aspirants of
a higher life were flooding the Institute to seek Shri
Yogendras guidance. Among the notables were Drs.
Theos G. Bernard and Viola Bernard, prominent
physicians of New York who had been conducting
research in Yoga for the past two years. The Bombay
Chronicle reported: Dr. Theos C. Bernard and Dr. Viola
Bernard.... visited The Yoga Institute, Bombay
immediately on their arrival in Bombay. During the long
interview with the Founder, Shri Yogendra which lasted
for four hours, their scientific findings were compared
with the data collected at the Institute. Certain technical
details offered difficulty and many suggestions were
exchanged to overcome them. They invited the Founder
to visit America at a near date, to propagate scientific
Yoga in that country. The Government of France
deputed Dr. Binet Sangle of the French Medical Services
to investigate the scientific claims of Yoga and he met
Shri Yogendra who explained to him the therapeutics of
168
A MOVE SCUTTLED
Yoga culture. The Free Press reported . . . . Dr. Binet

Sangle of the French Medical Services, while in Bombay
met many doctors and particularly Shri Yogendra of The
Yoga Institute. The doctor is stated to have been
convinced that the therapeutic claims of Yoga were well
founded.
As the activities increased the influx of people
169
Shri iogenctraji m the clinic he had established at lhe yoga Institute at unowpauy.
A MOVE SCUTTLED
rose. Some of the regular visitors were affluent people,

who had had unsuccessful stints with the best allopaths
of the day. Many of them were completely cured and
most of them got some relief from their illness. There
was a lot of praise and acclaim but very little of
financial assistance came along. The self-help nature of
the Institute had to be maintained and Shri Yogendra
was not one to sell his life mission down the beach for a
little bit of fame. The activities had to be multiplied.
The Institutes books were now displayed and sold at
the Institute.
As the Institute grew, people felt the need for a larger
and more open place. A hall in a residential building
hardly seemed the type of place to propagate the cause
of Yoga. The consensus was on looking for a place within
the suburbs of Bombay. Many suggestions were made,
many offers came about but nothing concrete seemed to
materialize. The Mayor of Bombay was kind enough to
offer a central open space for the cause of the Institute.
It had the sea close by, and seemed ideal for all intent
and purposes. But Worli Sea Face, the place that was
offered, was really at the end of the city given the
erratic mode of transport then. This would definitely
deter the regular Yoga adherents from being regular.
Among the many who showed different places was Mr.
Rustomji Ginwala, then solicitor of the Institute. He
showed a place at Khar, near the area which at present
houses the Ramakrishna Mission. The place however
did not seem the right size and again Shri Yogendraji
had to decline the offer.
A heaven sent chance came in the shape of a
government notification for the lease of a place in the
Kandivli Hills. The place had all the trappings of a
health orientated Institute. The locale was beautiful, the
171
A MOVE SCUTTLED
air pure and the place accessible by the suburban train.

The place admeasuring fourteen acres originally housed
some government staff but was now lying idle. The Yoga
Institute would perhaps not only blossom in this place
but could make the place blossom as well.
Shri Yogendra visited the place nearly four times,
once even with the Minister, and immediately fell in love
with it. In his mind he planned the building, the rooms,
the furniture, the library and all that would go into the
making of his life-long dream come true. Happy he drove
home, a man content with his accomplishment.
Over the days the negotiations took place and the
initial payment was to be made, to the PWD government
officer in charge of this transaction. With plans turning
to reality Shri Yogendra moved to arrange for the graha
pravesh ceremony. The auspicious day chosen was
awaited with much eagerness. The Minister in charge of
Public Works Department Mr. N. Y. Nurie had
personally given his clearance but had regretted his
inability to attend the inaugural ceremony as he had to
leave Bombay for Bhatgar Dam for some official work.
Early on that day a letter curiously enough posted at
Grant Road at 6-00 a.m. was received when they were
taking their tea before going to Kandivli, for the graha
pravesh. Shri
172 **
A MOVE SCUTTLED
Yogendra and all gathered thought it to be a congratulatory note from a weWwisVier. âgerVy Vie
opened the envelope and the world seemed to fall apart.
Public Works Department Bombay Castle 24-5-38
........ I am directed to inform you that the area
measuring 14 acres at Kandivli ................ cannot be
made available to your Institute. The offer of a
temporary lease of the property in question made to your
Institute in the Government letter referred to above is
hereby withdrawn.
For Deputy Secretary to the Government of Bombay,
Public Works Department
The withdrawal of the permission for the use of the
land, was the last straw on the already burdened
pioneers back. Not easily daunted by un- forseen
problems Shri Yogendra rose to the occasion. On being
told the exact site the Minister was at, Shri Yogendra
drove all night to see a surprised Mr. Nurie greet him
warmly. Why did he come, was all the Minister wanted
to know. On being told the disaster of the day the
Minister could not believe the letter Shri Yogendra had
brought along. Of course the Minister had given the
clearance, but he had not withdrawn it, and no one had
the right to over-ride his instructions. It seemed that
vested interests were at play and someone wanted to
have the Institute strangled just when it had started to
grow and flourish. Now there was nothing the Minister
could do but to protest and offer his resignation. Shri
Yogendra returned home dejected.
A careful examination of records and correspondence
however points to a conspiracy that led to the
173
A MOVE SCUTTLED
cancellation of the Kandivli lease. While the

Government came into the picture later, the truth
perhaps lies elsewhere. In fact, there seems to be a
systematic interference from some interested quarters.
Letters of application and subsequent reminders
addressed to the Minister did not reach him even when
posted under registered cover with acknowledgements.
.When the lease was finally sanctioned on 14th April,
the letter was typed on 1 1 t h May and posted on 17th.
These mysterious delays could not be passed off as a
matter of government maladministration only. It can
only be a conspiracy hatched by one who did not cherish
the progress of the Institute. When the Minister of
Public Works and Development was in Bombay till 23rd.
what possibility could have transpired to get the letter
typed on 24th, withdrawing the permission. And that
letter was posted not from the Secretariat as should be
the case but from Grant Road.
Shri Yogendra could not fathom the mystery. This
incident hurt him very severely since the mischief was
allegedly the work of a so-called rival official yogi,
having close relationship with the Chief Minister, and
thus strong connection with the Government. The socalled yogi rubbed salt in
Shri Yogendras wounds by claiming common
teachership in Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji. The
national political party in power had proved
indifferent to genuine national interests. It must be
remembered that Shri Yogendra was full of bounce
and verve and wanted his Kandivli project to set up an
ideal international Yoga university to benefit not only
the whole nation but also the world. And this grievous
blow from the so-called national government set
174
A MOVE SCUTTLED
back his plan for over 4 decades. The Institute is now

obliged to function in an area which is even less than
an acre, thanks to the national government.
The Founder restrained from bringing the matter to
light of the public because of the enormous pressure
exerted by powerful members of the National
Government, pleading not to ruin their chances in the
test of self government. Ironically the Jinnaji
Nehru correspondence was published just about the
same time. Shri Yogendra did not want to become an
impediment to the nation for the sake of justice due to
him.
The Sunday Standard of 14-7-1938 did write a long
article on this scandalous event. Quoting part of it,
which was titled : Governments Breach of Faith and
Contract, Governments surprising treatment of The
Yoga Institute. ................................ Important developments of a significant character are likely to follow
the action taken by the Government in cancelling the
lease of a property at Kandivli granted to The Yoga
Institute, Bombay. Almost 24 hours after its
acceptance the lease was withdr a wn . . . . More was written in the long article by the
journalist Mr. S.A. Brelvi who learnt about the foul play
and wanted to expose the culprit, but when he was told of
the suspected interested people, he was afraid to take
their names, due to their Indian Congress connections.
That was the final blow in the face of Shri Yogendra who
seemed to be fighting a losing battle.
Another warWorld War IIraged elsewhere and
Shri Yogendra had to retreat to a distant place.
175
CHAPTER XVII
A REFUGEE AT LARGE
War clouds over Europe darkened the Indian horizon as
well. The theatre of war had raised its curtains on the
Eastern Front in Burma and the Far East and Bombay the
harbour and city witnessed a massive surge of armed forces
in transit. Rumour often overtakes facts, the fall of Britain
was to be preceded by the destruction of Bombay and everyone in this city of India became a refugee overnight.
For Shri Yogendra, the depleted city offered less and less
patients. The trickle almost stopped and it seemed that
Yoga and business had come to a standstill. There was
nothing he could do but to pack and quit, and leave for his
native Gujarat again. The sea shore was the most
vulnerable and friends and well wishers concerned for the
safety of Shri Yogendra and his family began to hurry him
into a decision. Leave now ! But come back when peace
descends, was their cry. Shri Yogendra decided to leave,
but he had only Rs. 1500. Travelling to Kacholi would
involve some two hundred to three hundred rupees, and
there were no prospects of any remunerative activity at
Kacholi to ensure income. The little he had with him would
not last long. Some suggested a seemingly innocuous
investmentpaper; Shri Yogendra decidcd to take a chance and bought tonnes of it. It was
still available at a low rate and prospects were that it
would go higher. This left him only five hundred rupees
for his journey. The daily expense had still to be met and
the sale of the books, whose number of titles had
increased, was sporadic but provided the necessary
relief. When the time for shifting came, the paper
investment became a real problem. It was not just the
176
A REFUGEE AT LARGE
tonnes of paper but the governments nosey arm that

asked too many impertinent questions. Also travelling
from one place to another involved crossing octroi posts
where bribes ensured frictionless movement. But bribing
was not Shri Yogendras way of dealing with problems.
He had done no wrong to need to hush things up. Once
again a deux et machina came to his aid. Shri V. S.
Mahadevia met Mani on the train. He had a truck plying
and he readily agreed to transfer the paper without any
complications.
Vishnubhai as Mahadevia was called, dropped in to
see Shri Yogendra in Kacholi and was appalled at the
place where the reputed yogi lived. No, he decided, such
a village was unfit to house such a great man. He
persuaded Shri Yogendra to move and made
arrangements for him to shift to Kutar Club in Navsari,
a larger place in a better and more developed locality.
While Shri Yogendra remained a refugee more or less
stacked away in the countryside, something of Shri
Yogendra was being buried away in another country to
be preserved for posterity.
177
A REFUGEE AT LARGE
While Shii Yogendra was in Bombay he had received a

letter from the Crypt of Civilization which read as follows :
The Yoga Institute
It gives us great pleasure to advise you that our
Advisory Board has selected your books on Yoga practices,
for inclusion in the Crypt of Civilization. We ask your
cooperation in presenting us with the above.
Dr. T. K. Peters,
Director of the Archives of
Oglethorpe University.
What was the Crypt of Civilization ? This greatest
historical project of our times was conceived by Dr.
Thornwell Jacobs, President of the Oglethorpe University,
to preserve all the knowledge man has collected in the 6000
years since the first recorded date in history. This is hbw he
pictured the project. . . . The time is 8133 A.D. The air
channels of the radionewspapers and world-television
broadcasting systems have been cleared for an all
important announcement. In the Appalachian Mountains
near the eastern coast of the American continent is a crypt
that has been sealed since the year 1940 A.D. Carefully its
contents have been guarded since that date, and today is
the day of the opening. . .When the the crypt is opened,
there is revealed a mine of information regarding the
science and civilization of 1936 A.D. The voices of the Presidents of America, King Edward V II I of England, Mussolini
of Italy, Stalin of Russia, the Emperor of Japan are heard
as also the speeches of great scientists and others. 960,000
pages of encyclopedias, legal books literature of various
languages and the choicest works of the 20th Century are
all found here together with the finest paintings, machines
for reading books, Mutoscope machine for motion pictures,
178
A. REFUGEE AT LARGE
scientific instruments, costumes, food products, household

utensils etc. .
Dr. Jacobs along with Dr. Peters, a scientist, constructed
the crypt as big as a swimming pool hollowed from the
granite bed-rock of the Appala- cian Mountains. This was
lined with slate, roofed and capped with stone and sealed
with a tablet of stainless steel requesting the future
generations to leave it unopened till the year 8 1 1 3 A.D.
To Shri Yogendra, to have his work in the Crypt of
Civilization was indeed a unique honour. Out of the 700
books selected by a panel of eminent judges from millions
of books available for selection, only a few were selected
from India. Here was the possibility of the ancient wisdom
of Yoga being preserved for posterity 6000 years hence !
This was a long overdue recognition for the untiring
pioneer of modern Yoga renaissance.
However there were heavy odds against the required
books reaching America. >. A war was raging in the West,
bringing in its trail war-time regulations. The most
unfortunate part of it all was the late arrival of Dr. Peters
letter. Was the
Briiish Government in a conspiracy to scuttle the plans to
honour Indian knowledge and civilization by preserving it
for future generations ? It was almost April and the
deadline was for May. Shri Yogendra had difficulties galore
before he could meet the commitments. The initial
difficulty was to get his material ready. One book was out
of print and the entire 320 pages had to be printed again.
Funds had been depleted so it looked as if these problems
would undermine the recognition given to the householder
yogi more effectively than the tardiness of the British
Government in delivering the letter.
179
A REFUGEE AT LARGE
The printing presses in Bombay were not prepared to

accept the challenge. Even the biggest presses considered it
impossible to compose the pages with diacritical marks,
and print the same in the few days left. First Shri
Yogendra had to get the manuscript from Madras where a
press was originally scheduled to print the work. Letters
and telegrams were of no avail but mercifully the
manuscript arrived finally. It was April and the days ticked
off. Hope came from an old printer of the Institute who
consented to do the job and to stop all normal work and
tackle the book on their four intertype machines, printing
off simultaneously. Shri Yogendra even had to sleep at the
press premises, to speed up to ensure that the printers
devil did not liven up too to be buried for posterity ! In the
meantime reminders flowed :
I wish to acknowledge with thanks your kind letter of
19th and your splendid offer of cooperation in preserving
authoritative works on Yoga for the Crypt of Civilization.
The Crypt will be closed on May 25th of this year, so that
anything leaving by airmail a month earlier would reach
here in time to be included. . . .
This was more like a warning !
Now came the crux of the matter. It was wartime and
seamailthe normal mode of dispatching books at that
timewas almost nonexistant. . . and besides there was the
race against lime. . . To send by airmail was too exorbitant
at that time for any publisher and for Shri Yogendra it was
almost out of the question. Still the books had to meet the
deadline. Shri Yogendra had no export permit. The red tape
was to unfurl itself again. The British Government did not
consider the need to send the books to the Crypt of
Civilization as important in a war time situation. Once
180
A. REFUGEE AT LARGE
again, as in the past, help arrived. Thackers a foreign

publishing firm, volunteered to send the books at its own
risk.
The books had left the shores of India for a futuristic
land and time. But did they reach the place on time before
the Crypt was sealed ? There was the period of suspense
and silence since no one knew if the deadline had been met.
Dr. Peters confirmed in his letter of 27th May : . . . I also
wish to acknowledge the receipt of all th^ books which were
microfilmed and placed in the Crypt which was closed day
before yesterday May 25th.
181
A REFUGEE AT LARGE
The landing was perfect. Indias ancient lore and Shri

Yogendras interpretation of it had found safe passage
through the ravage of war and time to herald to the new
civilization, its profound application.
Village life was indeed dull but not uneventful. Too
many visitors still stopped by and the watchful eye of the
police could only read conspiracies in a war clouded
atmosphere. The policeman would come charging in
unannounced and demand Who was that white man who
came to see you today? This whiteman was none other
than Dr. John W. Foxaffectionately called The Old Tub,
Shri Yogendras friend and collaborator in the new work.
The villagers always eyed nonconformists with suspicion
and most of them gossiped about the impressive stranger
who came by to meet Shri Yogendra.
The itinerant Yogi was more than stable in mind but not
in place. This had hampered most of his work and also
retarded the growth of the Institute. Many other visitors
who wanted to see Shri Yogendra could not make it to
Navsari. Vishnubhai was ever keen that Shri Yogendra
move out and go back to Bombay. A plot was selected after
much difficulty and the foundation of this new location was
laid. The refugee was atlast sure of a permanent home, a
roof over his head.
CHAPTER XVm

New York 10th
March 1922
Dear Popat,
And, today an American comes to me who will be
sailing for India this week for his higher studies in
182
spiritual development. He is virtually peniless and has

worked his passage by entering the staff of sailors. His
spirit is no doubt praiseworthy, the spirit which the
majority of Indians fail to exhibit. But there is a sad
drawback in his enthusiasm and I have especially,
warned him against it. He is advised by one of the
Swamis here to be a sanyasin (recluse). These people take
a sort of pride in turning men into sanyasins and this I
really hate. Why should a man be tied to a certain order
when he wants to be universal ? Does it require one to be
a Jain, a Buddhist, a sanyasin or a friar to find and
realize higher truths of life ? A man to be a real devotee
of Truth needs to be a non-conformist. He must be
neutral or else he is nothing. As soon as he gets into a
certain order, it becomes his centre and they are his
circumference. Anyway why should he give up this world
physically when he has to realize the Infinite through it ?
The whole question of becoming something is very
funny. Look at the numberless limits he draws on
himself by doing so.
It is why I kept myself neutral and have become a
free man, by not entering into any order though I was
often forced to do so. Why should I register myself as
something and leave the other ? I must be able to say I
am everything and that really I am. I must belong to
none, they must all belong to me. This is the true
spirit of a free man.
Yours in Yoga Swami Yogananda
Twenty six. years later the spirit of the free man
was manifest in the blue-print of The Yoga Institute
at Santa Cruz, Bombay. Many more chains had to be
broken, red tape cut, obstacles hurdled, over before
183
reality could take concrete shape.

The Government governs my business, the society
governs my home and the religion governs my
intellect, and at times, I do not know who actually
owns my business, home and intellect. I am inspected,
suspected, examined, re-examined, informed, required
and commanded so that I do not know who I am or
why I am here at all.
This quotation from his Life Problems was perhaps a
fore sight or a preparation for the problems , -i that were to
fall to his lot in the construction of this edifice.
To begin with was finance. Persons entrusted to
find a suitable place near Bombay finally decided
184
on a plot which did not cost too much money, yet was not in
the hustle bustle of the city. A huge area near Santa Cruz
station seemed ideal.
Mr. Surajmal a solicitor was the owner of this land. He
had purchased ten acres from a Parsi lady at 4 as. per
square yard a few years ago and now with the intension of
making a profit on the deal he was offering it at Rs. 8 per
square yard. It was decided to purchase a plot facing the
railway line and the place was demarcated. A little later,
Shri Yogendraji while surveying the land felt uneasy and
intuitively opted for a new plot close to it which was bought.
A sum of Rs. 2000/- was given as a token. Mr. Mahdevia
said he would collect some more money from people he
knew. There was however a shortfall of Rs. 2000/- Surajmal
made it known that he would not transfer the land in the
name of The Yoga Institute unless the balance of Rs. 2000/was paid. Since this delayed the construction of the building
of the headquarters, life members were formed to get over
the difficulty. A local life member of the Institute, a baronet,
obliged to the Institute as his son was cured, promised to
pay the Rs. 2000/- but failed to do so for several days. Shri
Yogendraji true to his nature requested the solicitor of the
Institute to collect the amount and pay it to Surajmal. The
baronet was surprised at the peculiar approach and paid up
instantly.
But this was hardly the end of Shri Yogendrajis troubles.
On a given day it was decided to have bhoomipuja, as Sita
Devi believed in such rituals.
The second unit of the international headquarters of The Yoga 'institute extreme left)
was constructed during 1956.
186
Tired after a days heavy workload at the Institute, Founder and the Secretary, Smt. Sita Devi are relaxing in the
garden looking seriously far into the future.
While the ceremony was in progress, a note was

received from the Government saying that nothing
would be allowed to be built on this land as it was not
considered to be an essential building. This was the time
of controlling and rationing and permission was not
easily available to build. Shri Yogendraji in his poised
manner put the slip of paper in his pocket and said that
the puja should continue as normal. At 3 . 0 0 p. m. he
went to the steel controller. The man in charge Mr.
Chotubhai Desai was very well known to him. He was
shocked to see him there. Shri Yogendraji explained that
they were planning to make a permanent headquarters
for the Institute and here was a spoke in the wheel. The
departmental head was called in and reiterated that the
building was not essential. Shri Yogendraji firmly but
sarcastically remarked, Who decides Vhat is essential
and not-essential. We only know that we are essential to
our wives. The officer was indignant, but Chottubhai
said something quietly to him which baffled him and the
permission was instantly granted. He wrote, You have
my permission to build on a small piece of paper. It has
always been Shri Yogendrajis story that he crossed one
hurdle to run into another one, but he never relented
from his determination. Perhaps it was the sankalpa of
the yogi who makes a strong willed resolution and it
comes to pass. The motive has to be selfless and all the
energies have to be concentrated on a given object. Thus
after the land was purchased what good was it; until
they had a building for the Institute on it. And of course
there was no money for the building. If Shri Yogendraji
decided to ask from his old patients
which were among the richest in the city the money
would have easily come but he did not want to be
under anyones obligation. He was strongly advised
187
not to start building until there was enough money.

He started addressing letters to many of the old
patients asking them for a loan for the building. Some
of them said they did not have any spare money, while
others who were managing charitable trusts offered it
at exorbitant rates of interest. Out of the blue he got a
letter from Mr. Rustom J. Irani who said he was
willing to give the loan of Rupees Ten thousand, as he
had heard about his great work.
Shri Yogendraji went to his house which was
modest and where his wife and five children lived. He
was made to sit on the large bed. Mr. Irani asked him
the amount he needed. Shri Yogendraji said forty
thousand for the building. He quietly got up from the
bed and brought the money all bundled up and said
You may take it.* Shri Yogendraji asked him about
the receipt but he said that no receipt was necessary.
Shri Yogendraji started wondering how a man who
had not directly benefited from his work was so willing
to trust him completely. He had just said, When you
collect the money you can repay me at the rate of 4%
interest. While Shri Yogendraji was going home his
conscience would not allow him to take the money
without an official receipt. As soon as he reached the
temporary quarters at Navsari, he passed a stamped
receipt and explained in his letter that this would act
as a safety to both of them. Thus the building was
built. In the end the cost
188
rose to Rupees sixty thousand Mr. Irani who by then

joined the Institute as member paid Rupees two
thousand. It was also decided that a mortgage deed be
made and the same was duly signed.
Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra his son recounts, When it
came to the construction of the buildings of the Institute,
Father was alert and at his best. However very seldom
the contractor, the carpenter, the plumber or electrician
could stand up to his demands which were very hard. He
was meticulous in construction work of every single
building of the Institute. But Father is not deterred by
difficulties. He still went on with the construction work.
It was thus common to see construction work stopped for
long periods of time, even though it meant loss.
Demolition of work which was not jacceptable was also
there. Father would personally stand and supervise such
details like the exact proportion of concrete and in curing
work after the slab was laid. Once a contractor, Rathod
in exasperation told during a conference of architects,
engineers and other technicians that he was willing to
take a challenge that even if the largest African
elephants were to walk over the terraces of The Yoga
Institute buildings, the slabs would not give way !
It was decided to move to Bombay from Navsari
where the family stayed while Shri Yogendraji
supervised the building in Bombay. The building was
not yet complete, there were no proper doors and
windows. But by now after more than a dozen shiftings
of The Yoga Institute, the pioneer family had got used to
a hard life.
Constant work was done by the vibrant family.
Sapplings of trees were sent for from Billimora. The
land had to be levelled and they had to use their hands
189
which were often hurt by small glass pieces which had

fallen down when fixing the windows. Some one
remarked, The Institute is drawing your blood.
Passersby mocked that no mangoes would grow on this
land. Unconcernedly, they worked on in a detached
way. Many times antisocial and uncivic people used to
come and walk over the flower beds and the vegetables
were robbed. But they were not deterred in their
mission to provide a headquarters for their beloved
mission in life.
Sincere and serious students and patients continued
to come. Sita Devi used to take care of the publicity
work announcing to the world of the headquarters
being shifted to its permanent abode. On Ramnavi Day,
the flag was hoisted in 1948. They were working
without any respite with patients and students who
spread word by mouth about the miraculous cures. Still
there was not enough money to pay off the mortgage on
the building. The idea of appointing various categories
of members and increasing the fees appeared
reasonable. There were many who wanted to give large
donations if their names would be put on a marble
plaque, but Shri Yogendraji with his fiercely
independent nature resisted, saying, We teach
Patanjala Yoga here but even his name is not put on
our Institute.
There were even foreigners who were willing to give.
Once Dr. Guiwepe Tucci an Italian orien-
190
lalist said that he would be willing to collect one

million dollars if they were prepared to shift the
Institute to Italy. During his two visits, he referred to
the Institute as a small Shantiniketan. Mr. Carlo Torreano
of Ediiori Bocca would be the largest single donor, as he was
a great admirer of Shri Yogendrajis work and publisher
of Toga Personal Hygiene. But Shri Yogendraji again
refused the offer as had already been made from
grateful students in Latvia and America. My material
for my future work is in India and I shall stay here. He
could not understand why these generous offers could
not be made without strings attached financially,
morally or prestige wise, in time and place.
Many foreign students who used to come to the
Institute found that there was no residential facility.
There were a few who decided to camp under the wee
trees which were slowly showing their heads. Founder
as now Shri Yogenderaji was universally known by all
out of respect and gratitude, felt that again there was a
need for another building. So the second unit of the
Institute got constructed with again its umpteen
problems. His fierce nature of exact precision stemming
from his belief that Yoga is skill in action put heavy
demands on all. On the opening ceremony of the second
building; Mr. Rustom Irani politely and gently informed
the Founder that sometime soon the loan of the first
building would have to be repaid some day. Eventually
the amount had reached nearly Rupees seventy
thousand which was due to the generous helper. But
how were they to pay it off with their constant work,
with patients, writing books and looking after the
Journal besides consulting with poeple, the money had
not grown much. A suggestion was floated that a large
191
i
programme be organized. The masterpiece drama of

Surdas was performed to a capacity audience after
untiring work with getting advertisers and patrons for
the show. In this way it was decided to get the loan paid
off.
When the first ground work was done it was realized
that there was no approach road to the Institute from
the Santa Cruz station and Founder with his foresight
wrote to the Municipality to build one, collected
contributions and supervised the laying of the road,
which is today trod by thousands coming from all
corners of the world.
He also had always felt that the neighbourhood
should be kept immaculate and free from noise
pollution. Having taken the challenge of a
householders life in a big city had its repercussions of
all types of nuisance, but he persistently fought them
all, keeping the vicinity of the Institute quiet. And who
had imagined at that time that the mighty airport
would come so close. But the huge planes flying
overhead give chance to fortitude, a yogic virtue, to be
practiced.
The precepts of the Institute have always been kept
immaculately pure. No one dare point a a finger to The
Yoga Institute that it has, not retained its purity. The
family at The Yoga Institute has shown that the Yoga
way of life can be lived midst the world if one has the
capacity to bear and
192
persevere with detachment. It is a special feature of this

Institute that power and money have been kept away.
Early when the Santa Cruz Yoga Institute was
established, Shri Yogendraji once again had received a
sign, an undeniable indication that he was on the right
path and that this work enjoyed a blessing. The Santa
Cruz Institute had been opened just a few days when
Founder discovered a half naked young man sleeping on
the outside steps. The sweet-faced youth was
intoxicated with his own thoughts. A product of the
devotional school, he was travelling the length and
breadth of India spreading the message of love. Looking
up into the eyes of Founder ht said with assurance,
You are doing very important work. The society may
not appreciate what you are doing, but like those
buildings over yonder, there is strength in your efforts.
The foundation of those buildings is not seen by us now.
It is below the ground. Your work is like the foundation
of a new society. Carry on your work, and you have the
blessings of God:
Prophetic words indeed, because by Shri Yogendrajis dedicated efforts and the work of The Yoga
Institute wherever it has been, for some one has
remarked Where Shri Yogendraji is, it is The Yoga
Institute, Yoga has gone to all the corners of the world.
The frightful craze for any type of Yoga today could
never have been envisaged seven decades ago. Today
people tend to forget the
193
pioneer and how it all began, but the truth cannot be

hidden under a bushel, of this pioneering effort of 65
years, of the oldest institute of teaching Yoga along
classical lines.
Dr. Jayadeva, Founders elder son who is also the
Principal of the Teachers training department and a
beacon of light himself says this:
/
The Institute may not boast about how tall its

buildings are or how large its hostel accommodation, or
how many technical laboratories it houses. The Institute
can, however say with confidence that its products the
students are committed to yogic values, live a yogic way
of life and see to it that every action is matched by a
higher outlook to life. In fact, if this were to happen and
if there were even a few dedicated Yoga students in our
modern society, these men and women could become a
source of inspiration to other members of our society.
What we need is a good model who is sincerely dedicated
to a spiritual life. There is a real need for such
individuals everywhere in our society and The Yoga
Institute can greatly help in augmenting this need.
CHAPTER XIX
THE SPAN OF A LIFE TIME

The Institute became a place. Having found a
permanent home Yoga could now reach more people
easily and quickly. But the obstacle race wasnt over
yet. A warrior doesnt rest on his laurels and Shri
Yogendraji had always been a sort of a fighter, wasnt it
? The right is always a worthy cause to fight for. After
the nuisance created by the trespassers who destroyed
the flower beds and came for getting the water from the
194
pump# came a greater endurance test in the form of a

prayer meeting of religious fanatics conducted in the
odd hours of the night. It was not just a disturbance of
sleep for The Yoga Institute inmates but the neighbours
as well. Shri Yogendraji took up cudgels on behalf of the
beleag- ured neighbourhood. The initial requests to the
party concerned had no response. The police were
requested to stop the midnight devotional songs.
Formal letters fell on deaf ears but as pressure
mounted with public opinion on his side, slowly the
nuisance abated.
A civic sense was as important as his Yoga mission
and on one occasion he wrote to the presiding Post
Master of the General Post Office, Bombay, on the need
for adequate weights at the Kacholi
Post Office. The Post Office was supplied with weights
only upto 200 tolas, and larger parcels could not be
accepted causing inconvenience. But this seemingly
small matter did not go unnoticed by the Yogic
crusader. Since the Institute had to post over ten
parcels of books and magazines to all parts of the
world in a single day.
Social welfare was also not beyond the pale of the
karma Yogi. This field took quite a lot of the
Founders time. To humanitarian causes to ecological
concerns like anti-noise campaign or even as
mundane as the Property Owners Association, Shri
Yogendraji was in the forefront. Not to forget the
needy, the Institute has always ensured free
treatment to the deserving and chanelling the
distribution of free notebooks also to needy students.
The crusader was very much a simple man, human
195
THTL SPAN OT \ USt mi
to the core, and friends that came his way generated

their own areas of concern, very rarely found Shri
Yogendraji lacking.
Human relations often demanded the justification
of the truism, A friend in need is a friend indeed.
This is best exemplified by the case of Robert
Legzdins a student of Shri Yogendraji, who had come
to Bombay from Latvia to help the cause of Yoga
propogation. He had to reluctantly go back as war had
spread to his native place and his parents lives were
in danger. He kept \ip an intimate correspondence
with Shri Yogendraji, which points to the affection
and respect he had for his guru.
Revered Master,
Your sacrifice is tremendous indeed. I shall do
my best to be worthy of it ...........................
and at another lime,
2-5-1940
. . . . Sometimes I do regret having left India so
hastily, but submit to the thought, I could be a
source of some trouble to you if I remained.
It is better to be here during this war period. It
seems to me a real wonder that I have met you and
Smt. Sita Devi and that I have visited India. This
surprising hospitality of yours for a stranger I can
never forget.
Unwittingly Robert Legzdins became a prisoner of
war and he managed to get the message to Shri
Yogendraji about his sad plight. Shri Yogendraji
wrote to him,
196
India is a country now undergoing starvation in

some parts and rations of sugar etc. is hardly
enough. We know we are not allowed to send
eatables out of India but knowing your urgency we
are taking up the matter with the Indian Red Cross
Society in. Bombay. We shall report the outcome.
Be rest assured that if packets of sugar, fat or milk
powder and other food stuffs like biscuits etc. are
allowed to Poland, they will be sent to you directly
by us or through the International Red Cross
Society. We shall most gladly do whatever is
possible from this end.
197
Friendship, yes, but to fall in the modern tradition of

guru for all seasons and climes was not Shri
Yogendrajis line. Sincerity to him was more important
and many of the guru seekers had to go disappointed. In
a letter to Dayaram in the early days of 1929, he wrote,
31-5-1929
My dear Dayaram,
......... Of course you have overestimated me in

believing me to be your guru, which title is full of
responsibilities and unless one is prepared to take upon
himself all eventualities, it is something one would
rather like to forgo. We are all unfamiliar with Truth
and as to guiding what we are actually doing is like
the blind leading the blind. We however have a
satisfaction in our knowledge of having someone in
whom we can confide and to whom we mostly look up
for suggestions and sympathy in times of difficulty. Life
was never made to pass evenly and everyone has his or
her own ups and downs. Your experience of today
becomes the experience of someone else at some other
time and everyone is placed in the same category as his
neighbour or friend at sometime. In life what we should
really do is to expect little and get more and therein lies
our satisfaction but we always live the reverse i.e. we
expect more and get little which of course causes
misery. It is a good saying that the years teach much
while the days never know and we are constantly
learning the unknowable at every moment of our life.
Our existence is no apology for the indulgence of our
father or
198
Prof. Julius Ebbinghaus eminent German philosopher on Kant, from

Marburg University; Germany with Consul Dr. H. Dietmar and Mrs.
Dietmar with Shri Yogendraji.
Soviet Academics and distinguished writers with Shri Yogendraji.
mother. We have all right to live as one should and feel

least ashamed of it.
Ideas change with time and circumstances like the
wayward wind and we have very little ground to
believe that our convictions of today stay in the same
rigid state as we conceived about them a couple of years
ago. We must let time teach us our lessons and it is a
guru of gurus and all are looking forward to what lies
hidden in the expanse of the future.
Personal life only shed more light on the Yogic
mission. Shri Yogendraji was not one to stand for any
humbug, be it from people expecting miracles,
4-11-59
Prof. J. B. S. Haldane,
Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta.
Dear Sir,
The celebrations referred to are the holding of the
usual Yoga Education Week duiing the first week of
January 1960.
Unfortunately there will be no novel phenomenon for
the curious but only the presentation of exhibits of the
valuable academic, scientific and technical data
collected by this Institute during the past 41 years of
its activities.
But since you like besides the mechanics of statistics
also solitude we say Amen !
Or humbug from the government which tried to
strangle Yoga by a legislative act. Brijalal Nehru a
dear friend and an uncle of Jawaharlal Nehru was to
get the brunt of his moral indignation of this myopic
and discriminative policy of the so-called National
199
Government :
8-8-1940
Dear Brijalalji,
Only yesterday I was informed of an Act passed by

the Bombay Congress Government known as Act
XXVI of 1938 which implies that Yoga as a method of
treatment is not a recognized system of medicine and
its practitioner will be liable to punishment. This is
wonderful. The science as old as 5000 years should be
barred from practice as therapeutics in the very
country of its birth is indeed shocking, considering
that allopathy coming from West and originated only
a few centuries ago should find state recognition and
wield its influence even to annihilate the revival and
investigations or application of Yoga therapeutics.
This in face of the fact that in foreign countries and
Universities the value of Yoga as therapeutics is continually increasing and is ptvpticed under the guise of
Naturopathy, Hydrotherapy etc. The matter is serious
and before the Law comes into operation sometimes in
the next year something has to be done to save Yoga
from the death-blow which some of our ignorant
countrymen carried away by Western notions and
frivolity are dealing to the very root of our knowledge
and culture.
The fact that there are not many qualified practitioners of this subject nor training institutions does
not mean that the merit of the subject is not worthy of
recognition. Our duty now is to counter-act this vicious
move of the professions interested in monopolizing the
health of this country which game seems to have been
200
first started in the Bombay Presidency by the

inauguration of such a Law which may later be applied
to whole of India. It is the duty of those who have belief
in the therapeutic value of Yoga by personal
experience, such as you have, to come forward to save
this tragic situation. I am not expected to fight on all
fronts even legal under the present economic
strain and if the cause remains sealed by default the
guilt will remain with those who have failed to do their
part of the duty when they are capable of doing so. The
only alternative we have is to get a College started
soon and have it recognized in time to enable further
researches and therapeutic investigations in the
future. Otherwise, under the Law, we may be required
to close our clinical activities conducted solely for the
cause and in the interest of humanity. We have proved
during the past 22 years that 80% of the patients
treated at the Institute have been completely cured
including some of the cases given up by the modern
allopaths. Should we passively await the fate that is
hanging over us or should we exert ourselves to the
best of our ability ? That this was done during the socalled National Government (Congress) is all the more
pitiable for the short-sightedness and intolerance
perpetuated in their lust for power by fair or foul
means. You know the other incidence how for selfish gain, these lovers of national
culture in cooperation with the so-called yogin
undermined the previous great project of the Institute.
Are we to take this all lying down or should we make
some concrete move ? We await your suggestions and
action in this behalf.
SJxri Yogendra
201
Volumnious
correspondence
flowed
between
authoritarian mite and Yogic right to teach Yoga in its
prestine purity. The Institute built on principles
refused to budge before a temporal power with its own
priorities. Shri Yogendraji always had a brush with
authority for he could brook no irrational regulations.
His associations and encounters with leaders and
politicians had only hardened his defiant attitude
towards them. A rationalist all his life, he had little
respect for turncoats and men who jumped the
bandwagon of power to meet their ends. Little wonder
that as early as 1923 he had founded The Free
Thinkers Association which was meant to ferment
independent thining unfettered by religious taboos or
social restrictions. Some of the articles of
memorandum were :
1. This society is non-conventional in its character
as a body i.e. it does not favour any particular kind of
nationality, sex,, religion, caste or creed.
2. All actions of the association will be guided by
the principle of non-conventional free thinking.
202
The various speakers who participated in the symposium, Place of Yoga Education in Society, from left to right: Dr. S. V.
Kale, Dr. M. V. Moorty, Principal A. B. Yagnik, Shri Yogendraji, Principal M. V. Donde, Prof. A. R. Wadia, Prof. K. I.
Jahagirdar, Principal C. B. Joshi and Principal J. M. Kayande.
Mr. J. Milovanovich of Paris and Dr. Mrs. Therese Brosse (UNESCO) of the Harvard
University Research centre studying psychosomatic effects of Yoni- mudra at the
Institute.
A large number of people joined the association and
free discussions were conducted where some of the

prominent men like Darshan Singh of Vahali and Mr.
M. S. Dhody attended.
What is Shri Yogendrajis contribution to Yoga ? Is
it just an edifice in the hustle bustle of a suburb?
Perhaps his most important contribution from the
many and varied of his contributions is his dedicated
struggle in preserving the prestine purity of classic
Yoga in this commercial and materialistic world,
where Yoga gained currency for sake of con games,
and quick transfer of knowledge, instant meditation
and initiation. Shri Yogendraji does not belong to this
genre. He is an iconoclast. He has blended tradition to
meet modern demands. Very early in his life he made
efforts to divulge the secret technology of Yoga. It was
perhaps the first of this kind of attempt. To this he
added his own understanding, bringing his rational
scientific mind into play adapting practices different
from the rest of the traditionally accepted mechanics.
He was a pioneer while expanding on the original
knowledge, he has deleted or avoided shades of bhakti
or tantra. He has striven to demystify Yoga, to make
the esoteric more approachable and immediate. At the
same time the purity of Patanjali Yoga has neither
been diluted nor contaminated.
In an early unpublished manuscript Outlines of Toga
Shri Yogendraji has thrown light on the thoughts he
cherished for the propagation of Yoga and very
poignantly has written :
I know not how Nature disclosed her secrets to me
but I found knowledge pouring in rapid continuity like
203
a waterfall. My hands were too small to contain it, and

I feared perchance with all this, I may lose the chance
of stalling a draught I cried, I struggled and extended
my hands. I found some scattered drops, my palm is
again empty, for I give them. And still it is my satisfaction that instead of passing my life in the jungle,
obscure and lonely by some certain inspiration, I have
been directed to reveal to the public what I felt in truth
about this science. I have found that it is not a
philosophy that is dry with fruitless theories, but on the
contrary it is full of richness with vivid practices for the
attainment of self realization. . . A deep desire for the
revival of this master-science, unknown to human
society at large, reminded me of my duty to the lovers
and seekers of absolute Truth.
Yoga has become useful not just to the recluse but
lay person and played its role in health, hygiene and
therepy besides training of responsible individuals. Shri
Yogendraji with his keen incisive mind has always
preferred to get to the root of the practice taught and
has applied himself with dedication to make some of
the difficult practices of Yoga available for the modem
man. He has simplified some of the asanas and
correlated them with a special breathing rhythm which
derives the name from himthe Yogendra breathing
rhythm. This has become such an accepted part of the
asanas that we tend to forget that they were not there in
the beginning but are a part of Shri Yogendrajis
contribution. He systematized the asanas and endowed
them with a correct methodology. He applied simple but
scientific place sequence in the performance of many
asanas. By sharp contrast he exposed the vital
difference between asanas and other forms of
204
physicaleducation. In order to effect the total

psychophysical unitthe whole man, he kept in mind
Yogas dictum of catering to the whole personalitycomplex.
He went further in simplifying and innovating certain
pranayamas. He said once, that he read about the
classical pranayamas and tried to do one called murcha
technique where in the text it is stated that - one who
does it correctly can even become unconscious. He
experimented with this and found that it was true and
once he did become unconscious and it was only after a
span of time that he was aware of his surroundings after
doing this type of pranayama. He felt that putting this
type of instruction in the hands of the uninitiated would
lead to problems, so he made the pranayamas simple, so
each part of the breathing apparatus was ready and
finally the effect on the deeper levels of consciousness
would, become available without any harmful side
effects.
So many of the innovations done by Shri Yogendraji
have become assimilated into physiotherapy that its
practitioners today hardly realize the debt they owe to
this great Yoga technologist for some of the techniques
they utilize today. The vision of psychosomatics
remains with the Founder, Shri
Yogendraji whose pioneering movement has been used,
copied, plagarised in many centres on psychosomatic
rehabilitation. The Pavlovian Institute in Russia, the
Suggestology Group in Bulgaria, the Altered States of
Consciousness Investigation group from Harvard, the
Soffrology Group from Barcelona, Asthma Research
205
Centre in Great Britain have all been inspired in ideas

and techniques from the pioneering work of the Founder
Shri Yogendraji. Credit has however not been given
properlynot that it is sought to the original pioneering
work. Yogendra Psychosomatics H. Sequeira.
Shri Yogendraji being acquainted with the highest
levels of consciousness has always felt that these can be
realized by all but at ones own level and in ones own
time. A measure of dedication, a spirit of sacrifice in
maintaining purity at all levels of life and living become
the preliminary requirements. He has worked
tremendously to make these psychosomatic practices a
living experience for the aspirant. His innovation of
Togendra Lay a and Yogendra Nispanda Bhava have offered
solace and soothing to millions. His genius at coining
words to impart the essence of an experience like personality-complex (citta), bionergy (prana), freedom
absolute (kaivalya), memory potentials (samskaras), have
become a part of everyday usage in Yoga.
Shri Yogendraji scrupulously avoided giving any
shade of religious bent to anything affecting his
teachings of Yoga or The Yoga Institute. He avoided
theological or mythological jargon which is foreign to
classic Yoga. He believed that religion
206
The Founder-President, Shri Yogendraji. and the Secretary of the Institute, Smt. Sita
Devi, with five-man Medical Committee of Experts appointed by the Government of
India to evaluate the therapeutic claims of Yoga practices during their visit to the
Institute on 29th December 1960.
Distinguished writer Frank Moraes the then Sheriff of Bombay together with
Shri Yogendraji and Smt Sita Devi and teacher trainees, after a convocation on
30-12-1961.
Shri K. K. Shah, Union Minister of Health inaugurating the Medical Research

Unit of The Yoga Institute. On his right is Shri Yogendraji and Dr. K. K.
Datey, eminent cardiologist. Pt. Shiv Sharma the well known Ayurveda
exponent is seen addressing the gathering.
has been interpreted in a very narrow way by those who

cannot see in it the universal and essential spirit of
spirituality. So while he definitely caters to the firm belief
that Yoga is for spiritual upliftment, he keeps away
from rites, rituals and aberrations which are foreign to its
classical origin. For example words like God, creation,
salvation do not find place in his teaching and writing but
he emphasizes the fact of Absolute, karma, purusa, prakrti
and surrendering to the will of the Absolute as safety
measure when all human energies fail. The infallible
process of evolution, seen or unseen forms a part of his
teaching.
Shri Yogendraji in his crusade to bring Yoga to modern
society pioneered the teaching of women. In fact his firut
student was a little girl named affectionately Mira whom
he taught at the behest of Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji
at Matheran. He has firmly embodied the view that Yoga
is for the householder and he quotes the Gita where it is
stated, The householder Yogi is worth a thousand
sanyasins. Vijnan Bhikshu has reemphasized that Yoga
technique is mainly for the householder. Believing this
strongly he has always felt unlike his guru that a Yogi
should not be a burden to society. This credo is
exemplified throughout his struggle for survival which he
carried out without wanting to burden other people and
always trying to remain self-reliant and independent.
This strong sense of independence since childhood has
sometimes made him give frank opinions which while
being true have been misinterpreted and have
engendered critics.
Shri Yogendraji has devoted much of his energies in
making Yoga available in the educational field so that it
has been found necessary to chalk out detailed plans to
implement it not only as a form of physical training but
keeping in mind a holistic approach. In this he has
207
augmented Yoga in the State and Central Government

levels where proposals have been submitted, for Yoga
education. The Maharashtra teachers deputed by the
government came for training on a residential basis for
thirty days. Syllabi was prepared for Yoga education at
primary, secondary and college levels of education.
Teachers training in Yoga was started as it was felt that
high calibre educationists were necessary to get across the
concepts of Yoga. - Thus the teachers training department
with recognition from Government was opened and
teachers from all over the world have been trained who in
turn have opened Yoga education centres in their
countries. Thus the message of Yoga has spread to far off
countries like America, Australia Canada, Italy, Sweden,
Finland, Holland, Great Britain, Pakistan, Germany,
Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Saudi Arabia,
Lebanon, Israel, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Japan,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand and many
parts of India itself.
Attempts, to get the yogis of Bombay and all India unite
on a common platform were made. Thus the All India
Board of Yoga was constituted where they all met for the
first time together & the Institute for three days
consecutively and a platform to air their views was
offered. A survey of Yoga centres around the country with
detailed questionnaire was done and also the views were submitted
to the government and printed.
Shri Yogendraji in his untiring efforts to get to the
root of theory has listed 318 manuscripts on Yoga
after they had been discovered in various places like
the Bohar and the Tillah Maths and the Kadri Hills in
the South.
He has also collected a large library on Yoga books
208
and allied subjects. Shri Yogendraji early in his life

displayed a remarkable penchant for writing. By the
time he was nineteen years old he had already written
eight books. As we have seen, his writings in Gujarati
have been noted not only for excellence in style but for
the depth of his thoughts. His thoughts on Oriental
Psychology and Light on Hatha Toga still in manuscript
form were perhaps the earliest English works on
Yoga. He has written thirty six major works on Yoga
and they have become classics. His books on Yoga
technology embodied in his famous fourToga Physical
Education for Men and Women, {by Sita Devi) Toga Personal
Hygiene in two volumes, have been used as text books
all around the world. These same books have also met
with unfortunate episodes with foreign and Indian
publishers who made the same matter appear in
glossier books with devastating pictures without any
acknowledgement to the pioneer.
Shri Yogendrajis literature reached the far corners
of the world, but the English language was not enough
to carry it to countries where other languages held
sway. As early as 1939 the Italian company Bocca
translated his Toga Personal Hygiene and since that
date various translations have appeared in
Portuguese, Spanish, German, Gujarati, Hindi,
Arabic, Japanese and other language speaking people
have become the beneficiaries of Shri Yogendrajis
work and learning. An American edition was in a way
pirated as the copyright company was sold to another
company and they claimed they were unaware of the
legal involvements.
It was but natural that other spiritual centres and
209
outstanding indologists, religious leaders and

philosophers should get in touch with The Yoga
Institute. As far back as 1936 while writing to Brother
Dharmika Mahapaske Hoa, Director of Buddhist
Mission in Burma, Shri Yogendraji wrote,
We appreciate your very kind willingness to grant
us publicity and to recommend our work to other
brothers cooperating in the common good of uplifting
mankind. Our silence should only speak of the fact
that single handedly with no funds whatsoever we are
unable to meet many of our obligations and
expectations the public have for us. Be assured that
we will be and are most willing to contribute our mite
towards any healthy spiritual movement.
And at another time he wrote, *
Untruth and injustice are on the progress merely

because the spiritual heads are not united
210
Dr. G. Lozanov, Director, Zentar Po Suggestologie, studying yonimudra from Mr.

Dietmar Bertlog of Germany for psychosomatic experience at The Yoga
Institute.
Shri Yogendraji addressing the gathering at a symposium Can Yoga be studied

through Books. Shri M. V. Kamath, Editor, Illustrated Weekly of India to his right and
Prof. T. R. Anantharaman, Yoga Sadhana Kendra, B. H. U, is to his left.
Many educational, cultural, scientific and tourist groups from various countries'of the
world visit The Yoga Institute quite frequently. Above is one such group from the West.
to guide sane public opinion against immoral tendencies
with money and propaganda in their hands, the enemy of

humanity have canvassed a vast field in their favour and
SPAN
A LIFE
the only thingTHE
that
canOFsave
usTIME
from total insanity in
spiritual life is the understanding and unity between
healthy spiritual organizations. To that end besides the
All India Board of Yoga, the International Board of Yoga
was also constituted later on where a common platform
for the world Yoga teachers has been formed.
Dr. Jonas Salk, while at the Institute once remarked,
Medicine is the Science of disease, while Yoga is a science
of Health.... Being aware of this, to eliminate the
suffering of humanity at various levels has always been
the lot of the pioneer. To that end he sacrificed hours of
research and self development to cater to the needs of the
person. From the first case to the last The Yoga Institute
has maintained the complete medical reports. Shri
Yogendraji wanted the claims of Yoga as therapeutics to
be recognized all along and perhaps he is the one person
who has cooperated with the scientific world most. He
showed for instance that the first case of asthma of Mrs.
Romer treated with yogic methods, was well documented
to prove that the cure was complete and hundreds of other
patients responded the same way by the same methods.
But the modern craze of research and concepts of a
utilitarian materialistic value of cash and carry tended to
treat the disease rather than the person and wanted
proofs. Thus the Anand Commission which visited the
Institute on behalf of the Government of India while
appreciating the pioneers
211
to guide sane public opinion against immoral tenTHE SPAN

A LIFE TIME in their hands, the
dencies with money
andOFpropaganda
enemy of humanity have canvassed a vast field in their
favour and the only thing that can save us from total
insanity in spiritual life is the understanding and unity
between healthy spiritual organizations. To that end
besides the All India Board of Yoga, the International
Board of Yoga was also constituted later on where a
common platform for the world Yoga teachers has been
formed.
Dr. Jonas Salk, while at the Institute once remarked,
Medicine is the Science of disease, while Yoga is a science
of Health. . . . Being aware of this, to eliminate the
suffering of humanity at various levels has always been
the lot of the pioneer. To that end he sacrificed hours of
research and self development to cater to the needs of the
person. From the first case to the last The Yoga Institute
has maintained the complete medical reports. Shri
Yogendraji wanted the claims of Yoga as therapeutics to
be recognized all along and perhaps he is the one person
who has cooperated with the scientific world most. He
showed for instance that the first case of asthma of Mrs.
Romer treated with yogic methods, was well documented
to prove that the cure was complete and hundreds of other
patients responded the same way by the same methods.
But the modern craze of research and concepts of a
utilitarian materialistic value of cash and carry tended to
treat the disease rather than the person and wanted
proofs. Thus the Anand Commission which visited the
Institute on behalf of the Government of India while
appreciating the pioneers work, recommended the setting
up of a pathology laboratory. The Yoga Institute
undertook research in asthma on the basis of these
recommendations. However again at the time of
conducting medical research project for the Central
Council of Research in Indian Medicine it was again recommended to the Institute to appoint men of the
consultant level and to211carry out more detailed
investigations. These were carried out and the outcome of

SPAN OF
A LIFE
TIME
the exhaustiveTHE
project
which
included
eminent medical
men like Dr. K. K. Datey, Dr. D. K. Deshmukh, Dr. N. S.
Vahia, Psychiatrist, Dr. P. B. Rajput, E.N.T. specialist,
Dr. F. Maniar, medical consultant, Pandit Shiv Sharma
Ayurvedic consultant etc. the Institute equipped itself
with a twelve bed hospital and an out patient department
to handle a large number of patients everyday. The
results which accrued were very encouraging and a report
was publishedResearch Procedures for Investigating
Claims of Treatment of Diseases through Yoga. In essence
it established what was known to the Yogis of old that
Yoga had its own parameters and had to be evaluated
differently from the limited research methodology of
modern medicine. Shri Yogendraji who was the Yogi on
this medical panel who had been working since 1918 on
the claims of Yoga therapeutics, reiterated that Yoga is an
education in healthy living at all stages. This has only
recently been accepted in modern medicine which has also
come to believe that health is not absence of disease.
Among the distinguished visitors were some medical men
from Russia who had officially come to do
certain experiments in India but in truth intended to get
pertinent knowledge on prana. The scientists had detailed
discussion with Shri Yogendraji and were shown some
startling working of prana. After a few months news was
received at The Yoga Institute that these same doctors
had invented a machine which tried to simulate the
practices taught by Shri Yogendraji. A few months later
the scientist came back to learn more from the Yogi. The
Yogi in his resolute way refused any more knowledge for
exploitation. The scientist went back disheartened.
Plagarism at all fronts has always dogged The Yoga
Institute.
Three major films of the Institute and Founder have
been made. The first was filmed by Mr. Abe Meyer of the
Metro Goldwyn Meyers at the behest of Hugo Riesenfeld
212
while the Founder was in America.
The second was by Dr.
C. S. Radhwan-Pregalowoski of Vienna University and

SPAN OFwho
A LIFE
TIME a cultural film for
Guiter Tibon ofTHE
Paillards,
recorded
international exhibit. The Government of India made a
documentary, in 1950 Toga for Health with the
collaboration of the Institute and it was mostly filmed at
the Institute.
Thousands of visitors and people have come to learn at
the feet of Shri Yogendraji or as some have humbly stated
to pay homage to the great person and from the earliest
times Founder has been found rubbing shoulders with the
greatest minds of the age. Right from the earliest times
poet Tagore, Rev. C. F. Andrews, Sant Nihal Singh, Alan
Leo, A.V. Jackson, Dr. Kellog, Dr. Bernarr Macfadden,
He.reward Carrington. Margaret
Sanger, Professor Dasgupta, Sadhu Vaswani; Sardar K.M.
Pannikar Dr. S. J. Meltzer of Oxford University were in
his circle of acquaintances. Later on Abe Howel, Dr.
Cacyedo Dr. Lozanov, Mr. Paul Brunton, Madame Papov,
Dr. Vishnevsky, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Dr. and Mrs. Theos
Bernard, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Shankarcharya of Puri,
Dr. Kur- takoti, Dr. G. Tucci, Di. Felix Valyi, Dr. Heinrich
Zimmer, Dr. V. S. Sukhtanker, Dr. Jonas Salk, and many
other dignitaries of eminence have crossed the portals of
the Institute.
Kings and commoners have benefited from Founders
pioneering work. The best testimony is from students. When as often happens I am asked to describe the
Founder of The Yoga Institute, the first word that enters
my mind is peace. If I was then pressed to define this
word, I would answer, tranquillity in friendliness, for
overwhelmingly the impression of the Institute is one of
peace. A family that is united by a common aim of service
to themselves and their community and through that
community in Santa Cruz to all humanity.
At another time a king who wants to be initiated writes,
213
I am taking the course of Yoga practices directed by

OFlearnt
A LIFEunder
TIME guidance could you
you. Since YogaTHE
hasSPAN
to be
depute someone to initiate me ?
1935
His Majesty King Fio Albano 11
214
Members of the Chinese Writers Union headed by Mr. Yen Wen Ching with
Sbri Yogendraji.
Academicians talk of the far reaching benefits of

the Institute:
It has been a great pleasure for me to pay a visit to
The Yoga Institute. The work which is being done
heie is extremely important, it is likely to be useful to
all suffering humanity because there are things which
are beyond the power of mere technical science.
Dr. Guiseppe Tucii 1952
President of IsMeo Rome University
and Royal Academy of Italy
The intense work of The Yoga Institute offers
remarkable instance of what corroboration of modern
research with traditional Hindu wisdom is able to
achieve.
Dr. Heinrich dimmer 1942
Author of Philosophies of India
Your work is bound to breathe a great interest in
any cultured man since it tries to interpret Yoga in
the light of modern science. Your work has attracted
the interest of all those who realize the spiritual
importance of Yoga
1942
Royal Academy of Italy
Indian scholars were not lacking in their tributes.
I saw a little of the Institute and from it I gather
that the excellent work it intends to do is hampered
for lack of funds. That is a shame we must remove.
1941
S. Radhakrishnan
One time Vice-President of India
215
The Yoga Institute, one of the most interesting

and vital places in Bombay City.
Dr. V. S. Sukhtanker Editor the
Critical Edition of Mahabharata, 1937
Bhandarkar
Oriental Institute
What I learnt from the Director-Founder of The
Yoga Institute was very revealing. His great
knowledge and long experience should be made use of
more extensively by our people.
Dr. Zakir Hussain
President of India
1963 ,
Sada satyanusandhane samahitamatirbhavana

Saravat jnanayogena lakshyam bhettumiharhati II
You are capable of piercing your target with the
aid of Yoga, like an arrow, being always engaged in
pursuit of the Truth, with a mind that is well
balanced.
Dr. Surendra Nath Dasgupta
Author of A History of Indian1921 Philosophy in 4 volumns
In spite of the accoiades showered on Shri
Yogendraji and The Yoga Institute the man has not
lost his simplicity. ^
Once while at Chowpatty at Beach View, the
Maharani of Kuchbihar wanted to see him and sent
I
2i6
his ADC to inquire if she could meet him. Shri

Yogendraji was in his vest and was wiping the furniture.
The ADC repeatedly asked if he could see Shri
Yogendraji and was told, Let her come. The maharani
overhearing the conversation came in herself and the
ADC realized that the great man he wanted was
standing before him all the time !
And that is the hallmark of a great man of
achievement !
At the basis of the Institute the Founder has built and
nurtured is the firm belief that there has to be clarity in
spiritual commitment wrhere there is a continuous effort
at disciplining at all planes of living. Dr. Jayadeva has
magnified this in his statement.
*
The Institute grows around this ancient Yogi. The
rich growth consists of the sprawling physical habitat of
the Institute its buildings and its departments, the
written and the unwritten rules that govern the working
of the Institute, its ideology, and its technology
contained in its books and magazines, but more than all
of this, the assurance that the work of Shri Yogendraji
through The Yoga Institute is the rise of dedicated men
and women at the Institute believing in the spiritual
objectives of Yoga and are therefore actively involved in
integrating them in their own lives.
217
his ADC to inquire if she could meet him. Shri

Yogendraji was in his vest and was wiping the furniture.
The ADC repeatedly asked if he could see Shri
Yogendraji and was told, Let her come. The maharani
overhearing the conversation came in herself and the
ADC realized that the great man he wanted was
standing before him all the time !
And that is the hallmark of a great man of
achievement !
At the basis of the Institute the Founder has built and
nurtured is the firm belief that there has to be clarity in
spiritual commitment wrhere there is a continuous effort
at disciplining at all planes of living. Dr. Jayadeva has
magnified this in his statement.
*
The Institute grows around this ancient Yogi. The
rich growth consists of the sprawling physical habitat of
the Institute its buildings and its departments, the
written and the unwritten rules that govern the working
of the Institute, its ideology, and its technology
contained in its books and magazines, but more than all
of this, the assurance that the work of Shri Yogendraji
through The Yoga Institute is the rise of dedicated men
and women at the Institute believing in the spiritual
objectives of Yoga and are therefore actively involved in
integrating them in their own lives.
CHAPTER XX
BACK TO PATANJALI AND BEYOND

What does a man of 86 do ? How does he measure his
life, his achievements and his contribution to society?
When life comes full circle to the brim, what does one
217
look back on ? Perhaps relax with, smug sense of

accomplishment. For any ordinary person, it would be
enough to be on a pension, to rave about the past, to
recreate his bygone splendour. Shri Yogendraji has had
enough of these. Mani even as a name, has gone
through enough transformations to feel left out of the
main stream. Mani has changed to Swamiji to Swami
Yogananda to Shri Yogendraji and finally to Founder.
Not Bhagwan not .by any chance. He neither hopes
nor attempts to stake his claim to that title. There are
too many godmen already. One more usurper would
make no difference to the commercial rat-race that the
West-oriented spiritual leaders have been quag- mired
in. To Founder, it would be the negation of his very lifework, the crumbling of the edifice built by him. For him
Yoga was never a religion. He always went about it in a
very scientific way demystifying de-linking it from
religion, salvaging it from the forests and the withdrawn
ascelics to bring it home within the radial warmth of
domestic existence. That explains the busy schedule
218
A portion of Founders bedroom used for study and office work. Founder with his pen and portable typewriter amidst a
heap of files, books, Mss., proofs, etc.
even in the evening of his life.

Hansa his daughter-in-law, tells us about A Morning of
Shri Yogendraji.
His is a deep sleep. He gtts up in the morning at about
6-00 a.m., depending on the climate. I come to know from
my room when he drives away the crows on a summer
morning, that he is up early. On the other days I would
hear him attend to certain routine duties a little late, like
opening the iron shutters of the drawing room, and
winding our four watches and clocks. He would then
switch on the radio to ascertain the correct time. He has a
very simple yet a very complete mouthwash, and then he
carries on a few more duties in his own bedroom, such as
arranging things for the day. He is then ready to meet his
grandson whose pranks never tire him. The grandfather
and grandson are sometimes seen standing at the window,
receiving the good wishes of visitors and students at the
Institute. If the grandson asks of a student why he
remained absent, this becomes sufficient reason for the
grandfather to go up to the granny to extol the memory
and other virtues of the grandson !
And then it is breakfast time. Shri Yogendraji prefers
very small quantity of food, consisting of light tea, a yellow
skinned banana and some whole wheat preparations. He
then carefully listens to the morning news and has a few
strolls.
He may look up a morning newspaper or might go
through some urgent official papers.
Occasionally he enjoys walking in the garden. It is. not an
idle walk either. He is seen busy picking up dried leaves
and instructing the gardener about something. Now-adays he gets a little tired after this and prefers rest.
219
BACK'TO PATANJALI AND BEYOND
He is however ready to meet Mrs. Armaiti Desai as she

comes up to help him with his work. Generally he sits in
his favourite sofa, close to her table, and gives his views on
some important matters interspersed with certain
reminiscences of his long past. Shri Yogendraji meets
visitors if he considers it necessary. It is lunch time. He
prefers very simple lunch : a little broken wheat
preparation like upama, some liquid vegetable and little
curd with sugar and saffron. After lunch he enjoys
listening to music and puts on the transistor close to his
ear, though at times, in reality he is fast asleep. He is not
concerned with the world around him, and is truly relaxed
at such momenta.
For Shri Yogendraji, now respectfully and affectionately
called Founder it is a new beginning, a new start or even
a search for something more thorough. The key to all is the
elusive character Patanjali. It is probably to remind him of
Pata.njali that he dubbed his grandson with this name.
The ancient method of instructions was to sit at the feet of
ones guru. There were no academic seminars, no scholastic
papters or dissertations and no research doctorates. Yoga
was thus pure techhology and Madhavadasaji taught
Founder only the technology of Yoga.
220
Mira the first student of Shri Yogendraji whom he instructed at Matheran at

the request of Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji.
The Soviet cultural delegation, who visited The Yoga Institute and took great interest in its cultural and scientific exhibits. Madame
Papov and Dr. Vishnevisky seen with the Founder.
The method of learning was perfect but not thorough

because theory was rarely discussed. Shri Yogendraji
perfected his technology of Yoga and had achieved
remarkable results because of his energetic practice.
Yet strangely he was not even curious to get to the
genesis of Yoga. Patanjali was not even mentioned.
Shri Yogendraji began his teaching by disseminating Yoga technology, curing the ailing, healing
the sick and helping people to develop perfect health,
attain a balanced peaceful mind and achieve allround self-development. Even despairing mental
patients became sane. The public impression that
gained currency was that here is another Yogi or
mystic. Later on the Institute founded on the sands of
Versova also concentrated on higher Yoga techniques.
Patanjali was still an unknown spectre whose shadow
was yet to come.
The shadow did come and lengthen all along,
dogging Shri Yogendrajis footsteps. He was then in
America and Patanjali descended like a ton of bricks.
The reputation of The Yoga Institute was ever
growing in America and elsewhere. Scholars and
scientists would descend begging to discuss not just
the practice of Yoga but the theory as well. Shri
Yogendraji was quite able to put them at ease, but in
his heart of hearts he knew he needed to know more
about the Father of Yoga, to talk confidently about
him. He felt a special knowledge and insight
essential, ai^d wrote a letter to his father in 1921,
to purchase Patanjali Toga Sutra from Oriental
Publishers in Lahore. A copy reached him in June the
next year (1922). As he was already overworked at
221
The Yoga Institute in America, he was coaxed to take

a holiday, relaxing at the prestigious Union League of
Philadelphia. Freed of routine work and not given to
idling, Shri Yogendraji took to reading Toga Sutra. He
found it had surprising similarity to his own thinking.
Except for the methodology of presentation, he had
learnt or known everything about the classic Yoga of
Patanjali. Shri Yogendraji attempted a translation,
since most of the available translations seemed
inadequate. But time was at a premium, and back
once again in the bus? schedule of The Yoga Institute,
Patanjali took a back seat and was virtually forgotten.
On the ship from London to Bombay, Shri
Yogendraji met Dr. S. N. Dasgupta who was a leading
Indologist and philosopher. Dasgupta had done some
academic work on Yoga, and his thesis at the Calcutta
University was on Toga Sutra. Naturally after their
startled initial introduction, the talk turned to Yoga
and the theory of Yoga. Patanjali figured again and
Shri Yogendraji decided to go to Bulsar and complete
his work on Patanjali.
Back home it wasnt all smooth sailing and
difficulties after difficulties eroded Shri Yogen- drajis
good intentions. YOCO became the lone means to
support Shri Yogendrajis passion for Yoga. Patanjali
had to wait and even face
222
The growing Yoga family : right to left, Shri Vijayadev, Mrs. Jill V. Yogendra, their elder son Janu, Founder, their daughter
Bindu. Mother Smt. Sita Devi, Smt. Hansa J. Yogendra and Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra.
The Yogendra family at The Yoga Institute.
temporary oblivion. The heavy schedule and the
numerous shifting? took their toll and Patanjali was

lost amid a horde of unpublished manuscripts.
The saving grace or the rediscovery of Patanjali
came about by accident in 1970. Mrs. Armaiti Desai
who spends her spare time helping Founder at this
perod of his life, came across his early draft
translation. Now quite relieved of his heavy
commitment to the Institute, he was able to complete
it. It was a rational and easy to understand
translation for common readers and not just scholars.
It was well appreciated and was an immediate sellout. But it was not enough. Though it was simple and
classic, certain points had to be elaborated. There was
also the need for a commentary. Since it had to have a
universal appea1, the Indian origins and Hindu
associations had to be avoided. It is this work that
holds the interest of Shri Yogendraji now.
Everyday little of Patanjali comes alive through the
classic interpretation of the Founder. Patanjali the
shadow is growing into a scholarly volume.
An unacknowledged guru has found the right chela.
The gates have opened. Many others will walk
through and reap the fruits laid open for generations
to come.
223
As a recognised Research Institute, scholars are accepted for

academic, scientific, and educational researches on Yoga.
Scholars are placed under competent guides with library
and laboratory facilities after their Certificate Course, for a
period of one year. On the acceptance of their thesis, they
are declared eligible for the membership of the Academy.
CULTURE HOSPITAL ACADEMY RESEARCH
.. ACTIVITIES OF THE YOGA INSTITUTE

OF SANTA CRUZ, INDIA
#
As a recognized special Training Institute of Yoga;
the Academy provides for () P.fl.Y. course of 21 days; () C.
Y. Ed. special seven-month training course (iii) Teacher
Member of the Academy. The last course is open to men and
women who have passed their intermediate examination or
are in a position to conduct yoga centres in their areas. The
course provides for theoretical and practical instruction in
various aspects of yoga education. Hostel facilities
available.
0 The Institute maintains a highly specialized clinic and
hospital for treatment of refractory cases under qualified
medical practitioners. Apply for indoor and outdoor fees.
General yoga class for minor ailments. Free beds will be
available when the Government or others provide for the
same.
#
The Yoga Education Group conducts yoga classes
both for men and women at the headquarters and at other
centres. Trained teachers of Yoga are also provided by the
Yoga Extension Service for conducting yoga classes.
The Institute conducts Yoga Education Weeks, Exhibi* dons,
Lectures, Symfiosiums, Documentary Film shows, Visual
Education with Lantern slides, etc. Special arrangements
are made for visitors and tourists by prior intimation one
day in advance to acquaint them with the various aspects of
Yoga Education.
Z.
^
*3
gg
O
H
The Institute publishes books on Yoga in Library and

Pocket editions. At present the tides available are viz.
Yoga Asanas Simplified, Toga Hygiene Simplified, Hatha Toga
Simplified, Toga Simplified for Women, Toga Essays, Self-Improvement Facts About Togo, Why Toga, Toga and Therapy,
etc.The annual subscription to the Journal of The Toga
Instituteis Rs. 12; \;*6-00 payable in advance.
SantaCruz, Bombay 400 055

TeUpbooe: 6122185
THE- YOGA INSTITUTE
THE HEART OF MODERN YOGA

RENAISSANCE
This plaque at the entrance of the Institute is a symbolic welcome to all

students of Yoga drawing attention to its historic origin.
THE YOGA INSTITUTE
Shri Yogendra Marg., Santacruz (East),Mumbai - 400 055. INDIA,
Tel.:Publication Division : 2613 25 46 Off. 26110506 / 26122185 Email: yogainstitute@rediffmaii.com ,

Yoga @vsnl.net Website:www.yogainstitute.org
HEALTH:
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How to Reverse Heart Disease the
Yogic Way-Research Facts & Programme
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CYCLOPAEDIACydopaedia Yoga Vol.l
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Cyclopaedia Yoga Vol.ll
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Cyclopaedia Yoga Vol.Ill

Cyclopaedia Yoga Vol. IV
GENERAL BOOKS:Guide to a Fuller Life
Growing with Yoga Simplified
(t
Guide to Yoga Meditation

*il3t
Hatha Yoga
Patanjali's Yoga Sutra
Rangi & An Unknown Man
Hlfc Htl Rt?l
Self-Development
The Householder Yogi- Life of
Shri Yogendra.
Yoga for ChikJren-Teachers Handbook
Yoga Physical Education for Women
Yoga of Caring
Inspiration
Yoga for Youngsters
Hiai wf-i
VCD for Education Aid In
English and Hindi Available
1) STRESS MANAGEMENT Rs. 150/2) PRACTICAL APPROACH TO LIFE Rs. 15(V3) FOOD FOR LIFE Rs. 150/-
Yoga at Home
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Better Humans
. 4) KRIYA YOGA Rs 150/-
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Problems & Solutions
A Pack of 3 VCO (On Different Subject)*# Costs Rs. 400/-
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Life Problems
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subjects Rs.150/-per year
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Your Words Our Path

Values of life
Swadhya Practical Tips for self development
Terms of payment in advance with purchase order

Prices exdugye of packing. forwarcSng, cartage etc.
Chis Certificate
is given to SHRI YOGENDRAin grateful acknowledgment of a

gift made to the people of the. year A.D. 8113 and deposited in
Crypt of Civilization
at Oglethorpe
University near
Atlanta, Georgia
along with photographs, books, motion picture ftlms, and actual
objects used in our daily life, all of which are to be preserved for
posterity by:
ArcHivut
Regarded as the greatest historical project, the

Crypt of Civilization of America was sealed'in 1940
A.D. to remain inviolate until 8113 A.D.
IR |IW *WH
i * Alrag i a i"|i
THE rooA IHSTITUTK
CLASSIC YOGA STUDIES

What manner of man is a yogi ? Is his life a bed of nails ? Shri Yogendrajis life is
as interesting as his towering personality. What do you say of a man who strove hard in various
fields of life to rise to eminence, only later to reject the achievements and the entire field of
work. Being sensitive soul, he became conscious of the limitations of the activity he undertook.
In his teens, for example, he founded the Free. Thinkers Association, wrote the Bible of Free
thinkers, in his book Life Problem', he wrote with distinction in Gujarati literature on many
branches such as essay, biography ,novel, poetry etc. In his twenties he planned an
Encyclopaedia on Yoga in ten volumes, and published the first volume, he took to industry and
was the Principal with an agent in no less a business house then Oxford University press of
London; he set up a large Yoga Institute on a 250 acres plot in New York and planned another
such one in india, already in his thirties, he was a very responsible householder who blazed a
new-trail of Yoga with respect by establishing The Yoga institute of Bombay with its activities
of publishing, training. Medical, social and research.
In fact Shri Yogendraji showed his capacity to set up large undertakings but
withdrew from these when he realized the limitations of these activities, This is the case of his
encounter with the Government, when he put up the first Teacher Trainning Institute of Yoga
in India, or the first hospital of psychosomatic medicine, or the first research institute of its
kind to evaluate Yoga, or when he co-operated with other organisations in setting upthe first All
india Board of Yoga, the international Board of yoga etc. He withdrew from some of these when
he viewed the activity against alarger frame of reference.
Shri Yogendraji now is 86 but he has the spirit when an opportunity arises, to put in all
efforts to his work to reach high level of excellence though it may happen he may like Newton
laugh at the achievement in the end.
This biography is a culmination of two years research and is a factual account interspersed with
personal letters that brings to life the story of a >. man who is the acknowledged pioneer of Yoga
Renaissance.
Santan Rodrigues a young poet, with two books of poems to his credit has w r i t t e n
this biography as an objective witness.
Rs.75/-

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THE HOUSEHOLDER

YOGENDRA PUBLICATIONS FUND

THE YOGA INSTITUTE

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY THE YOGA INSTITUTE

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

SPEAKING ON THE SUBJECT

I OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS .

II. THE MAKING OF A CIVIL SERVANT .

III. THE PLANS GO AWRY

IV. FOLLOWING THE PATH OF THE ANCIENTS

V. AT THE FEET OF THE MASTER

OFFERING THE WEST THE UNKNOWN EAST

X. THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE

How MUCH MORE SHOULD A MAN KNOW

IT IS NOT GOOD FOR A MAN TO BE ALONE

XIII. TWO SHALL LIVE AS ONE

XV. THE DEAR DEPARTS

THE HOUSE THAT HE BUILT

XIX. THE SPAN OF A LIFETIME

XX. BACK TO PATANJALI AND BEYOND

The revered jather oj the Founder, Shri Haribhai Jivanji

The Toga Institute in America on a hilltop was

The first unit oj the International Headquarters oj

Over 100 Toga practitioners, representing many states

What can flame remember ? If it remember a little less

Places tend to be remembered by.latitude and

past. The key word is past and the present has no

SPEAKING ON THE SUBJECT

I prepared myself with the usual literature written by

SPEAKING ON THE SUBJECT

rational way even spirituality, which is difficult to

SPEAKING ON THE SUBJECT '

Now 86 years old, the Founder as he is known to

SPEAKING ON THE SUBJECT

devotion, and his open manner of living has never

SPEAKHG ON THE SUBJECT

Glow you Founder Of The Yoga

SPEAKING ON THE SUBJECT

discussion and inspite of coaxings and cajoling couldnt

SPEAKING ON TrfE SUBJECT

bitterness nor any tint of cynicism. He walked beyond

OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS

in its influence, inspite of official attempts to belittle

OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS

respectability in the elite and educated circles. Close on

OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS

carted wood from the jungles. Haribhai also did this

Hanhhai Jivanji Desai, the revered father of Shri Yogendraji.

OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS

Haribhais first posting as a teacher was in Kukeri, a

OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS

down the staircase and crying loudly. The commotion

OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS

and bow while the. ashes were dropped. The dead

OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS

maternal uncle went to South Africa to earn money. By

OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS

The school teacher was a government employee and to

OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS

experience of rustic people and places. The constant

OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS

natures plenty too, making trips to the wilderness.

OF ROOTS AMONG OTHER THINGS