Who was this person called in the West Babaji after his story was first told in Autobiography

of a Yogi? Actually the name Babaji is somewhat generic and has been applied to many sages over the years. The word Baba means father and the suffix "ji" is one of respect. But the Babaji written about here is called by many names such as Mahavatar Babaji, Hariakhan Babaji, Babaji Maharaj (great king), Shiva Baba (denoting his close connection to God Shiva), also Bhagavan Sadashiva, Sri Sadashiva, Mahamunindra, and Sri Sri Baba. Hariakhan Baba Maharaj is a Great One, said to have been alive for thousands of years, dwelling in various caves in the Himalayas, appearing sometimes among men to accomplish some particular goal but always watching over the welfare of mankind from the sidelines. Though many people saw him in both the 19th and the 20th century, his appearance was always that of a young man in early manhood. He was tall and slender with a noble and dignified appearance and in nature was humble, kind and childlike. His complexion was light and his hair sometimes worn long and sometimes short. Details of his appearance varied even when he was observed by several people at the same time. He spoke little and seldom ate unless given food by devotees. He never slept, and when on the move, he walked very fast. His appearances and disappearances were always sudden and unexpected. He had great strength of body and was often seen lifting huge rocks. Sometimes he was seen with several Tibetan Lamas and in fact Babaji was often seen wearing a shirt and Tibetan cap over his head. He spoke a mixture of many languages including Nepali, Hindi, and Kurmachal languages. Whenever he talked to anyone from a particular region of India, he spoke to them fluently in their own native language. Nobody knows when he was born or where. He had all the known siddhas (Yogic powers) and occasionally performed miracles in a natural way according to the circumstances at hand. But mostly people were drawn to him because of the bliss they experienced in his presence. He appeared in many places in Northern India near the Himalayas between 1861 and 1924. At that time he was known by different names in the different regions and people didn't realize these were different names for the same person until a man named Mahendra Brahmachari had a vision of him in 1949. He subsequently became a devotee of Babaji Maharaj and spent thirty-five years traveling all over India, collecting the stories told about encounters with the great Babaji. He published these in India under the title Punya Smriti using the pen name Guru Charnasrit. There was also a book about him titled Hariakhan Baba, Known, Unknown by Baba Hari Dass published in America in 1975 by the Sri Rama Foundation. The stories that follow are just a few of the many recorded incidents about him and they present different facets of the great master.

Initial Appearance at Hariakhan Jungle Gumani Becomes a True Devotee Strange Lights Appear at Siddhashram Miraculous Appearance at Katgharia Dedication Babaji Punished for Smiling The Proper Way to Meet a Saint Babaji's Great Disciple Lahiri Mahasaya

Initial Appearance at Hariakhan Jungle Around the year 1890, Hariakhan Babaji Maharaj first appeared publicly in a miraculous way and after that he was seen off and on until around 1924. Before and after that period there are accounts of him showing up in one place or another but usually to an individual or a small group. But within that time period, he was seen by thousands of people and the miraculous events that happened spontaneously around him daily were witnessed and recorded widely by people of that time. Many people think he permanently stays in the high mountains of the Himalayas around Nepal and that he appears occasionally to further some specific cause which only he knows. At the foot of the Himalayas in Northern India, there are many small cities and villages that spring up along the many rivers that descend from the Himalayas to the plains of India below. Back then the area was very wild and there were small clearings with villages of just a few hundred people intermixed between large expanses of jungle and forested areas. One such densely wooded area was called the Hariakhan jungle. On the outskirts of the Hariakhan jungle, to the south there was a cluster of houses which was called Hariakhan village. One night the people of the village were astonished when they looked up above the neighboring mountain and saw a single brilliant light shining from the mountain top. The mysterious light reappeared each night for several evenings. Then the same light disappeared from the mountain top and instead appeared near the village itself. The people gathered around to worship the mysterious light and as they came near, they saw a radiant body of divine luster before them. He appeared to be a young man with a pleasant benign face and a reserved dignified nobility about him. The villagers bowed to him and welcomed him with great respect. Because he was first seen by them in the Hariakhan jungle area, he was given the name Hariakhan Baba. The people naturally wanted the saintly Babaji Maharaj to stay with them in their village so they looked about for a suitable place for him to stay. They decided to put him up in the forest guard's house and since this official lived there by himself, it was agreed that Babaji would stay there. The guard, by name Dham Singh, was a very pious man and formed a close attachment to Babaji. Every day he gave Babaji a morning meal and as Babaji would sit quietly unmoving, he developed the habit of locking him within his house before he went off into the forest. He was afraid Babaji would either leave his house or someone would come and take Babaji away to another place. Since Babaji didn't seem to object to this the guard made this his daily routine. After a while some other of the village folk wanted to visit Babaji during the day time while

Dham Singh was away on his rounds. They found the house tightly locked up and all the windows were barred so they broke the lock and went inside. But to their surprise, they could not find Babaji anywhere and after this day, he was not seen again by anyone there for over a decade. Then he was suddenly seen again sitting inside a cave in the depths of the Hariakhan jungle.

Once in the month of January, Babaji was staying in the Hariakhan cave. A few saints heard about Babaji's yogic powers and decided to have the darshan of the powerful saint. They asked him various questions about Yoga and the scriptures, and then they decided amongst themselves to ask him for a wild fruit called Kaphal that grows only in the Himalayas during the late spring. But in January it is not available. Babaji realized their thoughts, came out of the cave and walked a short distance away. He returned with a branch full of Kaphal fruits and distributed the fruits to the saints.

Gumani Becomes a True Devotee At the foot of the Himalayas along the Gautam Ganga River lay the tiny village of Dyola. In this village there lived an illiterate farmer who was called Gumani. Gumani was a very pious person. His wife was expecting a child and after the birth of the child Gumani underwent a strange transformation. He lost all interest in the world and household life and without telling anyone, he joined a group of travelers who were going to the town of Hardwar. There he joined an ashram which was run by a very saintly sanyasin. There Gumani devotedly served the visiting religious pilgrims who came to the ashram. The sanyasin who owned the ashram observed Gumani and was very pleased with his devotion, humility and truthfulness. After a while some visitors came who knew Gumani while he had been a farmer. They recognized him and told the head of the ashram about the situation he had left behind. His wife was very sad and had no one to plant the crops or take care of her or the child. Though the saintly sanyasin had become very attached to Gumani and his services, he realized the suffering his absence was causing and told him to return immediately to his home. But now that Gumani had made the break from his former life the thought of returning was very painful to him. He wept and begged to be allowed to stay, but the saint was firm and told him: "Gumani, go

home and live like a hermit there. Meditate and worship God. You will find your guru at your own place." With great sadness, Gumani returned home and resumed farming as before but with the difference that now his mind was constantly fixed on God. Then one day when he was returning from his fields he saw a tall slim man with fair complexion standing under a tree near his house. The man was gazing steadily at him. Gumani went closer to him and saw that he had a beautiful radiance about his face and had very peaceful eyes. Gumani was afraid but he summoned the courage to ask: "Maharaj, who are you? Why are you standing here?" The man was Babaji Maharaj. He knew that Gumani was fearful of him so he walked slowly to the shade of another tree. Then Gumani recalled to mind the words of the saintly sanyasin at the ashram: "You will meet your guru at your own place". So Gumani bowed to his feet and thereafter surrendered himself completely to Babaji.