Lahiri Mahasaya - Kriya yoga goes into the World
Kriya yoga guru Shri Lahiri Mahasaya, popular amongst kriyabans as Lahiri Mahasay, Lahiri Baba and Kashi Baba was born to Shri Gourmohan Lahiri and Smt Muktakeshi Devi on 30.09.1828 in a devout Barindra Brahmin family at a small village Ghurni in the Nadia district of West Bengal. Yogiraj Lahiri Mahasaya who attained self realisation while remaining householder throughout is credited with disseminating Kriya Yoga sadhana amongst ordinary householders as a path to self realisation. Though no historical records behind shifting to Kashi is found, it is learnt from reliable sources that due to onslaught of flood that wiped out the entire village of Ghurni the family of Yogiraj Lahiri Mahasaya had settled down in Kashi (Varanasi). Since his childhood, young Shayamacharan was highly spiritual and could often be found engrossed in deep meditation. Yogiraj was proficient in Hindi, English, Bengali and Sanskrit languages.
At a young age he was married to Kashimoni Devi, the daughter of Shri Devnarayan Mahasay. For earning his livelihood Yogiraj got employed with Military Engineering Department of then British Govt. During his service life he was transferred to many places within India and in course of such transfers he was once transferred to Ranikhet in Almora District situated in the Himalayan regions of Bharatvarsh. In the Dronagiri Mountainous region near Ranikhet, Param Purush Babaji Maharaj had blessed Yogiraj with his divine darshan and initiated him into kriya yoga for its propagation amongst ordinary householders. Thereafter the yogic feats of Lahiri Mahasaya could no longer remain covert and came to the notice of the world. It is said that in the beginning Babaji Maharaj had advised Lahiri Mahasay to transmit the highly secret kriya yoga techniques only to those devout persons who qualified after rigorous examination but on request of Lahiri Mahasay relaxed the conditions and allowed transmitting only first stage of kriya to all deserving persons who showed extreme interest in practising kriya yoga. However the later stages of kriya are transmitted by masters only to those kriyabans who show exemplary advancement on the path and stages already shown.
Yogiraj Lahiri Mahasaya imparted kriya initiation to all deserving persons irrespective of caste, creed, religion and sex. Yogiraj was a devout kriya practitioner and emphasised kriya practising (which in actuality is servicing prana through atamakarma) over external worshipping. Many miraculous incidents about Yogiraj have come to light behind which kriya and its sincere practice appears to be the sole reason. Though no book has been written by Yogiraj himself yet many of his commentaries on Gita, Vedantas, Upanishads, Yogadarshan and similar other literature given during satsang in the light of kriya were penned down by his disciples chiefly being Pandit Panchanan Bhattacharya. On 26.09.1895 in Varanasi, Yogiraj left his earthly body for heavenly abode/Mahaprayan. Only sincere and devotional practising of kriya yoga techniques as shown by the Master is sufficient to have divine darshan and blessings of Yogiraj Lahiri Mahasay who though having left his earthly body is very much present in subtle form. Pandit Panchanan Bhattacharya, Bhupendranath Sanyal, Dukori Lahiri, Tinkuri Lahiri, Swami Keshavanada, Swami Pranabanada, Swami Yukteshwar Giri, Asutosh Chatterjee, Sir Gurudas Banerjee, Keshav Chandra Banerjee and Harinaryan Palodhi among others have been the eminent disciples of Lahiri Mahasay. Lahiri Mahasay had even initiated his wife Kashimoni Devi into kriya yoga.