Lahiri Mahasaya
| Shyama Charan Lahiri | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Order | Self-realization |
| Philosophy | Kriya Yoga |
| Personal | |
| Born | Shyama Charan Lahiri 30 September 1828 Ghurni village, Bengal Province, British India |
| Died | 26 September 1895 (aged 66) Varanasi, United Provinces, British India |
| Guru | Mahavatar Babaji |
| Disciple(s) | Yukteswar Giri, Tinkouri Lahiri, Harinarayan Paloudhi, Bhupendranath Sanyal, Panchanan Bhattacharya. Ramgopal Majumdar, Swami Keshabanandaji, Swami Kebalanandaji, Swami Pranabananda Giri |
| Honors | Yogiraj, Kashi Baba |
Shyama Charan Lahiri (Bengali: শ্যামাচরণ লাহিড়ী Bengali: [Shêmā Chôron Lahiṛi]) (30 September 1828 – 26 September 1895), best known as Lahiri Mahasaya, was an Indian yogi and a disciple of Mahavatar Babaji. He was also popularly known as Yogiraj and Kashi Baba. He revived the yogic science of Kriya Yoga when he learned it from Mahavatar Babaji in 1861. Lahiri Mahasaya was also the guru of Yukteswar Giri. Mahasaya is a Sanskrit, spiritual title translated as 'large-minded'. He was unusual among Indian holy people in that he was a householder — marrying, raising a family, and working as an accountant for the Military Engineering Department of the British Indian government. Lahiri lived with his family in Varanasi rather than in a temple or monastery. He achieved a substantial reputation among 19th century Hindu religionists.
He became known in the West through Paramahansa Yogananda, a disciple of Yukteswar Giri, and through Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. Yogananda wrote that Lahiri was chosen by Mahavatar Babaji to reintroduce the lost practice of Kriya Yoga to the world. Lahiri's disciples included both of Yogananda's parents as well as Yogananda's own guru. Lahiri Mahasaya prophesied that the infant Yogananda would become a yogi, and "As a spiritual engine, he will carry many souls to God's kingdom.'"
Lahiri was born into a Brahmin family in the Ghurni village (presently a neighbourhood of Krishnanagar town) in Nadia district of Bengal Province. He was the youngest son of Muktakashi, wife of Gaur Mohan Lahiri. His mother died when he was a child — there is very little known about her, except that she was a devotee of Lord Shiva. At the age of three or four, he was often seen sitting in meditation, with his body buried in the sand up to his neck. When Lahiri was five, the family's ancestral home was lost in a flood, so the family moved to Varanasi, where he would spend most of his life.
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