Lakulish Yoga in St. Augustine, FL

Bio of Swami Kripalu

The following biography of Swami Kripalu is now under the About the School page:

by Jennifer E. Jacobsen

(Information gathered from discussions with Swami Ashutosh Muni, Lineage Holder of Kripalu Muni Mundal)

Swami Sri Kripalvanandji (1913-1981) was born in a small town near Baroda in India. His parents gave him the name Saraswati Chandra. When he was only 7 years old, his father passed away, leaving the young boy with the enormous responsibility of supporting his family himself.

From the age of 7 until the time he was 19 years old, Saraswati Chandra agonized over his role in life. He was raised in the Brahmin tradition, an upbringing that created in him a deep love for God and a longing to merge with God. This longing to connect to his spiritual roots lead him to commit many a failed suicide attempt. At the age of 19, he tried to commit suicide once again in Bombay, yet he was saved by the being who would become his spiritual Father and Guru.

Unknown to the young boy, the being that saved him that day was not an ordinary person but was Lord Lakulish Himself, the 28th incarnation of Lord Shiva. For 15 months, however, Lakulish would be known to Saraswati Chandra as Swami Pranavanand, a 60 year old sannyasi. Swami Pranavanand took the 19 year old Saraswati Chandra to His mansion home in Bombay.

For the next 15 months, Swami Pranavanand taught this young boy everything he would need to know in order to become a sannyasi in the future. Swami Pranavanand taught his disciples sections of the Bhagavad-Gita for an hour every morning. After this period of study, the Swami and the Saraswati Chandra would walk the sea beaches for hours as Swami Pranavanand further taught the boy the Gita, a shloka at a time. Saraswati Chandra was encouraged to ask any questions that he had, as the lessons were very in-depth and far advanced.

At the end of 15 months, Swami Pranavanand tied other scriptures in the Sanatan Dharma lexicon into his teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita. He used Bhagavad-Gita as a foundation to further teach even more advanced principles to the young boy, principles which Saraswati Chandra would find very useful in his future Yoga sadhana. After making sure the boy had a thorough understanding of all Sanatan Dharma scriptures, Swami Pranavanand took the young boy on a trip to northern India. The two would go to remote, abandoned temples late in the night, and from 12:00am – 3:00am every night, Swami Pranavanand revealed the final and the most esoteric secrets of Yoga sadhana (keys which only God can reveal and are not recorded anywhere) to Saraswati Chandra, way ahead of the time when the boy would need these key secrets for his sadhana.

One day, Swami Pranavanand disappeared, leaving Saraswati Chandra alone and very sad. Before the Swami left however, he had prophesized that within 10 years Saraswati Chandra would become a sannyasi and begin his Yoga sadhana. He predicted that this boy would become the finest Yoga teacher in the entire world. For the next 10 years, Saraswati Chandra studied the Sanatan Dharma scriptures very extensively.

At the age of 31, Saraswati Chandra awoke one day with an urge to give up everything and become a sannyasi. Thoughts and feelings within his mind and body guided the young man to board a random train from Bombay which eventually brought him to an ashram with a collection of several herds of cows/ There, he came upon a Swami by the name of Swami Shantanand. Swami Pranavanand had told Saraswati Chandra that the Swami who would initiate him into sannyas would be a very kind, wise, and cow-loving person. Saraswati Chandra asked for sannyas initiation from Swami Shantanand, and he was ordained a sannyasi in the sannyas order of the Muni Mundal Lineage. Saraswati Chandra was then given the name Swami Kripalvanand.

For the next 10 years, Swami Kripalvanand was a wandering sannyasi. He wandered from town to town, giving discourses on the Bhagavad-Gita. During this time, Swami Pranavanand appeared to Swami Kripalvanand, this time in his original, Divine Body, giving the young Kripalu further instructions. Also during this time, Swami Shantanand passed away. This broke Swami Kripalvanand’s heart. He had one Guru who was a Divine figure, and his only physical Guru was now gone. He went into depression, and he begged his Divine Guru to please let him begin his Yoga sadhana. His Guru agreed.

When Swami Kripalvanand was approximately 41 years old, he began his Yoga Sadhana and took a vow of silence. He began to realize that he needed a stable and comfertable place to reside, and he decided to settle in Malav. Over time, many people had chosen to follow the Swami, and one day, at the request of one of his female disciples, he visited the town of Kayavarohan. As he approached the outskrits of the town, he saw a statue of Lord Lakulish. Recognizing the statue to be the exact image of his Guru’s Divine form, he began slipping into unconscious meditation. He quickly asked to be taken to his meditation chamber, and during his meditation, Lord Lakulish and Lord Vishvamitra appeared to him. They showed him the history of Kayavarohan and its connection to the Muni Mundal lineage, and he discovered the true identiy of his Divine Guru, Lord Lakulish. These great Masters of Yoga asked Swami Kripalvanand to move from Malav to Kayavarohan, reestablish the Lakulish temple in Kayavarohan, and move the statue that he had found into the temple.

Swami Kripalvanand moved to Kayavarohan and completed the installation of the Lakulish statue into the temple. By 1974, his Yoga sadhana was demanding more of his time and energy. The atmosphere of Kayavarohan was no longer suitable for his sadhana, and he moved to America in search of more seclusion, silence, and love. During the first few months he was in America, he broke his silence to teach his disciples about the Yamas and Niyamas, which he said are the foremost secrets of Yoga. His teachings on the Yamas and Niyamas were later compiled into a series of books called the Premyatra darshans.

In 1981, Swami Kripalvanand attained samadhi. Before his transition, on January 14, 1981, Swami Kripalvanand ordained Swami Ashutosh Muni as his only sannyas disciple to carry on the spiritual Lineage. Swami Ashutosh Muni created the Mahasamadhi temple, Kripalu Samadhi Mandir in Malav, in loving memory of and devotion to his Guru. Swami Ashutosh Muni is the current Lineage holder of the Lakulish Yoga community and the Muni Mundal Lineage.