Read a Sample: How The Holy Science Came to Be

In January 1894, at the great Kumbha Mela in Allahabad, Swami Sri Yukteswar met Mahavatar Babaji on the bank of the Ganges. From that meeting came a mission, and a book. In the opening pages of The Holy Science, Sri Yukteswar tells the story in his own words.

The excerpts below are from the Introduction to the new 1920 edition, published by Crystal Clarity Publishers.

From the Introduction

The purpose of this present volume is to show as clearly as possible that there is an essential unity at the basis of all religions; that there is no difference in the truths they inculcate; that there is but one method by which the world, both external and internal, has been evolved; and that there is but one goal admitted to by all the scriptures. But it is not easy to comprehend this basic truth. The different creeds foster and perpetuate a spirit of hostility and dissension, and ignorance widens the gulf that separates one creed from another. As a result, the discord that exists between the different religions of the world and the ignorance of men make it almost impossible to lift the veil and perceive this grand truth. Only a specially gifted few can rise superior to the influence of their professed creeds and grasp the absolute unanimity in the truths propagated by all the world religions.

The object of this book is to harmonize and bind together the different religions of the world and thus create a real brotherhood among followers of all religions. This is indeed a herculean task for a man like myself; however, I was entrusted with this mission by a holy command.

The genesis of this book is very interesting. In January of AD 1894, corresponding to the year 194 of the Dwapara Era, the great Kumbha Mela (which is held once every twelve years) was being held at Allahabad, the sacred Prayag Tirtha—the place of confluence of the holy waters of the Ganges, Jamuna, and Saraswati rivers. The Kumbha Mela is a congregation of worldly men and spiritual devotees. The men of the world, wholly engrossed in ordinary ways and worldly concerns, stand in infinite need of help and guidance from those holy beings who can bring light to the world. However, while worldly men cannot transcend their self-made mundane, confining limits without help, the sadhus (holy men), having once renounced the world, seldom deign to come down and mix themselves with its turmoil. Therefore there needs to be a place that can make possible a union between these two sets. Tirtha affords such a meeting place. Situated as it is on the beach of the world, storms and buffets touch it not; the sadhus with a message for the benefit of humanity can impart it in an ideal setting to those who would heed it. I was chosen to propagate a message of such nature by my most revered Param-Guru-Deva* on my visit to the Kumbha Mela.

As I walked by the bank of the Ganges one day, I was summoned by a man and was afterward honored with an interview with a great holy personage who was none other than my Param-Guruji-Maharaj (Mahavatar Babaji). As we held conversation, discussion turned to the class of men who now frequented these places of pilgrimage. I humbly suggested that there were men, greater by far in intelligence than the men congregated here, who were living in distant corners of the world—in Europe and America—professing different creeds, and ignorant of the real significance of such a Mela as the present one. They were men fit to hold communion with the spiritual beings. But though these men were high in intellectual attainments, some of them were also wedded to rank materialism. Some, though famous for their investigations in the realms of science and philosophy, did not recognize the essential unity in religion. Their professed creeds served as insurmountable barriers that threatened to separate them from us forever.

My Param-Guruji-Maharaj smiled and, honoring me with the title of Swami, imposed this herculean task upon me. I was chosen, I do not know the reason why, to remove this seemingly insurmountable barrier and to help establish the truth that is the real underlying basis of all religions.

* Param-Guru is literally “guru supreme” or “guru beyond,” signifying a line or succession of teachers. Lahiri Mahasaya was Sri Yukteswar’s guru. Babaji, the guru of Lahiri Mahasaya, was the param-guru of Sri Yukteswar.

Later in the Introduction

At the present time (AD 1894), the dark age of Kali Yuga has long since passed, and we are in the 194th year of Dwapara Yuga. People now are increasingly desirous of spiritual knowledge, and feel the need for expressing love and for helping each other. The introduction of this book to the public at this time will, I hope, not be untimely.

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