Paramahansa Yogananda Age, Wife, Death, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Real Name	Mukunda Lal Ghosh
Nickname	Yogi Baba
Professions	Yogi, Spiritual Guru
Famous For	Teachings of Meditation and Kriya Yoga
Personal Life
Date of Birth	5 January 1893
Age (At the time of Death)	59 Years
Birthplace	Gorakhpur, United Provinces (Now, Uttar Pradesh), India
Date of Death	7 March 1952
Place of Death	Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, California
Death Cause	Heart Attack
Resting Place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California, USA
Zodiac sign/Sun sign	Capricorn
Nationality	Indian and American
Hometown	Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
College/University	Scottish Church College, Calcutta (now Kolkata), India Serampore College, Serampore, West Bengal, India
Educational Qualification	Bachelor of Arts
Religion	Hinduism
Hobbies	Listening to Spiritual Music, Travelling
Girls, Affairs, and More
Marital Status	Unmarried (Celibate)
Family
Wife/Spouse	N/A
Children	None
Parents	Father- Bhagwati Charan Ghosh (Railway Executive) Mother- Gyan Prabha Ghosh
Siblings	Brother- Sananda Lal Ghosh (Younger) Sister- None

Some Lesser Known Facts About Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa grew up in a religious family. His parents were disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya

Since childhood, he was very interested in spiritual stories.
Paramahansa Yogananda at the age of six

In 1910, at the age of 17, he met his spiritual guru, Swami Yukteswar Giri.
Sri Yukteswar was Yogananda’s Guru

In 1914, when he entered Swami order, his name was changed from Mukunda Lal Ghosh to Yogananda.

In 1915, he received monastic swami order after renouncing worldly pleasures and was called ‘Swami Yogananda Giri.’

In 1917, he founded a school for boys in Dihika, West Bengal, that was specialized in meditation and yoga teachings. Later, that school was sifted to Ranchi and called Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (the Indian branch of spiritual organisation, Self-Realisation Fellowship).

In 1920, Yogananda moved to the United States and spread Indian teachings of Yoga and Meditation. The same year, he laid the foundation of Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF).

He travelled throughout the United States. He called that travelling, ‘Spiritual Campaign‘.

In 1924, Yogananda started to attend cross-continental speaking tours. Thousands of people started listening to his lectures.
Paramahansa Yogananda at the center of Audience

He was the first Indian spiritual teacher to have spent his most of his life in the United States. He lived there until his death.

In 1935, when he returned to India, he met Mahatma Gandhi and introduced him to Kriya Yoga.
Yogananda (Left) with Mahatma Gandhi

In 1935, he was conferred the further religious title ‘Paramahansa’ by his guru, Sri Yukteswar.

In 1936, he moved to the USA again and wrote his autobiography, ‘Autobiography of a Yogi‘, that was published in 1946.
Yogananda wrote this book

Yogananda spent his last four years in seclusion with some disciples and completed his writings.

Before being passed away in 1952, he chose Rajarsi Janakananda to be the president of Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF).
Rajarsi Janakananda was chosen by Yogananda

Apart from his autobiography, he wrote many other books; Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You, God Talks With Arjuna – The Bhagavad Gita, The Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons, etc.

In 1977, the Indian government issued a commemorative stamp in his honour.
Paramahansa Yogananda’s postal stamp

His autobiography, Autobiography of a Yogi, has been published in more than 45 languages since then. In 1999, this book was designated as one of the 100 most spiritual books of the 20th century by a panel of spiritual authors.

His autobiography has been a main source of inspiration for many including George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, and Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs read Yogananda’s autobiography in his teen ages for the first time. He re-read it and downloaded it on his iPad2.

The organization founded by him, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), was headquartered in Los Angeles. Now, it has members in more than 175 countries around the World.

On 7 March 2017, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi issued a commemorative postal stamp honouring the 100th anniversary of the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, founded by Yogananda.
Modi releases special commemorative postage stamp on 100 years of Yogoda Satsanga Society of India

On 15 November 2017, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind visited the Ranchi Ashram of Yogoda Satsanga Society at the official release of the Hindi translation of Yogananda’s book God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita.
Ram Nath Kovind at Yogananda’s Ashram at the official release of Hindi translation of Yogananda’s book God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita.