Lahiri Mahasaya's house in Kashi: a householder's room at the centre of Kriya Yoga
The great Kriya Yoga master never left home for a cave. He taught from a small front room in the lanes of Kashi. Here is what the book says about that house.
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Most stories of great yogis are set in caves and on mountains. Lahiri Mahasaya's is set in a family house in the lanes of old Kashi, among an accountant's working life, children, and a stream of visitors. For anyone trying to practise seriously while holding a job and a family, that house is worth knowing about.
Autobiography of a Yogi returns to it several times. Below we set out what the book says, chapter by chapter. The house is a private family home, so this piece is about what the book tells us, not a guide to finding it.
What the source says
- Lineage text
After his father's death, Lahiri Mahasaya became responsible for the whole family and bought them a quiet house in the Garudeswar Mohulla neighbourhood of Benares. He was working as an accountant for the government's military engineering department at the time.
Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda, chapter 32
- Lineage text
Swami Kebalananda, who spent ten years near the master, describes going to the house every night. Lahiri Mahasaya sat cross-legged on a plain wooden seat in a small front room on the first floor, with disciples around him. He spoke little, and Kebalananda remembers the peace of simply sitting there.
Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda, chapter 4
- Lineage text
Years later Yogananda visited Kashi Moni, Lahiri Mahasaya's wife, at the same family home. She took him upstairs to the small room the couple had shared and told him about her life with the master.
“Son, you are welcome here. Come upstairs.”
Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda, chapter 31
- Lineage text
In 1895, according to Swami Keshabananda's account, disciples gathered at the house for what turned out to be the master's last day. He spoke on the Bhagavad Gita for hours and then left his body. A footnote adds that disciples later placed a statue of him in the little parlour.
Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda, chapter 36
What you will find today
This is a private family home. We do not publish directions to it, arrange visits, or contact the family, and we ask readers not to seek the house out. Its story is told in the book, and that is where we would send you.
Last checked via Sadhana Saarthi editorial policy for private homes.
A practice for this place
Wherever you are, in Kashi or at home, sit for ten to fifteen minutes with your spine upright and your eyes closed, and let your attention rest on the breath.
If you have been initiated into Kriya Yoga, practise as your teacher taught you. If you have not, keep to plain breath awareness. Lahiri Mahasaya's own life is a reminder that the practice is meant to be carried home, into ordinary days, so consider choosing one fixed time each day for the next month and keeping it.