The Autobiography of an Indian Monk

Shri Purohit Swami was of the line of Swami Vivekananda, Swami Ramatirtha and Shri Aurobindo, and was a true son of the Indian Renascence. This account of his own life, written in 1932 and published in India now for the first time, represents the first autobiography (in the modern sense of the word) of a yogi. Purohit Swami’s account of his own life moves rapidly, covers a great variety of material, is unsentimental, and is at once eminently readable and inspiring. It adds up to a powerful testament of the truth of yoga, and whoever follows it is not likely to think of the life of a sannyasin as one of escape. An Indian Monk cuts across divisions of taste and may be read and enjoyed at many levels. It provides a vivid record of a form of society fast disappearing from our midst. It may be read as a book of the supernatural and is full of stories of miracles. It is also a narrative of adventure which grips us as we move from episode to episode. But it is written, above all, for the spiritual seeker for whom it will prove a veritable treasure-house of knowledge and wisdom.