Priya Nath Karar, known by his Hindu religious name Sri Yukteswar Giri (May 10, 1855-March 9, 1936), was the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda. He was a Vedic astrologer, or jyotishi, a yogi, and an exponent of the Bhagavad Gita. He was a member of the Giri branch of the swami order. His guru was Lahiri Mahasaya of Benares. Yogananda later styled Sri Yukteswar Jnanavatar, or "Incarnation of Wisdom".

Yukteswar was born in Serampore, India, married and had a daughter. Becoming an ordained swami after his wife's death, he converted his family home into an ashram (religious hermitage) where Yogananda and his other disciples studied.

Much of what we know about Sri Yukteswar comes from Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. On the outside Sri Yukteswar appeared to be a strict Master but on the inside he wished his disciples to be able to overcome stumbling blocks, so that they could also achieve a state of Self Realization. Sri Yukteswar was instrumental in the transmission of Kriya Yoga to the West via his disciple Yogananda.

His 1895 book The Holy Science, published in the United States by Self-Realization Fellowship, was intended to show the unity of Eastern and Western religion. It also includes what is probably

Current research into this theory is being conducted by the Binary Research Institute. They produced a documentary on it called The Great Year, narrated by James Earl Jones. Sri Yukteswar's face appears on the cover of the DVD case of The Great Year. Actor Harvey Jason narrates a passage from The Holy Science as the voice of Sri Yukteswar. This subject will also be discussed in the Conference on Precession and Ancient Knowledge in late 2005.

The theory of the Sun's binary companion expounded by Sri Yukteswar in The Holy Science has attracted the attention of Dr. David Frawley, who has written about it in a several of his books. He explains that the theory offers proof of the age of Rama and Krishna and other important historical Indian figures than other dating methods, which make some of these figures out to be millions of years old, too old for the accepted chronology of human history on Earth.

Sri Yukteswar is also pictured at the extreme upper left of the crowd on the cover of the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Sri Yukteswar Giri Sri Yukteswar Giri