FROM AMRITYOGA SITE:





Affectionately known as Bapuji, His Holiness Swami Sri Kripalvanandji was born in 1913 in the Gujarat province of India. Even in childhood, his devotion to God was exceptional and by the age of 19, his longing for God was so strong that he made several suicide attempts. It was during a fourth attempt that his master, Dadaji, revealed himself, beginning Bapuji's journey on the highest path of yoga.

For eight months, Bapuji studied under Dadaji's tutelage. After a rigorous initiation which included 40 days of seclusion, chanting and fasting, Bapuji received initiation from Dadaji. However, less than a year later, Dadaji suddenly disappeared, leaving Bapuji to follow the path alone. Brokenhearted, only his guru's promise to see him again when he renounced his worldly desires sustained him. It wasn't until 1952 that his promise was realized when Dadaji reappeared in his true yogic body in the form of a beautiful young man. Two years later, Dadaji again appeared to inspire his sadhana. It was this final meeting that guided Bapuji into his intense 10-hour-a-day practice of Kundalini mediation, which he continued for the remainder of his life.

During his travels, Bapuji met the 16-year-old Amrit Desai, who quickly became his closest and most devout disciple. When Yogi Desai invited his guru to visit him in America in 1977, it was only supposed to be a short visit. However, Bapuji was so struck by the openness of Yogi Desai's followers in Sumneytown, Pennsylvania, that he stayed 3 1/4 years. Bapuji deviated from his life of silence to deliver a series of rare lectures during this period.

In September 1981, Bapuji returned to India where he left his body on December 29.

I WILL ADD THERE IS SOME CONTROVERSY OVER HIS DEATH,,,,,
I KNEW A YOGI AND AN AMERICAN WHO KNEW HIM AND KRIPALU DIED ON A COUCH..OR SO I HEARD...HAD TOLD HIS STUDENTS NOT TO DISTURB HIS BODY ,,,,BUT THEY DID

:rolleyes:thus far and no more. No Baba-no.::rolleyes:

WE want no more stories or dramas of dongi babas..........they have bored us and anyone say them to bye old cloths and get a fresh bath......new traditional cloths rather than roaming naked.

:rolleyes:No neither I am bored nor made any one bore. What is required is our attitude should not be Phate Men Pair Dalana that is middling in others work without any specific knowledge.Reasonable criticism is all right if we are well aware of the facts .Hearsay matters does not bear fruits.Otherwise also we all are citizens of India and one can avail 'liberty' like TV news channels also. Hoe it matters. Dear fiend go on and I welcome you.:rolleyes:

FROM THE WEB

Swami Sri Kripalvananda (Bapuji) was Desai's guru.
Kripalu Yoga and the Kripalu Center are named after him.
His name means literally "the compassionate one" in Sanskrit.
Born in Dabhoi, Gujarat in 1913, he was so frustrated at his lack of spiritual progress as a young man that he made several suicide attempts before meeting his guru, Dadaji.
After becoming a swami, Bapuji renounced all worldly attachments and travelled throughout western India, lecturing, writing, and teaching.

Bapuji returned to India in 1981, because of failing health, but also possibly because Kripalu was unable to secure a permanent visa or Green Card so he could stay in the U.S. permanently.
I've never met Bapuji in his physical body, as he attained mahasamadhi (left his body, i.e. died) on Dec. 29, 1981. But I feel a strong connection to him, especially after having visited the temple he built in Kayavarohan, Gujarat, in 1995 on the anniversary of his mahasamadhi.

Bapuji was not only a master of Kundalini Yoga, but also an accomplished musician and classical Indian composer, who loved to chant and wrote many bhajans (devotional songs) in his native Gujarati language.
Read Bapuji's Introduction to Kripalu Yoga, courtesy of Pranayoga-la.


Bapuji's guru was Dadaji, believed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva. Although there was a teacher with a human body who instructed the young Swami Kripalvananda in the early 1930s in Bombay, Bapuji did not discover his guru's true identity until many years later when he visited Kayavarohan and saw for the first time this lingam (a represenation of Lord Shiva in his "formless" form) bearing the image of a meditating yogi, who appears to be holding a hand grenade and a stick of dynamite! :-).
In an instant he recoginzed that his teacher Dadaji's true identity was in fact Lord Lakulish, the 28th incarnation of Shiva.

Bapuji's vision inspired him to work to restore the ancient spiritual centre of Kayavarohan and build a magnificent temple as a permanent home for Dadaji. View photos of the Lakulish Temple on my India page. Dadaji is the great-grandfather of the Kripalu lineage, and Bapuji the grandfather,
! namaao Bagavato vaasaudovaaya



Recommended reading, if you would like to learn more about Bapuji and Dadaji: Rajarshi Muni, Light from Guru to Disciple, Sumneytown, PA: Kripalu Yoga Ashram, 1974. (Now likely out of print.)