Baba Hari Dass

Baba Hari Dass (Devanagari: बाबा हरि दास) (26 March 1923 – 25 September 2018) was an Indian yogi, silent monk and commentator of Indian scriptural traditions of dharma and moksha. He was classically trained in the Ashtanga of Patanjali (also known as Rāja yoga), as well as Kriya yoga, Ayurveda, Samkhya, Sri Vidya, Tantra, Vedanta, and Sanskrit. Baba Hari Dass took a vow of silence in 1952, which he upheld through the rest of his life. Although he did not speak, he was able to communicate in several languages through writing. His literary output included scriptural commentaries to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the Bhagavad Gita, Samkhyakarika, and Vedanta Panchadasi, collections of aphorisms about the meaning and purpose of life, essays, plays, short stories, children's stories, kirtan, mantras, and in-depth instructional yoga materials that formed the basis of a yoga certification-training program. Upon his arrival in North America in early 1971, Baba Hari Dass and his teachings contributed to the creation of several yoga centers and retreat programs in the United States in Santa Cruz County, California, and in Canada at Salt Spring Island and in Toronto. He was an early proponent of Ayurveda, an ancient Indian system of health and healing, and helped introduce the practice to the United States. In an annual rendition of the Indian epic Ramayana, he taught performing arts, choreography and costume making. In line with his emphasis on karma, he opened Sri Ram Orphanage for homeless children in Haridwar, India in 1987. To the local population of Nainital and Almora, Baba Hari Dass was also known as Haridas (lit "servant of Lord Hari"), Haridas Baba, Chota Maharaji (literally "little great king"), or Harda Baba.