The great seer and saint Maharshi Kartikeya was born into a distinguished Brahmin family in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Already in early childhood he showed signs of a promising genius. He possessed the ability of clairvoyance and as a young boy was able to recite great Indian works such as the Mahabharata flawlessly in Sanskrit. He could also chant sacred Mantras without ever learning them. Still a child, he left his rich parental home and went on a wandering tour to the lonely peaks of the Himalayas. He made pilgrimages to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, seeking contact with mystics and spiritually aspiring ascetics who were striving for spiritual fulfillment in these cold wastelands. At the pilgrimage site of Badrinath, it became unmistakably clear to him that he must dedicate his life to the service and spiritual advancement of mankind. It was high ideals that drove him to this mission: True spiritual knowledge, philosophy, meditation, study and teaching of Yoga, and the desire to make the world a better and more blessed place.
Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari was privileged as a young man to attract the interest of this great personality. Maharshi Kartikeya recognized the young man’s abilities and initiated him into the little-known mysteries of Yoga. He instructed him to devote himself to the welfare of humanity and to teach people rare, valuable Yoga techniques such as “Yogic Sukshma Vyayama”, the system of subtle Yoga exercises. Extensive travels took Maharshi Kartikeya all over India, and in the course of his long life he was able to help countless people. In 1953, he came to Ayodhya, the birthplace of God Rama, where on September 24 he gathered all his disciples and followers on the banks of the Sarayu River to hold an evening devotion. There, during the communal meditation, he entered Maha-Samadhi, that is, he left his body to enter a life beyond our human sphere. It is generally believed that he had been 336 years old at that time.