Godman to tycoon: A biography that offers insights into Baba Ramdev's life

Offers interesting insights into the meteoric rise of his political influence, business empire

The swami as conman is a familiar theme. When Maharishi Mahesh Yogi attracted such pop stars as the Beatles and Donovan and movie stars like Mia Farrow to his ashram, most Indians were delighted. Mahesh Yogi had put India’s spiritual tradition on the world map, we said. Then, disillusionment set in. The Beatles stormed out of the Maharishi’s ashram claiming that he had molested one of the foreign celebrity devotees (John Lennon later suggested that this was Mia Farrow). 

Despite the Swami’s apparent love of worldly pursuits, nobody doubted that he knew his yoga. Transcendental Meditation, the technique he introduced