he was born in raipur, india. he graduated from allahabad university in uttar pradesh, and began his career as a physicist. his physics work made him interested in the sound vibrations made by spoken syllables, and how those vibrations could change a person's body or consciousness. in time, he became a disciple of swami brahmananda saraswati, who was called "guru dev". he later became the swami's secretary. he could not become the swami's , because of india's caste system, but he could become a guru on his own. guru dev gave him the name "bal brahmachari mahesh". later he adopted the name maharishi ("great teacher"), while "yogi" was a name given to teachers of yoga.