Career
He wandered over India for thirteen years before settling in Anandabag near the Durga Mandir, in 1868. A Sanskrit and Vedic scholar turned ascetic of Dashanami Dandi sannyasi order, many kings visited him to seek advise, and he also reported be an advisor counsel to Kashi Naresh (Maharaja of Kingdom of Kashi), today his samadhi shrine is situated at Durga Kunda, adjacent to the historic Durga Mandir in Varanasi. Swamiji"s real name was Matiram Misra.
From age eight to seventeen, he was a diligent and most successful student of Sanskrit.
A son was born to him at the age of eighteen. By this event he was, in his own opinion, freed from any further social obligations.
So one day he disappeared from his father"s house and went on foot to Ujjain, where he put up a temple of Siva. At about age 27, he was initiated into the holy order of Sannyas by Paramahamsa Swami Purnananda Saraswati of Ujjain, and christened Swami Bhaskarananda Saraswati, a name by which he was known afterwards.
Foreign thirty-five years Swami traveled around India, always practicing Tapas (Sanskrit).
From his long ineffable knowledge he had desired, he settled down for the remainder of his life in the sacred city of Varanasi and miracles of healing were attributed to him. Today, his samadhi shrine situated at Durga Kunda, adjacent to the historic Durga Mandir in Varanasi is maintained by a small trust. He too was reputed to have yogic powers, and had foreseen his own death.
Though his influence spanned all sections of society, the transformation of character of several notorious pandas wrought by his influence is especially worth mentioning.
He also finds mention in Mark Twain"s non-fiction travelogue Following the Equator (1897), who met Swami in Varanasi. Apart from that American explorer couple, Fanny Bullock Workman and William Hunter Workman also met him at the Ananda Bagh garden.