He was married and had a son. His wife passed away in 1944. His parents pressed him to marry again, but he declined. Sometime in 1946, he bought the book ‘Practice of Yoga – Vol I’ of Gurudev Swami Sivananda at Tiruvanantapuram railway station.

After the passing away of Sri Ramakrishna in 1886, Swami Brahmananda spent over six years outside the Math practising Sadhana and leading a wandering monk’s life, mostly accompanied by a brother-disciple.

Swami Brahmananda Saraswati (IAST: Svāmī Brahmānanda Sarasvatī) (21 December 1871 [1] – 20 May 1953), also known as Guru Dev (meaning "divine teacher"), was the Shankaracharya of the Jyotir Math monastery in India.

Swami Brahmanand Saraswati, known to his followers as Guru Dev (“Divine Teacher”), was born in 1868 into a Brahmin family in the village of Gana near Ayodhya, India. He left home at the age of nine in search of a spiritual master.

Swami Brahmananda was the “friend, philosopher and guide” of Swami Vivekananda in every respect. He took care of his health, gave advice about his plans, arranged his tours and put his ideas into action.