Autobiography of a Yogi

Yogananda’s brother Ananta is taken ill. Yogananda takes care of him and then goes on a trip to Japan and China. In Shanghai, he buys a gift for Ananta and then drops it. The gift cracks, and Yogananda believes the accident indicates that Ananta is dead. When he gets back to India, his youngest brother Bishnu confirms that Ananta died on the same day Yogananda bought the gift.

He then tells a story about his younger sister Nalini, who has always been very thin. She desperately wants to put on weight. Throwing her medicines away, she puts her trust in God, and Yogananda tells her to consume a vegetarian diet. After several months, he visits her again and tells her that in one month’s time, she will weigh as much as he does. This prediction comes true.

After Yogananda’s return from Japan, he learns that Nalini has typhoid fever. He rushes to visit her and finds her emaciated and in a coma. The doctors offer no hope, but Yogananda prays for her and she recovers in a week, just as he had said she would. However, her legs are paralyzed. Yogananda asks Sri Yukteswar for help; the guru says Nalini will be well in a month, but she must wear a two-carat pearl against her skin.