Who was this person called in the West Babaji after his story was first told in Autobiography of a Yogi? Actually the name Babaji is somewhat generic and has been applied to many sages over the years. The word Baba means father and the suffix "ji" is one of respect. But the Babaji written about here is called by many names such as Mahavatar Babaji, Hariakhan Babaji, Babaji Maharaj (great king), Shiva Baba (denoting his close connection to God Shiva), also Bhagavan Sadashiva, Sri Sadashiva, Mahamunindra, and Sri Sri Baba.

Hariakhan Baba Maharaj is a Great One, said to have been alive for thousands of years, dwelling in various caves in the Himalayas, appearing sometimes among men to accomplish some particular goal but always watching over the welfare of mankind from the sidelines. Though many people saw him in both the 19th and the 20th century, his appearance was always that of a young man in early manhood. He was tall and slender with a noble and dignified appearance and in nature was humble, kind and childlike. His complexion was light and his hair sometimes worn long and sometimes short. Details of his appearance varied even when he was observed by several people at the same time. He spoke little and seldom ate unless given food by devotees. He never slept, and when on the move, he walked very fast. His appearances and disappearances were always sudden and unexpected. He had great strength of body and was often seen lifting huge rocks. Sometimes he was seen with several Tibetan Lamas and in fact Babaji was often seen wearing a shirt and Tibetan cap over his head. He spoke a mixture of many languages including Nepali, Hindi, and Kurmachal languages. Whenever he talked to anyone from a particular region of India, he spoke to them fluently in their own native language. Nobody knows when he was born or where. He had all the known siddhas (Yogic powers) and occasionally performed miracles in a natural way according to the circumstances at hand. But mostly people were drawn to him because of the bliss they experienced in his presence.

He appeared in many places in Northern India near the Himalayas between 1861 and 1924. At that time he was known by different names in the different regions and people didn't realize these were different names for the same person until a man named Mahendra Brahmachari had a vision of him in 1949. He subsequently became a devotee of Babaji Maharaj and spent thirty-five years traveling all over India, collecting the stories told about encounters with the great Babaji. He published these in India under the title Punya Smriti using the pen name Guru Charnasrit. There was also a book about him titled Hariakhan Baba, Known, Unknown by Baba Hari Dass published in America in 1975 by the Sri Rama Foundation.