Soham Swami, also known by various other names including "Tiger Swami," was an Indian Hindu guru and yogi. He was originally named Shyama Kanta Bandopadhyay and was a disciple of Tibbetibaba, a renowned guru and yogi in the Advaita Vedanta tradition in India.

Soham Swami was born in 1858 in Adial, a small village in Bikrampur district in Bengal. He was known for his remarkable physical strength, to the extent that he was able to wrestle tigers. In fact, he gained fame in India and Europe as the first tiger tamer of India under the name Professor Banerjee. In Bengal, he was admired and called BaghaShyamakanta. However, his tiger-taming feats took place before he embarked on his spiritual journey.

Soham Swami established a hermitage close to a crematorium in Bhawali in Nainital. It was at this ashram in Nainital that Niralamba Swami, who was also known as Jatindra Nath Banerjee, became his disciple. Niralamba Swami was a renowned freedom fighter of India during his early life.

Shyama Kanta Bandopadhyay was born in the Bengali month of Jaistha in 1858 in Ariyal village, which is located in the district of Dacca. His family belonged to the Bandyoghati branch of Rarhi Kulin Brahmans of Phulia Mel and Sandalya Gotra. Shyama Kanta was the eldest of seven siblings, with three brothers and three sisters. His father, Shashi Bhusan Bandopadhyay, served as the keeper of records at the court of Tripura in Muradnagar, located in the district of Comilla. One of his sisters, Sarala, became a monk and was renamed Sayambhati, while his other sisters were named Sushila and Suniti.

Shyama Kanta, after finishing his primary education at a school in Muradnagar, enrolled in Dacca Collegiate School. He found companionship with other students who shared his interests, including Paresh Nath Ghosh, Basanta Deb Choudhury, Jagat Kishore Acharya, Barada Kanta, and more. Together, they started training at the wrestling gymnasium of Adhar Ghosh, a well-known wrestler in Dacca. The gym focused on traditional bodybuilding and wrestling exercises, which helped these young men become strong and brave.

Giuseppe Garibaldi, an Italian revolutionary, inspired many people, including Shyama Kanta, to hope for the liberation of their country through military revolution. However, educated Bengalis were not allowed to join the British Indian army, and learning about warfare from the fragmented armies of native rulers was not helpful. Shyama Kanta gave up his military aspirations after touring central and western India with his friend Paresh Nath Ghosh and returned home to Dacca.

At the age of 21 in 1879, Shyama Kanta married Kadambini, who was only 12 years old at the time. She was the daughter of Kali Charan Chattopadhyay, who lived in Dvipara, a village in Dacca district. Shyama Kanta also became a bodyguard for Maharaja Bir Chandra Manikya Bahadur, the ruler of Tripura, but resigned from the position after two years. Despite his resignation, he maintained a friendly relationship with the Maharaja throughout his life. In 1881, he became a physical education teacher at Barishal District School.

Shyama Kanta had always dreamed of doing something extraordinary to inspire his countrymen and encourage them to fight for their freedom from the British. Fear was the biggest obstacle to liberation, and Shyama Kanta believed that overcoming this fear was necessary to challenge the imperialist force. One day, he heard news of a captured leopard in Sunamganj in the district of Sylhet, and he purchased the animal. He gradually learned how to wrestle with the wild cat and eventually performed his first act in Sunamganj, which quickly made him famous.

Rich and powerful Zamindars, known for their hunting adventures, frequently challenged Shyama Kanta to prove his mettle by wrestling with freshly trapped wild tigers. When he emerged victorious, he demanded the animals, and soon, even Royal Bengal tigers joined his circus. In 1886, he officially formed his circus company and toured across Bengal, Bihar, and Tripura, showcasing his tiger wrestling and stone-breaking feats. During this time, he also engaged in a secret mission to train young men in wrestling and bodybuilding, preparing them for revolutionary activities.

For 17 years, Shyama Kanta entertained audiences with his tiger wrestling acts, gaining more and more fame across Bengal and Bihar. His extraordinary feats helped to inspire and motivate people, giving them the courage to challenge the British and fight for their freedom.

Shyama Kanta had a deep longing for a spiritual journey since his teenage years, when he met an unnamed ascetic in Muradnagar. However, he kept this desire hidden until he witnessed the destruction of an earthquake and the loss of many lives in 1898. This event made him realize that his life was flowing downstream, relentlessly carried by the current of time, and that he needed to embark on his spiritual journey again.

Shyama Kanta reflected on his life and thought about how he had indulged in worldly pleasures and failed to notice that time was passing by. He felt that he had wasted his childhood, adolescence, and youth, serving his passions. Now, as he approached middle-age, he realized that his life was nearing its end. He saw himself as a greedy deer trapped in the snare of illusion, not knowing when the hunter of time would come to kill him.

These thoughts led Shyama Kanta to renounce his worldly life and embrace monasticism. In 1900, he left his family and home to become a wandering monk, taking the name of Swami Shri Yukteshwar Giri. He spent the next 18 years traveling across India, studying spiritual scriptures, and practicing meditation and yoga. During this time, he also met his guru, Lahiri Mahasaya, and received spiritual initiation from him.

After the death of his father, Shyama Kanta left his family and started a spiritual journey in search of the truth. He met a monk who advised him to visit Varanasi and seek the guidance of Tibbatibaba, a great Advaitin philosopher. He became an ascetic in August 1901 and was renamed Soham Swami by his master. Soham Swami established his hermitage in Bhawali, near Nainital, and followed the spiritual path of Advaita or non-dualism. He criticized religious bigotry and superstitions. He passed away on 6 December 1918 while in deep meditation or Samadhi in his hermitage at Bhawali. His tomb is located at Palitpur, Burdwan, India, and a symbolic tomb is also present at his Nainital ashram. His last remains were brought to the Palitpur ashram of Tibbetibaba, and a tomb was built there.

Soham Swami dedicated the last 10 years of his life to writing extensively on Vedanta. His first written work, Soham Geeta, was published in 1909, which was a Bengali philosophical poem based on Advaitavad. He went on to write several other works, including Soham Tattva, Truth, Soham Sanhita, Bibek Gatha, Shambuk Badh Kabya, Common Sense, and Bhagabat Geetar Shamolochana. His literary works were based on his experience of enlightenment, extensive exploration of Hindu society and scriptures, and the study of eastern and western philosophical writings. Before writing Soham Geeta, Soham Swami studied 142 Aryan theological treatises, including the Vedas and Vedanta, as well as works by Sufi mystics, Sadhakas, and western scholars such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Herbert Spencer. He wrote in both Bengali and English and was a critic of religious bigotry and superstitions.

Soham Swami was a prolific writer, and his works include several books on Advaita philosophy and Vedanta. Some of his notable works include "Soham Gita," which is a poem on Advaita philosophy, "Soham Tattva," a collection of Bengali prose on Vedanta, and "Soham Samhita," which contains his teachings. He also wrote a book in English poetry called "Truth," which was published in 1913. In addition, he wrote books such as "Bibekgatha," "Shambuk Badh Kavya," and "Bhagabat Geetar Shamolochana." One of his notable works is "Common Sense," in which he attempts to prove that all religions of the world are full of absurdities, inconsistencies, and fallacies, and he stresses the importance of developing common sense and realizing the divinity in all beings. The book was first published in 1923.

Soham Swami's philosophy was based on Advaita Vedanta or non-dualism, which promoted the belief in Ekatma Vijnana or the knowledge of the indivisible one soul. Soham Swami supported this doctrine of One Soul with his own experiences of super-consciousness in Samadhi, as well as logical reasoning. He believed that one could realize the truth by restraining the mind and understanding that "thou art that".

Soham Swami also believed in the non-existence of a personal God, which he expressed in his book Truth, saying, "The God whom East and West alike acclaim, I found imposture and an empty name." He criticized religious bigotry and superstitions, stressing the importance of developing common sense and realizing the divinity in all beings.

Soham Swami was against the idea of a Personal God, which he believed was an incorrect concept influenced by Abrahamic religions. He argued that God is a creation of humans and varies according to different cultures. Swami's experience of Samadhi and Virat, as well as logical reasoning, clarified the non-existence of God. According to him, if there was a Creator-God independent of the world, then it would have been found in the world or behind it during the state of Yoga. However, during Samadhi, it is seen that the Soul exists as the world, and there is no other object or person. Additionally, when the mirage of the world created from imagination disappears, only the unqualified pure conscious existence of the Soul is manifested, and there is no other existence. Therefore, Swami believed that everything is only a false imagination and only the Soul is true.