Born in January 1893 in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, Mukunda Lal Ghosh is the fourth child in a family of eight. His father, Bhagabati Charan Ghosh, is a mathematician, logician, and business executive. While his mother, Gurru Ghosh, is openly loving, his father is a reserved, cautious man, both kind and stern. Both of Mukunda’s parents are disciples of the spiritual master Lahiri Mahasaya, from whom they learned the technique of Kriya Yoga.

Stricken with Asiatic cholera at the age of eight, Mukunda gazes at Lahiri Mahasaya’s photograph and is healed. Shortly after that, he has a vision of a group of saints in mountain caves. Mukunda wants to be with them. In those early days, he also discovers his ability to perform miracles. His sister Uma has a boil on her leg, and she puts ointment on it. Mukunda smears the ointment on his own arm and says that by the next day, he will have a boil on that exact spot. When Uma pours scorn on this notion, he says that her boil will double in size by the next day. Both predictions come true.

The family moves to Lahore in the Punjab.