The Beatles carried *Autobiography of a Yogi* with them to India because it had become a kind of spiritual touchstone, especially for George Harrison, whose interest in Indian spirituality was already awakening. The book’s vivid accounts of realized masters and the path of Kriya Yoga resonated with their growing sense that fame and material success could not satisfy a deeper inner hunger. As they turned away from the excesses of their lifestyle, they sought a more authentic experience of consciousness, and Yogananda’s work articulated a vision of such inner realization that spoke directly to that yearning. In this way, the book functioned less as casual reading and more as a companion on a serious inward journey.

Their journey to Rishikesh to study meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi formed part of a broader spiritual search, and the presence of *Autobiography of a Yogi* reflected the atmosphere of that search. The text offered an introduction to yogic philosophy and practice, and its descriptions of saints and sages provided a living context for the meditation training they were about to undertake. Rather than being an isolated curiosity, the book stood within the same stream of Eastern wisdom that was drawing them toward disciplined practice and inner transformation. For seekers such as the Beatles, carrying that book into India symbolized a desire not merely to visit a foreign land, but to enter more deeply into the spiritual world that land represented.