Earlier Incarnations
Yogananda told Daya Mata (who shared the story with Swami Kriyananda) that when he was incarnated as William the Conqueror, she was one of his daughters, Agatha. Daya Mata said: “William sent me to Spain to be the wife of the heir to the king of that country. But I had a deep desire to dedicate my life to God, and prayed to be spared the destiny my father wanted for me. When the ship arrived in port, I was found kneeling by my bed in an attitude of prayer, dead.” As a consequence, she said, “in this life, I have had trouble with my knees.”ť
“Agatha of Normandy (c.1064-1080): “The same source notes that Agatha was promised in marriage to Alfonso VI, king of Galicia and Leon, but she passed away while on her way to meet her prospective husband, and was buried in the Cathedral of Bayeux. The cause of her death is not clear, but some writers claim she may have resisted the match and died of a broken heart.” She was only 16.
A more recent incarnation must have been in India, as a renunciant. SRF writes: “At the age of eight, when she first learned about India in school, she felt a mysterious inner awakening. That day, when school was over, she ran home and exclaimed jubilantly to her mother, “When I grow up I will never marry; I will go to India.'” Later on she read the Bhagavad Gita which moved her deeply. It certainly stirred up her soul-memories.
https://yoganandaharmony.com/daya-mata
