Swami Satyeswarananda and the Sanskrit Classics

Swami Satyeswarananda Giri (1941–2017), born in Bengal, was instructed and trained in kriya yoga by the Indian Swami Satyananda Giri (1896–1971). Satyeswarananda served Satyananda for twenty years, completed an MA in Philosophy (specialising in Vedanta) and got a bachelor's degree of law at the University of Calcutta. The degree allowed him to practise as a lawyer.

Satyeswarananda entered the swami order shortly before Satyananda passed away. Afterwards he would go to the Himalayas to meditate. He says he spent time with Babaji at Dunagiri Hill there, and lived and stayed with him for periods in some caves and a small hut. He also tells he learnt the whole kriya system of Babaji, and in 1981 was told by him to re-establish the original kriya yoga of Shyama Charan Lahiri (1828–95) world-wide. A good reason to do it, was that the kriya-yogi Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) had deviated much from it; he had taught only parts of the whole kriya system. In his Yogananda biography (2006, 109-10), Sailendra Dasgupta (1910?–1984) tells about it too.

In 1982, Babaji sent Satyeswarananda to the USA. He settled in San Diego. In 1984 he became a self-publisher by setting up the Sanskrit Classics in San Diego. The swami came to translate, write and publish many kriya yoga books. They were biographies of kriya yogis, books related to various scriptures, and in particular Shyama Lahiri's many commentaries on many texts.

Satyeswarananda tells that when he came to the States, two publishers who were interested in publishing his manuscripts, wanted to edit them; they wanted to make them polished and popular so that they could sell and make profits. But he saw that these publishers would not be able to understand the true "vibration" message and lived in a different world than him, namely the sense-world. So he decided to self-publish. He did so for years - translated, wrote, revised and published to his ability.

(Main sources: Satyeswarananda 2018; "Swami S. Giri" orbituary, published in The San Diego Union Tribune, Sept. 9, 2017)

The Swami Rendered and Quoted

During meditation practice many obstructions, physical and mental, are produced; and it is not within the capacity of the individual (Jiva) to overcome them without the help of the wife.

The husband and the wife together are able to meditate to be successful.

In the Vedic culture, the wife is called the partner in dharma and all the ancient Risis (sages) used to accept a wife/wives, and realised the Self. [Comment: All rishis (seers)? How might he know? Did Adi Shankara have a wife? Anyway, some were married; monks and nuns were for most part hardly so. - T. K.]

Babaji does not look like a body builder.

[P]rachhardan is inhaling and bidharan is exhaling.

How will one practitioner understand this by reading books and written lessons?

Certainly one cannot have the clue.

[The source is the index page of the Sanskrit Classics. https://web.archive.org/web/20180819041637/https://sanskritclassics.com/index.html]

He claims, "One cannot have the clue," but what about you? You may probably breathe in and out without clues. On top of it comes the refining of the breath by yoga methods. - We will go somewhat into it now.