Kriya Yoga in the Scriptures

Yogananda on Kriya in the Gita

A Raffaello Sanzio detail in the Vatican

"Keep it simple, seasoned (Kiss)" is a good motto.

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) taught and changed kriya-yoga in the United States for thirty years and wrote an autobiography where he talks for kriya yoga and tell tall tales. However, "Erroneous claims don't make things so." Below, several guru assertions and in-depth scriptural commentaries are given for the purpose of clarification: The alleged references to kriya yoga in older Hindu scriptures probably do not refer to the kriya yoga system of Babaji and Yogananda at all. Evidence that they do, seems insignificant. See for yourself – and also try kriya yoga for free if you like. [Core kriya yoga]

❖ Beware of the soap and mean hoaxes.

Wild claims, or so it seems

The Bhagavad Gita (Song of the Lord) is teaching poetry, and part of a very long poem, the Mahabharata. The teachings of the Gita in it are delivered on the brink of war, in a tragic scene where two armies stand arrayed against one another on a battlefield. Standing between these two armies, Krishna and the bowman Arjuna start talking about what is best in life, and with delicate nuances. The initially despondent Arjuna never cries, "This is not the time or place for deep subjects! Please!" [Mmw] The whole Gita is here: [Link]

In his Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda writes that "Kriya is an ancient science", and that Lahiri Mahasaya received it from Babaji, who rediscovered, clarified, and renamed the technique Kriya Yoga. Basic kriya yoga is otherwise known as ujjayi, which is is a publicly well-known way of breathing, though. It is no more secret than that. In Babaji's system there are additions to basic kriya, that is, ujjayi pranayama. Besides, in Satyananda's line of yoga, a system of kriya yoga is taught for free in books [Cy; Kta].

Yogananda seems to quote Babaji by this autobiography passage: "The Kriya Yoga that I am giving to the world through you in this nineteenth century, is a revival of the same science that Krishna gave millenniums ago to Arjuna; and that was later known to Patanjali and Christ, and to St. John, St. Paul, and other disciples." However, there is no biblical evidence of "biblical" kriya.

But first of all: "kriya in the Bhagavad Gita": Yogananda claims that Kriya Yoga is twice referred to in the Bhagavad-Gita [4:1-2 and 4:29]. We will see about that, for Yogananda's interpolation – that the Gita refers to Babaji's system of kriya yoga – is far from convincingly substantiated.

You will get a number of translations of the verses in question in the following, following that of Yogananda, to the end that you too may have a foundation for evaluating the matter and see where we stand.

Yogananda says

The exalted Lord said to Arjuna:

I gave this imperishable Yoga to Vivasvat (the sun-god); Vivasvat passed on the knowledge to Manu (the Hindu lawgiver); Mann told it to Ikshvaku (founder of the solar dynasty of the Kshatriyas). Handed down in this way in orderly succession, the Rajarishis (royal rishis) knew it. But, O Scorcher of Foes (Arjuna)! by the long passage of time, this Yoga was lost sight of on earth. [4:1-2]

Yogananda on verses 4:1-2

Yogananda furnishes a commentary to the verses. He selects to interpret the persons mentioned by Krishna in 4:2, and Krishna too, as symbolic items. In this way Yogananda arrives at a view that says Spirit descends into the world of matter, the sense world. Yogananda's "art" of treating persons as symbols, hardly harmonises with his own words in the Autobiography. He writes,

Krishna also relates that it was he, in a former incarnation, who communicated the indestructible yoga to an ancient illuminato, Vivasvat, who gave it to Manu, the great legislator. He, in turn, instructed Ikshwaku, the father of India's solar warrior dynasty. Passing thus from one to another, the royal yoga was guarded by the rishis until the coming of the materialistic ages. Then, due to priestly secrecy and man's indifference, the sacred knowledge gradually became inaccessible. [Ch 26]

"He" becomes "it" in Yogananda's Gita translation and commentary. There he tells that Krishna, Vivasvat, Manu, and Ikshwaju are symbolic only, not persons. In such a way Yogananda gets ground for the esoteric kriya interpretation. His commentary also draws in a clearly flawed conception of ages, yugas [Gt 423-24; 426n-427n].

Ample reasons to be sceptical of Yogananda's abilities as a maker/interpreter of symbols, flourish in his decadent Rubaiyat commentary. There he uses a tainted transliteration of a medieval Persian poem to tell much of what its author, Omar Khayyam, really meant. However, real translations lack very many of the "symbolic opinions and ideas" that Yogananda builds his Omar understanding or commentary on – he has built an edifice on sand, if you like. It is plain to see, and sufficient examples are offered on another page. [Link]

Yogananda on verse 4:29

Other devotees offer as sacrifice the incoming breath of prana in the outgoing breath of apana, and the outgoing breath of apana in the incoming breath of prana, thus arresting the cause of inhalation and exhalation (rendering breath unnecessary) by intent practice of pranayama (the life-control technique of Kriya Yoga). [4:29]

"The Bhagavad Gita clearly mentions in this stanza the theory of Kriya Yoga, the technique of God-communion that Lahiri Mahasaya gave to the world in the nineteenth century," writes Yogananda [Gt 496]. His Gita commentary includes the topic of prana connected to this verse, how it permeates the world and people, how it has five functions, and that there are two main prana currents in the body: one flows up to the head and another down from the head, simply said, thereby causing in-breath and out-breath. His prana thinking is not controversial as part of yoga.

However, in the yoga tradition there are different methods for trying to balance these currents by working on the breath in varying ways. Basic kriya yoga is one of them. But Yogananda owes the yoga tradition to make it clearer that the Gita may not have referred to Babaji's kriya yoga at all by these words, but some other yoga techniques, for what we know. To read kriya yoga into the verse may be OK, as long as it is made clear that advocates of other yoga techniques may find it fit "put on that hat" too, attempting to get allied to a much respected work of Hinduism. If this point is not made clear, the connection and commentary smacks of being tendentious.

In his commentary to the verse, Yogananda also brings in verses 5:27-28: "That meditation expert (muni) becomes eternally free who, seeking the Supreme Goal, is able to withdraw from external phenomena by fixing his gaze within the midspot of the eyebrows and by neutralizing the even currents of prana and apana [that flow] within the nostrils and lungs ..." [Gt 501]

There should be nothing wrong with these added notions of prana and prana control, but reading the system kriya yoga into the Gita passages may be manipulative, or may not – it is not sure what methods are referred to, if any specific methods at all. The verses may be said to cover all the yoga methods that are designed for stilling the breath somehow, or methods that have such effects. Besides, the kriya yoga system is not specified in the old texts, where you get more general statements, and the term "kriya yoga" could have been coined as late as 1861 by Babaji. That is what Yogananda says in his autobiography [Chap. 34, opening passages and chap. 26].

Other Gita Translations

I will stay mainly with verse 4:29 of the Gita in the following, since it is pivotal for Yogananda's claim that the Gita contains kriya references.

Now for other translations. First in line is Bhaktivedanta, who offers a transliteration and comment of verse 4:29 and all the others.

Bhaktivedanta has

Still others, who are inclined to the process of breath restraint to remain in trance, practice by offering the movement of the outgoing breath into the incoming, and the incoming breath into the outgoing, and thus at last remain in trance, stopping all breathing. Others, curtailing the eating process, offer the outgoing breath into itself as a sacrifice. [4:29]

Bhaktivedanta's Sanskrit transliteraton: apane juhvati pranam / prane 'panam tathapare / pranapana-gati ruddhva / pranayama-parayanah / apare niyataharah / pranan pranesu juhvati

Bhaktivedanta's text broken up in parts

apane – in the air which acts downward;

juhvati – offer;

pranam – the air which acts outward;

prane – in the air going outward;

apanam – the air going downward;

tatha – as also;

apare – others;

prana – of the air going outward;

apana – and the air going downward;

gati – the movement;

ruddhva – checking;

prana-ayama – trance induced by stopping all breathing;

parayanah – so inclined;

apare – others;

niyata – having controlled;

aharah – eating;

pranan – the outgoing air;

pranesu – in the outgoing air;

juhvati – sacrifice.

From Bhaktivedanta's purport – verse 4:29

This system of yoga for controlling the breathing process is called pranayama, and in the beginning it is practiced in the hatha-yoga system through different sitting postures. ... This practice involves controlling the airs [pranas] within the body ... The apana air goes downward, and the prana air goes up. ...

Sivananda's translation

The passages read in Sivananda's translation, which is on-line on the site, and with a Sanskrit transliteration offered too:

The Blessed Lord said:

I taught this imperishable Yoga to Vivasvan; he told it to Manu; Manu proclaimed it to Ikshvaku. [4:1]

This, handed down thus in regular succession, the royal sages knew. This Yoga, by a long lapse of time, has been lost here, Parantapa (burner of foes)! [4:2]

Others offer as sacrifice the outgoing breath in the incoming, and the incoming in the outgoing, restraining the courses of the outgoing and the incoming breaths, solely absorbed in the restraint of the breath. [4:29]

Swarupananda

Yet some offer as sacrifice, the outgoing into the in-coming breath, and the in-coming into the out-going, stopping the courses of the in-coming and out-going breaths, constantly practising the regulation of the vital energy; while others yet of regulated food, offer in the Pranas the functions thereof. [4:29]

Evidence sorted somehow

Bungling with concepts is not learned. There may be no ancient, scriptural evidence that refers specifically to the kriya yoga system of Babaji. This yoga system was handed over to Lahiri Mahasaya under that name only in 1861, Yogananda tells, and, ""The kriya yoga which I am giving to the world through you in this nineteenth century," Babaji told Lahiri Mahasaya, "is a revival of the same science which Krishna gave, millenniums ago, to Arjuna, and which was later known to Patanjali, and to Christ, St. John, St. Paul, and other disciples."" [Autobiography, chap. 26]. The simple, ancient meditation method that is called Hamsa fits the Gita's pranayama description too. As for the other statements quoted, see further down.

The two Gita passages that Yogananda uses to underpin his kriya yoga message, do not detail the essentials of core kriya yoga, i.e., ujjayi pranayama that the guru taught a singular version of. Furthermore, the verses can be used to anchor other methods too. But the passages do suggest the prana-abating side to kriya yoga – among other methods, including the Hamsa way of breath meditation. The Gita may refer to kriya yoga and other techniques, or just other techniques, or just kriya, since the verses do not refer specifically to Babaji's kriya yoga system, which is based on the publicly known calming breathing way called ujjayi, according to Satyananda Yoga.

In conclusion: Solid textual proof is different that reading meanings into an old text and claim much on such a basis.

Kriya and Patanjali

Questions and Answers

Q. Does Patanjali talk of kriya yoga, or does he use the Sanskrit word kriya in a general meaning?

A. He does use the word "kriya(h)". Some translators translate it into "kriya yoga", but most translations I have seen, do not. To almost all translators it is something like "the yoga to do", and that is a general way of speaking, not mentioning any specific method by the term 'kriya'.

Q. How many times do the word "kriya" appear in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras?

A. Four times only.

Q. How do different translators deal with the term?

A. They translate it differently.

Q. What English translations are around?

A. Many. Swami Hariharananda's work is online. So are the translations of Vivekananda, Charles Johnston and others too. Prabhavananda and Isherwood's translation is in book form.

Q. On what grounds is it said that Babaji's kriya yoga is referred to in the Yoga Sutras?

A. According to Yogananda's Autobiography, when Babaji initiated Shyama Lahiri in kriya yoga in 1861, he said, "The kriya yoga which I am giving to the world through you in this nineteenth century, is a revival of [what] was later known to ... Christ, St. John, St. Paul, and other disciples." Yogananda writes that "Babaji ... rediscovered and clarified the technique after it had been lost ..." [Autobiography, chap. 26]

Many translators do not understand 'kriya' found in ancient works as the specific methods called kriya-yoga, because 'kriya' is a widely used Sanskrit word for work, activity, and similar. Much evidence that Yogananda drums up for kriya yoga because of the Sanskrit 'kriya' word, is flawed.

A. Yogananda's shot at Patanjali 2:1 compared to views of notable others

Yogananda assesses that Kriya Yoga is mentioned in verse 2:1 of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Patanjali says,

tapah svadhyay-esvarapranidhanani kriya-yogah [2:1]

In his Autobiography Yogananda translates verse 2:1 thus: "Kriya Yoga consists of body discipline, mental control, and meditating on Om." In a note, this is added: "In using the words Kriya Yoga, Patanjali was referring either to the technique later taught by Babaji or to one very similar. That Patanjali was mentioning a definite technique of life-force control is proved by his aphorism in Yoga Sutras 2:49 [Ay Ch 26, n 6]

Yogananda: "Patanjali refers a second time to the life-control or kriya technique thus: "Liberation can be accomplished by that pranayama which is attained by disjoining the course of inspiration and expiration."" [Yoga Sutras 2.49] [Ay chap 26 with note]

Also: "The ancient sage Patanjali, foremost exponent of yoga, also extols Kriya Yoga pranayama: "Liberation can be attained by that pranayama which is accomplished by disjoining the course of inspiration and expiration"" (Yoga Sutras 2:49). [Gt 502]

It may and may not be kriya yoga pranayama (core kriya) that is referred to by Patanjali, but some other technique that fits the hinted at design: Patanjali could have referred to one or several methods and variations of holding the breath between breathing in and out and out and in.

Yogananda's "Meditating on Om" (verse 2:1) is missing in nearly all the translations that follow, but such an exegesis is found in Lahiri Mahasaya's commentaries (below). Yogananda is of that guru line.

A variety of other translations

Vivekananda:

Mortification, study, and the surrender of the fruits of work to God are called kriya-yoga. [2:1]

He explains that kriya-yoga in this place literally means practising yoga through work. What is meant by "mortification"? It means keeping the body and the organs under proper control, he says. What is meant by "study"? Study of those works which teach the liberation of the soul. ... Books are many and time is short; therefore take what is essential and try to live up to it. The yogi wants to go beyond the senses. [Extract]

Hariharananda Aranya translates the verses thus:

Tapas (austerity or sturdy self-discipline – mental, moral and physical), Svadhyaya (repetition of sacred Mantras or study of sacred literature) and Isvara-pranidhana (complete surrender to God) are Kriya-yoga (Yoga in the form of action). [2:1]

The translators and commentators Pranabhananda and Isherwood say: "Having devoted the first chapter of his aphorisms to the aims of yoga, Patanjali now begins a chapter on its practice. These preliminary steps toward yoga are known collectively as kriya-yoga, which means literally "work toward yoga."" [Yof 67]

I do not know of any ancient scriptural evidence that the "kriya" word in the Sanskrit sutra here, refers to the particular methods that Babaji named kriya yoga as late as in 1861. That date appears to be over two thousand years after most of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras handbook was written. Besides, the Sanskrit word 'kriya' is for most part taken to mean such as practice, actions, and work. Yogananda also says in the opening lines of chapter 26 of his autobiography: "The Sanskrit root of kriya is kri, to do, to act and react; the same root is found in the word karma." [Ay ch 26].

We may well translate Patanjali 2:1 differently from Yogananda. Many translators do that. My shot at it is:

Proper austerity, self-study, and turning one's devotion within to see Bright Light, is the yoga to do.

B. Yogananda's shot at Patanjali 2:49

Yogananda assesses that Kriya Yoga is into verse 2:49 of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras too. Patanjali says,

tasmin sati shvasa prashvasayor gativichchedah pranayamah. [2:49]

Speaking for kriya yoga, Yogananda says: "Patanjali refers a second time to the life-control or kriya technique thus: "Liberation can be accomplished by that pranayama which is attained by disjoining the course of inspiration and expiration."" [Yoga Sutras 2.49] [Ay chap 26 with note]

Yogananda also says, "That Patanjali was mentioning a definite technique of life-force control is proved by his aphorism in Yoga Sutras 2:49 [Ay Ch 26, n 6]

There are many different methods that suit Patanjali's sutra 2:49. And how can anyone document that Patanjali refers to a specific set of yoga methods by tapah-svadhyayeshvara-pranidhanani kriya-yogah? The line carries these basic meanings:

Tapas (austerity or sacrifice as self-discipline), Svadhyaya (self-study, traditionally understood as study with or without delicate repetition of fit mantras or learning good books) and Isvara-pranidhana (pious attention within to Ishwara – God of Light) constitute Kriya-yoga (Activity Yoga) [2:1].

Vivekananda:

Control of the motion of exhalation and inhalation follows after this. [2:49]

Vivekananda explains: "When posture has been conquered, the motion of the prana is then to be broken – that is, stopped – and then controlled. Thus we come to pranayama, the controlling of the vital forces of the body. Prana is not the breath, though it is usually so translated ... We begin by controlling the breath as the easiest way of getting control of the prana." [Via]

Hariharananda Aranya:

That (Asana) having been perfected, regulation of the flow of inhalation and exhalation is Pranayama (breath control). [2:49]

Pranabhananda and Isherwood:

After mastering posture, one must practice control of the prana (pranayama) by stopping the motions of inhalation and exhalation. [2:49] [Yof]

B. K. S. Iyengar:

Pranayama is the regulation of the incoming and outgoing flow of breath with retention. It is to be practiced only after perfection in asana is attained. [2:49]

Venkatesananda:

Simultaneously, the interruption find reversal (and therefore the balancing) of the flow of inhalation and exhalation, of the positive (life-promoting) energy and the negative (decay-promoting) energy, constitutes the regulation of the life-force which is then experienced as the totality of all its functional aspects previously and ignorantly viewed as the building up and the breaking down opposed to each other. [2:49]

Patanjali's pranayama teachings may include something like kriya, but this is not specified

Patanjali writes of pranayama. Yogananda says passages in Patanjali Yoga Sutras refer to kriya yoga or something similar.

The medley below suggests other, more general ways of understanding verse 2:41 of the Patanjali Sutras:

"Regulating" — "regulation of breath" — "Control of the breath, cutting off of the motion of in-breath and out-breath" — "Stopping breathing in and out" — "Restraining the breathing in and out" — "Regulation of breath (Pranayama) is the stoppage of the inspiratory and expiratory movements (of breath) which follows, when that has been secured" — Raghanath Iyer understands this to mean that "pranayama is the regulation of breath, the restraint of inhalation and exhalation." — B. K. S. Iyengar writes "Pranayama is the regulation of the incoming and outgoing flow of breath with retention."

Vital elements of pranayama are inhaling and exhaling and having the flow of breath dwindle and pause, that is, stop a bit by itself too. Patanjali's terse-obscure sutra leaves room for various interpretations. Further, there are several pranayama methods attuned to the gist of Patanjali here, along with teachings and warnings. "The breath may be stopped externally, or internally, or checked in mid-motion, and regulated according to place, time and a fixed number of moments, so that the stoppage is either protracted or brief," write Pranabhananda and Isherwood, and also that "prana means the vital energy by which we live".

Pranabhananda and Isherwood also add about prana that "this [vital] energy is renewed by breathing, prana may sometimes be translated as "breath"; but the word has a much broader reference". "All the powers of the body ... and the mind are regarded as expressions of the force of prana." Prana is many old texts is understood as a "primal energy". [Yof 2:50, comments. p 112]

The sutras 49, 50 and 51 all allude to regulation of the breath. Sutra 51 alludes to an interconnection between mind and breathing: Interiorising the mind deeply may affect the breathing. Sleep modifies the breathing too. Control of the prana through exercises, or after reached a certain stage of spiritual development, the breathing may cease of its own accord for many seconds while he is deeply absorbed. This is natural. [Yof 112-17, passim]

In yoga literature prana is associated with bhutas, elements, and with said centres of vital energy in the subtle spine, which is called the sushumna nadi, which is a vessel for such energies. When the mind reaches the seventh centre of the sushumna (seventh chakra, wheel, or padma, lotus) at the top of the head by backing up the "subtle energy trek" through the sushumna, yoga samadhi is attained. One becomes a knower of Brahman [God], united with Brahman.

Hence, yoga teaches that by directing a pent-up vital energy (prana) in a good way, some obtain enlightenment. The main aim of serious pranayama is to rouse a coil of energy that normally lies dormant at the bottom of the spine, and thereby use the vital energy toward development and yoga. Breathing exercises are means to the end. Pranayama is centred in arresting the breath in ways that matter in yoga. There are more terms involved: If the breath is arrested after an exhalation, when the lungs have been emptied of air, the stoppage is said to be "external." If the breath is checked after an inhalation, this is an "internal" stoppage.

And pranayama comes with warnings: "No one should practice the advanced exercises of pranayama without the constant supervision of an experienced teacher. And no one should practice them under any circumstances ...", tell Pranabhananda and Isherwood in what stands out as our humorous abortion of a longer period that continues like this: "unless he is leading an absolutely chaste life devoted entirely to the search for God. Otherwise they may easily lead to mental disturbances of the most dangerous kind. Those who encourage others to adopt such practices out of curiosity or vanity can only be described as criminals." – Their stipulations or demands do not suit all.

There is; however, a harmless breathing exercise, they inform, and below it is made even simpler than they show:

Breathe in deeply, measuredly, with great ease, and keep relaxed
Then breathe out in about the same way – with ease, and stay relaxed.

This exercise can be continued – and enlarged on too. Now you are into yoga breathing, which is breathing – your breathing, in fact. Yoga breathing consists of various modulations of natural and preferably easy breathing. You may try to breathe through the nostrils only or the nostrils and the mouth at the same time. You do as you find best if you do not get tense. Do not overdo anything or go too far.

Now it is hard to see how breathing with ease can hurt you as you go ahead. Just remember to do it with no strain and pressure. You can enrich your life by it several times a day, and up to five and ten minutes each time, if you so desire. The practice could help the quality of your breathing in the long run, is the bet, and such improvement is needed for many stressed persons. Also, the little practice can lead into pleasant yogi breathing of filling your lungs more and relaxing a bit as instructed. Maybe you should learn pleasant yoga breathing in a yoga class. It could work well against enervation.

Sound breathing practice improves with skill and should not involve holding the breath excessively or over-stimulating the body with too much oxygen. Nor should it serve to trigger latent neuroses and insanity in anybody. [Yof 112-17, passim]

More Evidence

Many translations carry a bias, or a spin, somehow. Translations can reflect the stands, cultures, times and understanding of the translators to some degree. Some translations are better, more cultured, and more reliable than others. If you do not know who they are, there are these lax rules of the thumb:

The translator's renown can be studied. Books by well educated people and published by university publishers could be good, as these agents have standards and depend on repute. Translations that appear on the Internet are of mixed quality.

I have not detected any dandy way of dealing with all sorts of Internet-published works. Some publications on the Internet may not be up to best standards. The same may be said of quite old books that are republished on the Internet: Even thought they were first published by what once was thought of as eminent writers and publishers, much of them may not be actual enough (in line with current interests and understandings), and factual enough (based on facts, i.e, reliable) well as judged by today's standards and knowledge. Many famous books might need to be updated. Textbook writers experience updating problems frequently.

In older works the fit standard of today may be almost there ... And parts may be brilliant or fine too, and that should be acknowledged.

Hence, sifting works with a view to quality can be rather tough and laborious at times, but I have hinted at "what and who" to rely on in gross outline.

Gather works by doctors, professors, published by renowned publishers, such as university presses, and works that get much acclaim otherwise too.

This stratagem may be a help. I for my part have looked into nearly a dozen translations and a couple of Sanskrit transliterations for this study.

More than two fragments: four fragments ...

The Sanskrit word 'kriya" appears in four places of the whole Patanjali work. They are verses 1, 2, 18, and 36 of chapter 2.

Raghavan Iyer brings you the Sanskrit and translations of these verses

tapah-svadhyayeshvara-pranidhanani kriya-yogah
– Austerity, self-study and devoted self-surrender to the Lord constitute the practice of yoga. [2:1]

samadhi-bhavanarthah klesha-tanukaranarthash cha
– This is for the sake of shrinking afflictions [kleshas] and inducing meditative absorption (samadhi). [2:2]

prakasha-kriya-sthiti-shilam bhutendriyatmakam bhogapavargarthem drishyam
- Having the properties of luminosity, motion and inertia, the objective world of visible Nature consists of the elements and the sense-organs, all for the sake of experience and emancipation. [2:18]

satya-pratishthayam kriya-phalashrayatvam
– When one is firmly grounded in truth (satya), all acts gestated bear fruit dependably. [2:36]

- Raghavan Narasimhan Iyer. [Kys].

Hariharananda Aranya translates these verses:

Swami Hariharananda Aranya (1869-1947) was of an austere lifestyle and intense spiritual practice. In April 1947, his body was frail and he decided against continuing further. Hariharananda calls the second chapter "On practice".

Tapas (austerity or sturdy self-discipline – mental, moral and physical), Svadhyaya (repetition of sacred Mantras or study of sacred literature) and Isvara-pranidhana (complete surrender to God) are Kriya-yoga (Yoga in the form of action). [2:1]

That Kriya-yoga (should be practised) for bringing about Samadhi and minimising the Klesas. [2:2]

The object or knowable is by nature sentient, mutable and inert. It exists in the form of the elements and the organs, and serves the purpose of experience and emancipation. [2:18]

When truthfulness is achieved, the words (of the Yogin) acquire the power of making them fruitful. [2:36]

- Swami Hariharananda. [Ypp]

Lahiri Mahasaya's Version

We should wonder how certain is it that something forgotten has been revived, revived well, completely, without flaws, and so on. And to say that a dim, forgotten-yet-revived kriya yoga system is shown in prestigious works of Hinduism, like the Bhagavad Gita and Patanjali Yoga Sutras, is that making use of obscure stanzas much like square holes for round pegs? Shyama Lahiri (1828-95) with added titles of respect after the surname, basically interprets the Yoga Sutras and many other works in the light of kriya. By that he applies kriya yoga teachings to those works.

Many old statements are tersely obscure, and allow for several interpretations. Solid translations require background knowledge – knowledge of the wider context – and much else. Take a look at how knowing how to interpret texts in general offers help [Link].

Today there are different versions of Lahiri Mahasaya's work on the Yoga Sutras. I can make do with one, the "San Diego text".

Now, we turn to the instruction of how to practice Yoga, which is to be practiced under the direct (personal) guidance of the Guru. Tapa, Swadhyaya and Iswarapranidhana constitute Kriya Yoga.

[1. Tapa:] Pranaba, or OM, which is spontaneously heard.

[2. Swadhyaya:] The chanting of OM (practicing Omkar Kriyas with a particular Mantra].

[3. Iswarapranidhana:] Holding onto the Self, surrendering all actions to the Self and offering inner Realization – all of which are done by him.

To remove suffering and to attain Samadhi, Kriya Yoga must be practiced.

The holding onto Samadhi by means of practicing Kriya removes suffering of the body and mind.

Gradually, Nada, or "the inner Sound," is heard, leaving no room for all imagination and thoughts of the mind.

Afterwards, the supreme Being and inner Wisdom are both attained. [Lahiri Mahasaya's Commentary to Patanjali Yoga Sutras 2:1 and 2 in Iv 143-44]

The quotations above are verbatim, except that words in italics in the original are not in italics here. Parenthetic matter in round brackets is there in the original.

Lahiri talks of subtle happenings in meditation. To what degree you think Patanjali covers all of them in his two verses (2:1-2) is for you to decide.

Several decades ago Yogananda's fellowship sold Charles Johnston's translation of Patanjali. It is on-line now. In his text the two sutras are:

The practices which make for union with the Soul are: fervent aspiration, spiritual reading, and complete obedience to the Master — Their aim is, to bring soul-vision, and to wear away hindrances." [Charles Johnston, 2:1-2]

Jesus-Kriya?

Jesus and Kriya Yoga

"The Kriya Yoga that I am giving to the world through you in this nineteenth century, is a revival of the same science that Krishna gave millenniums ago to Arjuna; and that was later known to Patanjali and Christ, and to St. John, St. Paul, and other disciples," Babaji is quoted to say in Autobiography of a Yogi, chap 26.

In his Bhagavad Gita commentary, Yogananda also launches a soporific claim about Jesus. "That Jesus knew and taught to his disciples the Raja Yoga technique of uniting soul with Spirit is evidenced in the deeply symbolic Biblical chapter "The Revelation of Jesus Christ to Saint John." Revelations may be used to "talk of" so many different things; there is a problem. What you "see" in those obscure passages, tends to reflect the interpreter by what he or she reads into it. [Gt 427].

If Jesus knew kriya-yoga, he hid it well. The dispensation he heralded, was different; it was the Holy Spirit falling on persons, and not methods taught. That is the central happening of Acts in the New Testament - the sine qua non for Christianity.

Yogananda also tells in several places that the wise men of the Gospel were the SRF gurus, and all without the evidence that is needed in scientific circles. His direct disciple James Donald Walters says Yogananda dictated:

Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Sri Yukteswar," he dictated, "were the three wise men who came to visit the Christ child in the manger. When Jesus became old enough, he returned their visit. [Np, chap 20]

Yogananda manages the obscure "art" of seemingly reconciling irreconcilable teachings from different heads.

❖ To end up confused, put faith in everything you are told. [Compare]

Paul and Kriya