क्रियायोगkriyā-yoga · the yoga of action
Kriyā yoga, two meanings of one name
3 min read · Updated October 17, 2026 · sources checked October 17, 2026
In short
Kriya yoga has two meanings. In Patañjali's Yoga Sutras (2.1) it is the yoga of action: discipline (tapas), self-study (svādhyāya) and surrender to the Lord (īśvara-praṇidhāna). Since the nineteenth century it also names a meditation technique taught by Lahiri Mahasaya and spread worldwide by Paramahansa Yogananda, given only by initiation.
Type "kriya yoga" into a search engine and two worlds appear: a short sutra of Patañjali, and a lineage of Bengali masters made famous by a bestselling autobiography. They share a name, and the second claims the first as its source. This page separates them, cites the texts, and reports the lineage from its own published accounts.
The word
Kriyā comes from the root kṛ, to do, like karma. It means action, rite, practice. Kriyā yoga is "yoga as practice" or "the yoga of action". In hatha yoga the same word names the cleansing techniques (shatkarma, often called kriyās), which is a third, unrelated usage.
1. Kriyā yoga in the Yoga Sutras
Patañjali opens the second chapter, the chapter on practice, with it:
तपःस्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि क्रियायोगः ॥
tapaḥ-svādhyāyeśvara-praṇidhānāni kriyā-yogaḥ ||
Discipline, self-study and surrender to the Lord are the yoga of action.
समाधिभावनार्थः क्लेशतनूकरणार्थश्च ॥
samādhi-bhāvanārthaḥ kleśa-tanū-karaṇārthaś ca ||
It serves to bring about absorption and to weaken the afflictions.
The first chapter was for those whose mind is already steady. The second begins with kriyā yoga for everyone else, people with a restless mind and an ordinary life. The three elements return later among the five observances, the niyamas (2.32), and Patañjali gives each its own fruit (2.43-2.45).
| Element | Sanskrit | What Patañjali and Vyāsa say | A practice today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discipline | tapas | it burns impurity and perfects body and senses (2.43); Vyāsa adds that it should not disturb the clarity of the mind | a fixed daily practice, kept even when it is inconvenient |
| Self-study | svādhyāya | recitation of sacred texts and of Om; it brings contact with one's chosen deity (2.44) | daily reading of a few sutras or verses, japa |
| Surrender to the Lord | īśvara-praṇidhāna | from it comes perfection in samādhi (2.45) | offering the fruit of each action, as in karma yoga |
This kriyā yoga needs no initiation and no special technique. It is a way of organising a spiritual life, and the gate to the eight limbs.
2. Kriya Yoga in the line of Lahiri Mahasaya
The lineage, as its own sources tell it
The best-known account is Paramhansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi (first edition 1946, now freely available). Its facts and dates:
| Teacher | Dates | What the published accounts say |
|---|---|---|
| Babaji, called Mahāvatār | not given | a Himalayan master; Yogananda presents him as deathless, a matter of faith that cannot be verified |
| Lahiri Mahasaya (Shyama Charan Lahiri) | born 30 September 1828, Ghurni (Bengal); died 1895 | a married government accountant, transferred to Ranikhet in the autumn of 1861, where he says he met Babaji and received Kriya; he then taught in Varanasi (Benares) |
| Sri Yukteswar Giri | born 10 May 1855; died 1936 at Puri | disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya, Yogananda's guru |
| Paramahansa Yogananda | 1893-1952 | founded Yogoda Satsanga Society of India in 1917 and Self-Realization Fellowship in 1920; sent to the West in 1920, when he spoke at the International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston |
Several other lineages descending from Lahiri Mahasaya's disciples also teach Kriya Yoga, with their own preparation and initiation.
What Yogananda says the technique is
Yogananda writes that he "cannot give a full explanation of Kriya Yoga in the pages of a book intended for the general public" and that "the actual technique must be learned from a Kriyaban or Kriya Yogi". He describes it in general terms as a method of breath and life-force control along the spine, and links it to three texts: Yoga Sutra 2.1, Yoga Sutra 2.49 on prāṇāyāma, and this verse of the Gita:
अपाने जुह्वति प्राणं प्राणेऽपानं तथापरे । प्राणापानगती रुद्ध्वा प्राणायामपरायणाः ॥
apāne juhvati prāṇaṃ prāṇe 'pānaṃ tathāpare | prāṇāpāna-gatī ruddhvā prāṇāyāma-parāyaṇāḥ ||
Others offer the in-breath into the out-breath and the out-breath into the in-breath; restraining the course of both, they are devoted to breath control.
That Patañjali's kriyā yoga refers to this technique is the lineage's interpretation; the sutra itself names only discipline, study and surrender.
How Kriya is taught today
The organisations founded by Yogananda describe a staged path: a course of home-study lessons (Self-Realization Fellowship presents its basic course as nine months long), preliminary techniques of concentration and meditation, then a request for initiation into the Kriya technique. Other lineages have their own steps, but all keep the technique for initiates.
Which kriyā yoga is for you?
- If you want to start today, on your own: practise Patañjali's kriyā yoga. Choose one discipline you can keep (for example 15 minutes of sitting every morning), read a few Yoga Sutras a day, and offer your actions.
- If you feel drawn to the Kriya lineage: read Autobiography of a Yogi, then contact the organisation of the lineage you trust and follow its preparation. Look at what is asked of you, in time and money, before committing.
- Either way, a steady seat and gentle breathing come first: how to meditate, alternate nostril breathing without retention.
To compare with the other paths, see the paths of yoga.
Questions people ask
What is kriya yoga?
In the Yoga Sutras, the threefold practice of discipline, study and surrender (2.1). In the lineage of Lahiri Mahasaya and Yogananda, a set of meditation and breathing techniques given by initiation after preparatory lessons.
Can I learn Kriya Yoga online or from a video?
The lineages that teach it give the technique only by initiation, after preparation. Yogananda wrote that it cannot be fully explained in a book and must be learned from a qualified Kriya teacher. Avoid copying breath techniques from videos.
Is Kriya Yoga the same as Kundalini Yoga?
No. Kundalini Yoga as taught today comes from Yogi Bhajan (from 1968); Kriya Yoga from the line of Lahiri Mahasaya (19th century). Both use the word kriyā, but the methods and lineages differ.
Who was Lahiri Mahasaya?
Shyama Charan Lahiri (1828-1895), a Bengali householder and government accountant. According to Autobiography of a Yogi, he received Kriya Yoga from Babaji near Ranikhet in 1861 and taught it in Varanasi.
Sources
- Patañjali, Yogasūtra with the Yogabhāṣya attributed to Vyāsa, Sanskrit text (GRETIL) checked October 17, 2026
- Paramhansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi (1946 first edition), Project Gutenberg checked October 17, 2026
- Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, Paramahansa Yogananda (official page) checked October 17, 2026
- Self-Realization Fellowship, Kriya Yoga: path of meditation (official page) checked October 17, 2026
- Bhagavadgītā, critical edition (Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute), Sanskrit text (GRETIL) checked October 17, 2026