Explanation of Satyaki - Good Conduct

Satyaki was a general from Lord Krisna's dynasty who fought on behalf of the Pandavas. He is one of the nine persons who survived the Kurushektra war. Satyaki was a student of Arjuna in weapons. It was he who was entrusted by Krisna and Arjuna on a crucial day to protect King Yudhisthira against their military teacher Dronacharya, who intended to capture Yudhisthira while Krisna and Arjuna were taken far away from Yudhisthira's location. The swiftness of Satyaki's fighting ability, cutting one and a half dozen bows before Dronacharya could fire one arrow, surprised Dronacharya, who exclaimed, "Bravo Satyaki".

According to Lahiri Mahasay, Satyaki represented good conduct of the seeker. For Sriyukteswar, Satyaki represented Sraddha, which means respect. "The person who is respectful, only he can attain Knowledge" - Bhagavad Gita. Yogananda, while accepting the same word Sradhha as his Guru did, but twisted the definition to be "devotion", which means bhakti. Relevantly speaking, Bhakti is an independent spiritual path, which indirectly proves that Yogananda's spiritual path was devotion. All three had interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita.

The Sanskrit Classics presented Lahiri Mahasay's interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita and Sriyukteswar's Bhagavad Gita's interpretation in English.

In Yogananda's Gita interpretations, he followed the format of Sriyukteswar, and copying the style including Patanjali's references, he twisted more to devotion, which basically was his path. Thus Lahiri Mahasay's Gita Kriya interpretations in the modified Kriya in the hands of Yoganada became a devotional interpretation.

 

Deviation from Pure and Original Kriya to
Modified Bhakti oriented Discipline

It is important to note that Satyaki, also known as Yuyudhana (veteran fighter) and Satkarma (the performer of righteous actions), is a key character in the discipline.  Satyaki’s role is so very important that the whole spiritual endeavor of a seeker ends in the essence of Sayaki’s character, that is, good conduct in life which is the reflection of manifestation of eternal Realization of the ultimate Self.

Satyaki or Satkarma (the performer of righteous actions) happened to be the disciple of Arjuna, the seeker’s energy.  That is why he represents the assimilating aspect of Sthirattva, Tranquility of the seeker into After-effect-poise of Kriya for solidifying the state of inner Realization.

The spiritual meaning given to Satyaki by Lahiri Mahasay, the polestar of Kriya, Sriyukteswar and Yogananda are very different.  That is, Good Conduct, Sraddha (Respect) and Devotion (Bhakti) are three entirely different things.

Satyaki’s spiritual significances as rendered by these three yogis are as follows:

1.  Good Conduct by Lahiri Mahasay, the Polestar of Kriya,          
2.  Sraddha or Respect by Sriyukteswar, and
3.  Sraddha or Devotion by Yogananda.

The Sanskrit word Sraddha means “Respect” and not “Devotion;” the Sanskrit word Bhakti means “Devotion.”  First Sriyukteswar moves away from his Guru’s, Lahiri Mahasay’s, original Kriya approach; then Yogananda’s twisting of the word Sraddha, or Respect to Devotion leads the approach to Bhakti Yoga from Kriya Yoga.

Needless to say Bhakti Yoga is also a proven discipline; there is nothing wrong in Bhakti Yoga itself.  But these twists and turns are like mixing apples and oranges, resulting in confusion and losing the tradition of the original Kriya approach.  Relevantly, it must be mentioned here that traditionally Bhakti Yoga specifically excludes Kriya or Pranayam.

The path and the lifestyle of a yogi are very different than those of a bhakta (devotee).  A bhakta’s path consists of worshiping his Istadeva, desired deity, chanting mantras, singing songs, and making istagosthi, assembling together to chant the Lord’s name.

On the contrary, the yogi practices Pranayam or Kriyas secretly by himself to realize the ultimate Self through the inward journey, meditating within himself.

A bhakta’s lifestyle is pretty much the average person’s lifestyle in the society.  A bhakta’s yearn for love of his Istadeva with all his heart demonstrates and reflects his emotional lifestyle.

On the contrary, a yogi’s lifestyle is very much in strict discipline and all his emotion must be restrained to achieve the state of sangjama, “restraint,” through which he can attain his goal of realizing the Self within.

As you see in the chart, Yogananda has used the same Sanskrit term, Sraddha, as his Guru Sriyukteswar did, but Yogananda also differed from Sriyukteswar in this case.  As a result, Yogananda moved even further away from Lahiri Mahasay, that is, from the original Kriya approach. 

Further Note on Yogananda’s Gita Commentary

It is interesting to note that Sriyukteswar referred to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali when he was interpreting the Bhagavad Gita, especially in those verses of the first chapter where the historical names of the generals of the war are mentioned.  It is hard to determine whether in all cases these references are appropriate.  That is why he himself admitted to Satyananda that his interpretations needed corrections before being published.  (He had commenced the undertaking of making the corrections but discontinued shortly afterwards.)

Yogananda later copied the main points of Sriyukteswar’s presentation including Sriyukteswar’s references to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in his own Bhagavad Gita Commentary, his only attempt at Vedic scriptural interpretation.  What was added was the aspect of devotion.  Yogananda did not mention Sriyukteswar’s name though much of his writings are verbatim translations and transliterations of Sriyukteswar’s original.