The word kriya means action or practice, and in yoga it is used in different ways depending on the tradition. In the Yoga Sutras, it refers to a three-part path; in hatha yoga, to a set of cleansing techniques; in a 19th-century lineage, to a system of pranayama; and in a contemporary school, to an ordered series of postures, breathing and sound. Understanding each use makes it possible to read the term without confusing them.
Patanjali calls three practices kriya yoga. The first sutra of the second chapter lists them: tapas, svadhyaya and ishvara pranidhana. Tapas, which means heat, is the discipline that purifies and brings greater clarity to the body and mind. Svadhyaya is self-study, which, according to the commentator Vyasa, includes the repetition of mantras and the study of texts dealing with liberation. Ishvara pranidhana is surrender or trust in something beyond one's own will. The repetition of mantras we explored in the previous article is part of svadhyaya.
It is a framework for practice rather than a technique. The sutra does not describe exercises or postures: it describes a sustained attitude of effort, reflection and surrender that can be applied from any starting point. Patanjali presents it as preparation for samadhi and as a means of reducing what disturbs the mind. This is consistent with what we have been emphasizing throughout this series: practice is built around the condition of the person performing it.
In hatha yoga, kriyas are cleansing techniques. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, from the 15th century, lists six: dhauti, basti, neti, trataka, nauli and kapalabhati, collectively known as shatkarma, or "six actions". The text places them before pranayama, recommends them for those with excess kapha or body fat, and clarifies that those whose bodily humors are balanced do not need to practice them. The Gheranda Samhita, from the 17th century, expands on their descriptions and further subdivides them.
Each of the six has a different purpose. Neti cleanses the nasal passages, dhauti the digestive tract, basti the colon, nauli mobilizes the abdominal muscles, kapalabhati consists of a series of rapid exhalations, and trataka involves gazing at a fixed point without blinking. Trataka is the one most closely related to concentration: sustaining attention on a single object, as we described when discussing dharana. Several of these techniques are demanding, and tradition recommends learning them under the guidance of a teacher.
Kriya Yoga as a lineage is something else entirely. According to the tradition itself, in 1861 a teacher known as Mahavatar Babaji transmitted a system of techniques to Lahiri Mahasaya. It then spread throughout India through his disciples, including the lineage that Paramahansa Yogananda later brought to the West. It is presented as the revival of an ancient science, taught from teacher to disciple through initiation and organized into stages of pranayama. It shares its name with Patanjali's kriya yoga, but it is a distinct transmission lineage with its own techniques.
In Kundalini Yoga, a kriya is an ordered sequence. In this contemporary school, the term refers to a fixed combination of postures, breathing and sound, performed in a specific order and, according to its teachings, without modification, to achieve a particular effect. This is the most recent use of the term, which takes the word to mean a complete and organized action.
Across these different uses, the term retains the same core meaning. In all of them, kriya refers to a deliberate and repeatable action: a discipline, a cleansing technique, a breathing procedure or a sequence. What changes is the context, which is why, whenever the word appears, it is useful to keep in mind the tradition it comes from. With that distinction clear, the term helps make sense of a substantial part of yoga literature.
