In Paramahansa Yogananda’s “The Royal Way,” from Songs of the Soul, the great yogi speaks from the point of view of an unrealized devotee who says, “I walk and wonder / In truth or blunder,” and “Conundrum enclosed, bewildered am I— / As baffling mazes do they lie.” He speaks as one of befuddled humanity who finds the contradictions or pairs of opposites of the world confusing.
First Stanza: “The ever-trodden path”
In the first stanza, the speaker asserts those who sojourn on this earth are like “travelers” on an “ever-trodden path” where some continue in “joyous haste” and others go forth in a “slothful sorrow’s state.” Just as these other travelers are walking their various paths, the speaker is also traveling down one of the earthly paths: “I walk and wonder / In truth or blunder.”
Representing unrealized humanity, the speaker joins the others; he sees the working of the pairs of opposites that cause the mayic delusion. The important difference between most of blundering humanity and the speaker is that this speaker knows the confusion, recognizes it for what it is, and is able to describe the puzzle.
Second Stanza: “The path is cleft”
The pairs of opposites are exemplified again in the second stanza: “The path is cleft / To right and left, / In front, behind.” The speaker then declaims that the worldly way is filled with “diverse ways,” and the many choices that confront mankind cause confusion. The individual feels that just maneuvering through life is like trying to navigate “baffling mazes.” Life is a “conundrum,” and the “bewildered” human mind is accosted at every turn by things and events that offer only troubles and more confusion.
Third Stanza: “Still, they say”
Despite all the confusion, pain, and suffering of humanity, intuition tells each individual that surely there must something better than this, some way of thinking and behaving that will assuage the tribulations that one meets at every turn. This speaker has heard about one such way; it is called “a royal way.”
At this point in the last six lines, the speaker offers a brief introductory glimpse at that sure path that leads to peace. All of humanity whether it is those who are pursuing a morally correct path, “the right,” or one steeped in demoralizing mistakes, “the error-wed,” have access to this “path of ruby red.”
A note attached to the poem clarifies the metaphor of the ruby red path: “The ‘royal way’ refers to the subtle cerebrospinal axis of the man with its seven centers of spiritual force. On this path “all paths do meet,” for the consciousness of all seekers ultimately follows this way of ascension to attain divine illuminations.”
Commentary
The poems of Paramahansa Yogananda function on many levels; they do more than ordinary poems that seek primarily to entertain by elucidating the drama of the emotional experiences of humanity. Guruji’s poems offer introductory glimpses into the science of yoga, on which his teachings are based. While he seeks to delight his readers with his poetic dramas, he always has a higher purpose as well: to assure humanity that it is loved and cared for by a loving and nurturing Divinity, and most of all that humanity has the ability to realize personally that Divine Beloved through right yoga meditation.
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