“I have perpetuated in the monastic order of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India the line of sannyas in the Shankara Order, which I entered when I received the holy vows of a swami from my Guru. The organizational work that God and my Guru and Paramgurus have started through me is carried on…by those who have dedicated their lives to the highest objectives of renunciation and love for God.”
SRF/YSS MONASTIC ORDER, LINK
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“From among the disciples are those who, in many orders, renounce the world in a single-hearted divine quest within a structured spiritual life and service to the work of the master. They help to disseminate his teachings not only through the example of their lives but also as ordained teachers, whether serving behind the scenes in the ashram or in public. The very act of living for God alone is in itself a sermon to the world, eloquent beyond the finest oratory. The duly ordained teacher who possesses both a holy life and a clarity in conveying truth is a true “apostle” of the master, “sent forth” to serve for him as a pure voice of his God-given message…”
Paramahansa Yogananda ~ The Second Coming of Christ
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“…true yogi-swamis are so enwrapped in love for God alone that they are not afraid to take the unconditional vow of complete renunciation to live a life of celibacy and strict self-discipline of the senses and ego—a vow considered by worldly minds to be a grim challenge, if not wholly inconceivable… For myself, such complete renunciation as a monk of the Swami Order was the only possible answer to the ardent desire in my heart to give my life wholly to God, uncompromised by any worldly tie; to me, anything less was to offer the Beloved Lord a second place. …
“I have perpetuated in the monastic order of Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India the line of sannyas in the Shankara Order, which I entered when I received the holy vows of a swami from my Guru. The organizational work that God and my Guru and Paramgurus have started through me is carried on…by those who have dedicated their lives to the highest objectives of renunciation and love for God.”
Paramahansa Yogananda, ‘God Talks With Arjuna, The Bhagavad Gita,’
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“Every swami belongs to the monastic order that has been honored in India from time immemorial. Reorganized in its present form centuries ago by Shankaracharya, it has since been headed by an unbroken line of venerable teachers (each of whom successively bears the title of Jagadguru Sri Shankaracharya)… To enter it they fulfill a requirement to receive initiation from men who themselves are swamis. All monks of the Swami Order thus trace their spiritual lineage to a common guru, Adi (“ the first”) Shankaracharya. They take vows of poverty (nonattachment to possessions), chastity, and obedience to the head or spiritual authority. In many ways the Catholic Christian monastic orders resemble the more ancient Order of Swamis.
Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, “I Become a Monk of the Swami Order”
See also~ SRF and Shankaracharya Bharati Krishna Tirtha, head of the Swami Order of India
“Dear Master [Swami Sri Yukteswarji], I could never relinquish my wish to belong to the Swami Order like your revered self.” I smiled at him with measureless affection.
“He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: but he that is married careth for the things of the world, how he may please his wife.” I had analyzed the lives of many of my friends who, after undergoing certain spiritual discipline, had then married. Launched on the sea of worldly responsibilities, they had forgotten their resolutions to meditate deeply.
To allot the Lord a secondary place in life was, to me, inconceivable. He is the sole Owner of the cosmos, silently showering man with gifts from life to life. There is but one gift man may offer in return — his love, which he is empowered to withhold or bestow. …”
“I Become a Monk of the Swami Order” — Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi
Paramahansaji’s Two Modifications to his Monastic Order
…Through Paramahansa Yogananda, the ancient monastic Swami Order from India put down deep and lasting roots in America. In addition to initiating qualified Westerners, Paramahansaji modified the orthodox tradition in another way: by giving the same sacred vows of sannyas and positions of spiritual leadership to women as well as to men, an unusual practice for his time. In fact, the first disciple of the SRF monastic order to whom he gave swami vows was a woman—Sri Daya Mata, who later served as the spiritual head of SRF/YSS for more than half a century.
from How the Swami Order Came to the West, SRF Link
See also~~
“…at the Head…Men and Women of Divine Realization” ~ Paramahansaj
DAYA MATA ~ Yoganandaji’s ‘Nest Egg’ – Sister, Minister, President of SRF
SRF Acknowledged by Head of the Swami Order of India
Paramahansaji Speaks to Mrinalini Mata about His Successors and the Work
Yogananda Site 
Jai Gurudeva