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THE HATHA YOGA

The Hatha yoga concept was introduced by Shiva in the form of Mahayogi to his beloved wife, Parvati, at Kailash Mountain in the Himalayan region. It is believed that when Shiva was narrating the philosophy of Hatha Yoga on the bank of a big lake in the Himalayan region, no one was there except a Matsya (sailor) who by chance heard the conversation of Shiva and Parvati and when Shiva saw him and who constantly heard the whole narration of Hatha Yoga he then blessed him to be a perfect Hatha yogi and he eventually became the first guru of Hatha Yoga Matsyendranath. Ha means sun and Tha means moon. When these two energies come together it is called Hatha yoga.

Several branches of yoga developed in India and one of them is Hatha Yoga which is still now practiced both within India and outside of India.  Svatmaram yogi, the writer of Hathayoga Pradipika, mentioned that he learnt this great Hatha Yoga from Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath who were the pioneers of Hatha yoga. Hatha yoga consisted of Yama, Niyama, Pranayama, Asana and Pratyahar, which have also been mentioned by Patanjali in Astangayoga ‘the eightfold path'. Those who have studied the sutra of Patanjali will find that there is no principal clash between Hatha yoga and yoga sutra.

Hatha yoga is an expansion of Astangayoga and through Hatha Yoga it is easy to understand and practice the yoga of Patanjali. Yogi Svatmaram says that the knowledge of Hatha Yoga should be given to the humble disciple who is free from anger, obeys his spiritual guru and also obeys his parents. Some text books on yoga also mention that knowledge should not be given to those who have unlimited desires and want them to be fulfilled nor to those who want yoga to become an object of business for their own purpose. The writer of Yogacintamani, another text book on yoga, says infact the teaching of yoga should be given to all mankind in order to achieve peace on this earth and finally unite with the God. It is also mentioned that the deep philosophy of yoga should be given to the disciples who have renounced the world and its desires. However, it should not be given to those who are full of anger and this knowledge of yoga should be given to the desiring students.

Hathayogapradipika mentions that a yogi should not eat too much but believe in hard work and should not speak too much, control the senses and not mix with many people and should not live a lustful life because if he does not follows these six steps, he will not achieve the yoga.

Therefore it is clear that Hatha Yoga philosophy is a supplement to the Patanjali yoga and it should not be misunderstood that it is a different form of yoga because yoga means unity not separation. Either it is hatha yoga or any other form of yoga. Let us learn through different branches of yoga but ultimately come to the Patanjali yoga, which is the source of other developed forms of yoga and, for those who want to go into it in depth, they may read Gherand Samhita and Hathyogapradipika, which will help them to understand the true concept of hatha yoga.

Many people think that Hatha yoga is a different form of yoga and thus they make it exclusive which is an injustice to the Patanjali yoga sutra because the yoga sutra of Patanjali has been a big umbrella for the all schools of yoga that have developed so far. Let us live in unity - although full of diversity - and that is the meaning yoga.