Hi, my friend!
I’m so grateful to see you back here in the next of post of the What is Yoga? Series!
As mentioned at the end of Post #3 Part 1, this post discusses two different paths of Rāja Yoga to portray how Ashtānga Yoga is applied differently based on the Yogic path you take: traditional Rāja Yoga a.k.a. Classical Yoga or Patanjali’s Yoga, which is what the Yoga Sutras of Patanajli (pātanjala-yoga-sūtra) detail, and Hatha Yoga, explained in the hatha-yoga-pradīpikā written in the 15th century.
While Hatha Yoga and Rāja Yoga/Patanjali’s Yoga may be portrayed as two separate paths, Hatha Yoga is actually described as a precursor to Rāja Yoga by the author, Yogi Svatmarama, within the first few shlokas (verses).
Therefore, a practitioner of Hatha Yoga will practice Rāja Yoga, but a practitioner of Rāja Yoga will not necessarily practice Hatha Yoga.
Why is that?
Well, Rāja Yoga or Classical Yoga is focused on meditation; hence, asana in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras means “seat” or “sitting posture,” which is what you want to be in while doing pranayama or meditating as part of the higher limbs of Ashtānga Yoga.
On the other hand, Hatha Yoga is focused on physical purification and control, so asana in hatha-yoga-pradīpikā more generally means “posture” or “pose” (therefore, this text is the origin of many asanas we see in yoga flows today).
Svatmarama proposes Hatha Yoga as a path for those wishing to pursue Rāja Yoga but confused on how to do so.
Fundamentally, Hatha Yoga builds the spiritual self by instilling control of prana through the body. Since the clear flow of prana is required to reach samadhi, by focusing on the physical body first, Svatmarama prepares the body for the path of meditation.
Since the flow of prana is also extremely intertwined with the functions of the mind, one who has control of their prana will find that they are already in a conducive mental state for the higher limbs of Ashtānga Yoga, and hence, can more easily follow Rāja Yoga to samadhi.
Hence, Svatmarama specifically says that [for a Hatha Yogi] Hatha Yoga and Rāja Yoga must both be practiced in order to achieve success (i.e. Yoga).
Side Note: There is a common misconception that Hatha Yoga’s end goal is focused on acquiring siddhis, or "magical powers", that come as a result of the practice.
If you read the hatha-yoga-pradīpikā, however, it is very clear this is not true. While Svatmarama does discuss the siddhis, his last chapter is entirely focused on samādhi and he specifically says that Hatha Yoga without Rāja Yoga is a waste of energy.To give an overview of Hatha Yoga, let’s take a look at the major sections discussed in hatha-yoga-pradīpikā:
āsana
prānāyāma
mudrā and bandhā
samādhi
As you can see, the ascension to samādhi follows the same structure as in Ashtānga Yoga - āsana comes first, followed by prānā, with samādhi as the last step. You may notice that the mudras and bandhas discussed in hatha-yoga-pradīpikā aren’t in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. When you know what mudras and bandhas are, this makes sense.
Mudras and bandhas specifically focus on physically controlling pranic flow through the body; since Rāja Yoga is focused on meditation, it stands to reason that mudras and bandhas aren’t included in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
When one reads hatha-yoga-pradīpikā, they’ll find the yamas and niyamas mentioned in the first chapter on āsana, where Svatmarama describes 10 yamas and niyamas, respectively; these are not only double what Patanjali suggests, but also slightly different.
Beyond the two shlokas stating the yamas and niyamas, Svatmarama discusses only one of Patanjali’s niyamas in detail in his book - sauch, or purification - specifically, the physical purification of one’s body via shatkarmas.
So, while Patanjali places significant importance on the yamas and niyamas, Svatmarama places significant importance on āsana and prānāyāma while placing less on the yamas and niyamas of Ashtānga Yoga such that they are not a requirement for āsana or a precursor to āsana , as it is in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, but rather duties/observances that are increasingly followed as one progresses with āsana, prānāyāma, and the mudras and bandhas.
Since Hatha Yoga precedes Rāja Yoga, it does follow Ashtānga Yoga.
However, instead of following Ashtānga Yoga as described in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, it takes a slightly different approach on some of the limbs, like we’ve seen in this post.
Differing from Patanjali, Svatmarama:
adds extra meaning and instruction to āsana
makes āsana the first limb prior to the yamas and niyamas, and
adds the mudras and bandhas prior to the stages of meditation prescribed in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (starting from pratyāhāra and ending in samādhi )
So, as a practitioner of Yoga, which path do you choose?
While arguably unhelpful, the most supportive answer I can give you is that it is dependent on you and your constitution.
I think my Rishikesh guru put it best:
“No one’s path is the same, and that is true with spirituality too. Each person is made different, thinks different, experiences life different, so their journey to their higher self may need to be different than yours for it to be effective. So, try it. Treat each path of Yoga like a different brand of Chawanprash (a specific blend of herbs and spices). Try it for a couple months or years, if it does not work, try something new. Give each path an honest shot, but recognize when the path is not meant for you.”
Now, that does not mean that if you’re not enlightened by month 6, it’s time to give up and reach a different path. But when you’ve been doing a practice for months on end and you’re still experiencing the same levels of stress, frustration, attachment, reactivity, etc. as you did before you began the practice, it’s a pretty big sign that a different path is meant for you.
I hope this helped, and I’ll see you in the next post <3
Shreya