Let the Sādhus Talk.

Ascetic practitioners of yoga in northern India

When I started my fieldwork in Varanasi last October as ethnographer for the Hatṭha Yoga
Project, one of the first questions I asked saā dhus was what was hatṭha yoga according to them.
This quite simple question opened up an interesting issue: the emic understanding of hatṭha
yoga, which is the main topic of this paper.
Here, I will use the data collected during my first six months fieldwork to outline the ascetic
approach towards hatṭha yoga and yoga practices. Obviously this is a preliminary analysis as I
have just came back from the fieldwork, however I think that it can already provide interesting
information because it represents the opinion of ascetics belonging to the main sampradaā yas
connected with yoga practice: Dasś anaā mīās, Raā maā nandīās, Naā ths and also some vairaā gīā from the
Raā maā nuā jīā sampradaā ya.

The emic understanding of haṭha yoga

Hatṭha yoga among ascetics can have several meanings:
1. Hatṭha yoga is strictly connected with tapasyaā ;
2. Hatṭha yoga is strictly connected with praā nṭ aā yaā ma;
3. Hatṭha yoga means union of the sun and the moon.
I will briefly deal with point 2 and 3, to focus properly on point 1.

The union of Sun and moon

Only 3 ascetics out of 48 explained to me the word hatṭha referring to the so called esoteric
meaning of ha- the sun and tṭha- the moon. One was a Naā th, Raā m Naā th, who is involved in the
activities of the publishing house of the Gorakhnaā th temple in Gorakhpur therefore he had a
more “theoretical” knowledge of hatṭha yoga compared to the ascetics of his sampradaā ya. The
other was a yogi, Sanjay Rajgor Yogi, belonging to the Swami Narayan sampradaā ya who has
studied yoga in several modern centres, and the third was a practitioner of the Kaula Marg,
Shyam ĀĀ nand Naā th, who studied hatṭha yoga texts by himself.

Retention of breath
The idea of hatṭha yoga as manipulation of the vayus and their retention was mentioned by 5
ascetics out of 48. Ā strong position about this understanding of hatṭha yoga was that of
Mahant Garudṭ Daā s jīā Mahaā raā jjīā, a guru and expert yogi from the Raā maā nujīā sampradaā ya. He
stressed that the aim of hatṭha yoga is to reach keval kumbhak (unaccompanied breath
retention) and then to go into samaā dhi. But this means that the hatṭha yogi reaches a stage

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where he is not going to breathe again if he does not want to and, in so doing, he can push his
body into death. Therefore for him the final stage of hatṭha yoga is the death of the yogi who
remains in samaā dhi. For this reason he does not appreciate hatṭha yoga.

Strict intention
Āccording to the majority of the ascetics that I have interviewed, hatṭha yoga is not a
yoga system, rather it represents a mental attitude, that has been defined by Raā m Priye Daā s (a
female ascetic of the Raā maā nandīā sampradaā ya) as a dṛḍh sankalpa: a firm intention to
accomplish or reach an aim.
Ā Naā th told me that hatṭha yoga in his sampradaā ya also means to follow the rules and
behaviours of the sampradaā ya all life long. (therefore a strict intention to be committed to the
ascetic life).
Therefore the label hatṭha yoga can refer to practices and behaviours, and it is also understood
in this way by common people.
I will give another simple example from my fieldwork.
When I was in Varanasi I met Narayan Daā s a sadhu who for the last 10 years sits all day
long in padmāsan in Lalitaā Ghaā tṭ . “He always walks bare foot, he does his pilgrimages bare foot,
he sits in that position all day long, this is hatṭha yoga madam”. I was told by one of the lay
people who was with him.
Talking with other sadhus, this understanding of hatṭha yoga was always stressed and what
arose is that hatṭha yoga is strictly connected with tapasyaā .
I had a further proof of this when in Ujjain I went to meet a uā rdhva baā hu sadhu (a sadhu who
keeps his arm up), Bholaā Girīā, of the aā vaā han akhaā rṭ aā, because on the board outside his camp he
was named as “hatṭha yogi”. I went to him to ask about his tapasyaā and the title of hatṭha yogi
and he replied that because he does tapasyaā (for the last 35 years), he is considered a hatṭha
yogi. Āccording to him, those who do tapasyaā are hatṭha yogis, because hatṭha yoga is to take a
decision and be strict on it until it brings results. He does not care about aā sanas, praā nṭ aā yaā m
and he has never done one of these practices in his life.

The emic understanding of tapasyā and āsanas

Āmong ascetics the meaning of tapasyaā and hatṭha yoga often overlaps, sometimes it seems
that tapasyaā is the practice in itself while the approach through which is performed is hatṭha
yoga. The word tapasyaā can refer to specific practices that are performed during a certain time
of the year, like dhunīā tap (sitting under hot mid-day Sun surrounded by a ring of burning cow
dung) in hot season, or jal tap (remaining in water for several hours per day) during winter; or
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austerities that last for years, like standing up, or keeping the arm up, or remaining silent and
so on.
However, tapasyaā is also defined as eating only fruits, or drinking only juice, behaviours that
are understood and given also as examples of hatṭha yoga.
When I asked tapasvins why they do tapasyaā , I got these answers: I was told that ascetics do
tapasyaā to demonstrate to lay people that with religious strength incredible results can be
obtained; others replied that they practice tapasyaā “for the welfare of society”(Samaā j kaā
kalyaā nṭ ).
“If sadhus do not do tapasyaā samṭsaā r nahīā chalegaā ” (Bhole Purīā)
Āccording to many sadhus, in this kali yug, where lay people have completely lost their dharm,
it is the duty of the ascetic to perform such kind of practices and support the world. For
example a sadhu told me that he stood up (khareshwari) three years to bring rain in Mumbai.
However, someone also believes that the ascetic who performs tapasyaā for a long time obtains
special siddhis from it.
Ās tapasyaā has a social purpose, it is displayed in public. Āctually, in Ujjain one could see
several ascetics doing tapasyaā (there were khareshwari, those doing dhunīā tap, etc.) but
almost nobody doing aā sanas. I did not see anyone but in the newspaper, and still that ascetic
was performing aā sanas while doing dhunīā tap.
The reason why aā sanas are not displayed is that ascetics consider them as personal practices
not meant to be shown off. Āccording to Bhole Purīā, aā sanas are showed only by “dukaā n-dhaā rīā
sadhus”, those who “have a shop” and want to make money from them.
For the majority of the sadhus that I have interviewed, aā sanas are practices whose purpose is
to make the body healthy and to make it sthir, stable, because when the body is stable, then
the mind is stable and it becomes easier to meditate.
It seems to me that some aā sanas, praā nṭ aā yaā mas, kriyaā s, and a general knowledge of the
yogic body belong to a kind of general ascetic knowledge that is understood as part of Yoga. It
seemed that every ascetic knows how to practice few aā sanas or other yogic practices, and
somehow it seemed quite taken for granted that they have such basic knowledge. However,
according to all the ascetics I talked with, aā sanas and praā nṭ aā yaā m, but also the sṭ atṭ karma (often
called khat karma) are temporary practices that represent the initial step of yoga and the
initial step for the ascetic who wants to apply meditation (dhyaā n lagaā naā ). Mahant Mahi
Maheshwar Bhaā rtīā told me that it is not even necessary to fully accomplish the aā sanas stage:
he did learn only few aā sanas and praā nṭ aā yaā m, because he was able to reach his purpose without
fully mastering all of them.
Ānd also Garud Das told me: “I practiced all the aā sanas, the karmas, the kriyaā and the mudraā ,
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and I did not get any sś aānti. They are physical practices, you do not have to waste time in them;
if you are looking for yoga then you have to do dhyaā n. Through it you obtain Gyaā n and then
yoga (the union with the Paramaā tmaā ). The only way is dhyaā n yoga.”
Ānd Ram Caran Das said:
RCD: You have to make an aā sana regular/simple (saā daā ), then all the other aā sanas are saā daā ,
they become ok by their own.
D: Then what is the purpose of learning other aā sanas?
RCD: other aā sanas are taught because when you sit in one aā sana, then your body can become
stiff .. if your body is not set, thanks to other aā sanas you can bring it back to a confortable
condition…one does other aā sanas when his body needs. One does not have to waste time in
doing many aā sanas, you focus on spending hours on one position, because it is with this
position that you do your “work”.
D: But if you change the aā sana then, for how long?
RCD: Just for 1, 2 minutes, not more. If one spends time doing all the aā sanas, then he has not
time for the one he needs.

Several yogis told me that once they are able to make the aā sanas “siddh”, that means
perfected/accomplished, (siddh ho gaya), then they abandon the practice of aā sanas. There is
no need to continue doing it.
It is interesting to notice that those ascetics that in their young age have focused their practice
on “physical yoga” are called yogi raā ja; those who are tapasvins are called hatṭha yogīā. Those
instead who practiced intense dhyaā n yoga without completely mastering physical yoga
practices can have added to their name yogi, as a saā dhvīā that I met in Ujjain whose name is
Yogīā Durgaā Bhaā rtīā, because she meditated in the jungle for 5 years.
The general attitude towards aā sanas is that they are necessary at the beginning, but they do
not have to be confounded with the main practice of yoga: the practice of dhyaā na.

The importance of dhyāna

In effect, the fact that I wanted to talk about aā sanas and prāṇāyāma was quite strange for
ascetics, since for them they are just physical practices for the body, while the main purpose of
yoga is spiritual and therefore they give more attention to dhyāna. For many of them, at the
origin of the yoga path there is a religious quest, an inner research that to be satisfied pushes
the individual to abandon the normal social life. Ās Yogīā Durgaā Bhaā ratīā told me: “When one
really wants to reply to the questions about the self, then it is time to abandon the social life.
Because the saā dhanaā has to be experienced properly, and vairaā gya (detachment/dispassion)
and tyaā ga (abandonment) have to come”.
In effect, some ascetics were skeptical about my research, as yoga (in its spiritual meaning) is
nothing that can be described in words, or be understood by collecting information from

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sadhus , rather it has to be “experienced” through practice.
Yoga in general
For them, the experience of dhyaā na and of the union of ĀĀ tmaā and Parmaā tmaā that can derive
from its practice leads to a different form of knowledge and to be in the world with a different
attitude. I will give some examples here of the result of yoga, in the sense of joṛnā.
Rādhe Purī (Dasś anaā mīā sampradaā ya) describes it in: “Sitting in padmaā san with the mind fixed
and eyes opened, you visualize Parmaā tmaā in front of you, slowly this visualization becomes
internalized. Parmaā tmaā enters from the eyes, then all the visions are in front of you, then you
do not have to go in the jungle, God is there wherever you are. When this union happens the
eyes close and the saā dhu goes in samaā dhi. Then the body is like a box, you can move it but the
sadhu does not feel anything”.
Sumit Nāth (Naā th sampradaā ya) uses similar words. He told me that the aim of yoga is to
acquire a status of inner awareness that is constantly maintained. “When this is reached, then
the body is only a container of the soul, therefore nothing is more necessary for the body, not
to eat, not to sleep. Nothing has to be awakened, because that reality is always present”.
Similarly, Garuḍ Dās (Raā maā nuā jīā sampradaā ya) said: “The yogi’s body becomes a body of
emptiness. He is present in the body but his ĀĀ tmaā can go far away. Āfter he has felt and
understood completely his body, he is not sensitive anymore to what happens to it”.
However, what is clear among ascetics it that to be successful in this purpose two variables are
of fundamental importance: brahmacarya and the guru.

The importance and brahmacarya and of the guru

Āccording to ascetics brahmacarya (celibacy) is a necessary rule to follow.
Rām Caraṇ Dās: If one does not respect brahmacarya, he cannot have a result. It is like you go
to school but you do not study, you do not obtain anything. If you have sex while practicing
yoga, you can accomplish physical results, but not spiritual, as all your spiritual attainment are
flushed away with the ejaculation.
Sometimes the maintaining of brahmacarya is based on more practical consideration: mahant
Ravīāndra Girīā from the Mahaā Nirvaā nṭ īā Ākhaā rṭ aā told me that the problem with sex is also its
product: if you make a woman pregnant, then “you have family, and you have to work, and you
have many thoughts, then it is more difficult to make your mind sthir. When you have not this
kind of attachment, your mind can become sīdhā faster, and you can accomplish your
saā dhanaā ”.
However, as many ascetics have stressed, only a real guru can open the path for dhyaā na
and gyaā n. Only a real guru can awake the kunṭ dṭ alinīā of his disciple and, as Ram Āvdhuā t Das told
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me, can teach him/her how to come back after he/she has met the Ābsolute. In effect, several
people reported that the experience of arising of kunṭ dṭ alinīā without a proper guide can make
an inexpert crazy. The guru can be defined as such because he had already had the direct
experience of what he teaches, and because he does not ask for money since he is ready to
help a real searcher. Āccording to Garudṭ Daā s, those people who earn money through yoga have
not understood the meaning of yoga as it is a saā dhanaā (a religious discipline) and it has a
spiritual value, therefore cannot be taken as a job.
Furthermore, as Yogi SŚ ivanaā th has stressed, the guru is necessary when one has questions to
answer, and he concentrates himself entirely to find answers to them. If the searcher wants to
arrive to an inner knowledge he has to put all his full intention in that, that means he has to
search with hatṭha, otherwise his practice and his searching for a guru is just a time pass.

Few remarks about written sources

The teaching of the guru is of fundamental importance and this teaching is really secret. This
issue leads to another topic: the value of written knowledge. Very few ascetics I met have ever
read a book about yoga. Quite often they mentioned the Yoga Sutra or the Gheranṭ dṭ Samṭhitaā ,
but they did not read them.
Āccording to Manṅ gal Naā th, teachings about inner practices cannot be revealed. Therefore,
written works are only an introduction, whose real inner meaning can be understood only
with the presence of a guru.
Scepticism about written sources was expressed also by Garudṭ Daā s. He stressed that many
scholars and yoga teachers talk about idṭ aā and pinṅ galaā in their books, but likely they have never
experienced what actually these two words mean. When I asked him what did they mean then,
he laughed.
Therefore, the general attitude is that knowledge can be of two kinds: one that everybody can
obtain and it is written in the texts, and one that comes from the guru. This teaching is secret
and is the real key for getting the ras from the practice. In effect, this was one of the main
problems during my fieldwork: ascetics do not tell you about the teaching given by their guru,
they can give you just superficial information because, to get guru’s knowledge, you need
dīāksṭ aā (initiation). This attitude is generally spread.
Therefore, during my fieldwork I came to wonder whether those texts that deal with the idea
of hatṭha yoga as a “secret teaching”, and that describe mostly physical practices, their effects
and their powers, were meant to be read just by householders and rajas, rather than by
ascetics. Likely, in the past they had a similar purpose of yoga books today: to attract lay
people and their economic support with practices that did not take as much time as the
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dhyaā na yoga and hatṭha yoga/tapasyaā as practiced by ascetics. However, only further
investigation will clarify this specific issue.

Conclusion

 physical yoga has a very relative and subsidiary importance in the life of ascetics. For
many of them it is just an initial stage that has to be abandoned as soon as it is
perfected, to go towards more important practices.
 difference between hatṭha yoga as understood by common ascetics and educated
ascetics brings doubts about the purpose of works on hatṭha yoga and especially their
audience, opening room to different interpretation of past and present realities.
 what is commonly called hatṭha yoga among ascetics is not a physical practice, but a
mental attitude that means following a spiritual path and a religious discipline, often
supported by a strong faith in God.

Ānd this is the end…. But actually it is just a beginning…