Badhak tatva and Sadhak tatva- Causes of failure and success in Hatha Yoga Practice

                The fifteenth sloka of chapter one in Hatha Yoga Pradipika lists six factors which lead to failure and success of a Yoga aspirant.These are important factors to keep in the mind of a Yoga student before starting  his Yogic practices.

       The first one is Atyahara. Ahara means food and Atyahara means eating excessive food. Food is essential for producing energy for the cells and whole body. The right quantity of eating is in such a way that half of your stomach is filled with food, half of the remaining part is filled with water or juice and the other half should be left empty. If we eat more food,it causes lethargy or tiredness in our body. This leads to laziness and the aspirant finds it difficult to continue with the practices.

          The next and the second badhaka tattva is Prayasa or excessive physical effort. Physical efforts decrease our energy and lead to tiredness in the body. Travelling too much distance also depletes your energy because when you are travelling your body tries to maintain the balance of each system within the body. So this effort taken by the body causes sleepiness or tiredness

        The third badhaka tatva is Prajalpa or excessive speech. Gossip or excessive speech reduces your energy levels. Excessive speech increases the activities of the brain. For the better working of the brain, it requires a lot of energy. Mauna (or  keeping silent for the whole day)  is an important practice that helps you to understand the importance of avoiding prajalpa.

           Niyamagraha or fanaticism is the fourth badhaka tattva. Excessive involvement in routines and rituals is not recommended for a good Yoga aspirant. Excessive fanatism leads to conflicts and results in disturbance to the peaceful mental state of the Yoga student.

                  Staying away from inappropriate people or avoiding excessive socializing is termed as Janasanga; the fifth badhaka tattva. Speech, thoughts and actions of negative minded people always end in contradiction. These contradictions in opinions result in debates and adversely affect the practice of sadhana of the Yoga aspirant.

         The last and the sixth badhaka tattva is Laulyam or fickleness of the mind. Yoga is a long term practice.during the journey, each Yoga student confronts lots of obstacles on the path. It is very important not to get stuck or stop on such obstacles. Under any circumstances the Yoga aspirant must continue the practice with sadhana. ‘Aum’ is a good mantra to chant when you face such obstacles.

           When coming to the sadhaka tattva or  the causes of success, the first one is Utsah(optimism and enthusiasm). Here it says that a Yoga aspirant needs to have a good belief in his practices.  Practice the asanas with mindfulness and avoid just doing it mechanically. Enthusiasm and optimism is the first step towards success in Yoga

           Sahas is the second sadhaka tattva which means courage. We have already discussed about laulyam or fluctuation of the mind. Obstructions are always seen when we look forward. Obstacles may also be seen when we look backward. Only the ones with a good courage can break all these obstacles and continue the practices.

            The third sadhaka tattva is Dhairya (patience/fortitude). There is no short cut to success in Yoga and Yoga is not a competition item to reach first. Practicing Yoga with patience is the only way to reach success. Avoid rush activities and continue your sadhana with practice

          Tatva means principles and njana means knowledge. Tatva njana is the fourth sadhaka tattva describes the need for knowledge and importance of learning Yogic textures.Learning enables us to assure that the practices are going in the right direction. For moving towards the successful path towards Yoga, we need to learn right knowledge and right principles from spiritual textures and from our Gurus.

       The fifth sadhaka tatva is Nischaya which means determination. For every problem there is a solution.finding the right solution helps to sustain the practices. Aspirants lack determination leads to blaming self and others.

        The sixth and the final sadhaka tattva is Janasanga Parityaga means dissociation with inappropriate people. Avoiding friendship and discussions with people such as atheists or negative minded people.Avoiding the company of these discouraging people helps to pursue Yoga practice without interruptions.