Hatha Yoga Yatra 4: Origin of Hatha Yoga

Part of the Hatha Yoga Yatra series, this text represents the "Second Chapter" of yogic propagation by the Bihar School of Yoga. It provides seekers with a structured overview of how Hatha Yoga transitioned from ancient ascetic traditions into a universally accessible path of self-purification and mental balance

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati was born in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, in 1960. Guided from an early age by his guru, Swami Satyananda Saraswati, he joined the Bihar School of Yoga at the age of four. In 1971, he was initiated into Dashnami sannyasa and spent the next eleven years traveling extensively across North and South America, Europe, and Australia, spreading the teachings of yoga across diverse cultures.
​In 1983, he returned to India and was appointed Head of the Bihar School of Yoga. Over the next three decades, he guided the development of Ganga Darshan Vishwa Yogapeeth, Bihar Yoga Bharati, and the Yoga Publications Trust. In 1990, he was initiated as a Paramahamsa sannyasin, and in 1993, he was anointed as the spiritual successor to Swami Satyananda Saraswati.
​A world-renowned yogic authority, author of numerous authoritative books, and founder of Bal Yoga Mitra Mandala, Swami Niranjanananda was honored with the Padma Bhushan (India's third-highest civilian award) in 2017 for his meritorious contribution to yoga. Since 2009, he has embarked on a new phase of sannyasa life, dedicating himself to intense spiritual sadhana and guiding yoga practitioners into "The 2nd Chapter" of yogic lifestyle and wisdom.

The book details the authentic timeline and philosophy of Hatha Yoga, tracking its roots from Shiva (Adi Natha) through the Nath Siddha lineage (Matsyendranath and Gorakhnath). It summarizes how traditional Hatha Yoga was never meant to be mere physical exercise, but rather a structured spiritual methodology designed to balance the solar (ha) and lunar (tha) energies in the body to awaken higher consciousness.