Natha Pantha: Order of the Primordial Shiva Dr Satish K Kapoor (Continued from the previous issue )

esides Matsyendranatha and Gora- Chauranginatha and Dharmanatha, dis- khanatha, the most distinguished expo- ciples of Matsyendranatha; Charpatanatha Bnent of the Natha order of ascetics was and Gahini­natha, disciples of Gorakhanatha; Jalandharanatha—called Hadipa or Hadi-pa in Gopichandra, disciple of Jalandharanatha; and Bengal—a disciple of Matsyendranatha. Bhartrihari, disciple of Gorakhanatha or Jalan­ dharanatha, were among other perfected Natha Jalandharanatha and other Nathas yogis who became popular among Hindus, Bud- According to one tradition, Jalandharanatha was dhists, and Muslims alike due to their miracu- a hāḍi, sweeper, in the palace of the widowed lous powers and austere lives. Nityanatha (fifteen Queen Mayanamati of Patika, but acquired royal century) set new benchmarks in the science of status due to his miraculous powers, which he had longevity, āyurveda, by composing Rasaratna- acquired through intense spiritual practices. He kara, the monumental work dealing with non- infused life into the corpse of the queen’s daughter mercurial metallic compounds, mercurial prep- Champadei and prevailed upon the queen’s recal- arations, therapeutic actions, and rejuvenating citrant son Gopichandra to follow him. He could effects of such preparations. In course of time also make Mayanamati speak to her dead husband, a number of panthas, Natha lineages, grew after Manikachandra. Another tradition has it that he the names of adepts and their disciples, often is among the five Adi Siddhas, chief saints, who differing from one another due to regional vari- emerged out of the mirific ashes of Adi­natha.17 ations or the impact of prevalent sects or creeds. Jalandhar City in Punjab, mythologic­ally named Some of the early Natha teachers came to after the demon Jalandhar,­ is historically known be associated with the royal household: Jalan­ because of Jalandhara­natha. His memorial was dharanatha held sway over Hastinapura in Uttar demolished by Muslims to construct the Imam Pradesh, the ancient capital of the Kuru dynasty; Nasir Mausoleum (twelfth-thirteen century) in Gopichandra over East Bengal, now Bangladesh; the heart of the old city. Jalandharanatha initiated and Bhartrihari over Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. bandha, a yogic lock involving contraction of the Champadei was the spouse of the king of Ben- throat by pressing the chin firmly on the chest, gal. Chauranginatha was the abandoned child and it came to be known after him asjalandhara of King Devapala of Bengal. Prana-sankali, a bandha. Kanu-pa—Krishna-pada, Kana-pa—a Natha text dealing with the control and regu- Kapalika Shaiva poet of strong mystical leanings lation of the vital energy in a person, is attri- who had also been in contact with Gorakhanatha, buted to Chauranginatha. Sahil Varma, king of was among his disciples. Chamba, was a disciple of Charpatanatha and

552 PB August 2011 Natha Pantha: Order of the Primordial Shiva 45 is credited with the authorship of Charpata-­ surviving on tubers, roots, and fruits. With the shataka—or Charpata-paddhati—‘which shows growth in their following, Natha monasteries a strong Jaina influence’.18 came into existence. The first such monastery A sect of yogis came to be known after King was built in the Deccan on top of the Kadri hill, Bhartrihari, who wore ‘the garments of the bark overlooking the Manjunatha shrine in Manga- of trees’ and wandered with the name of Shiva lore, Karnataka, by Kundavarma Bhupendra of on his lips, drawing his inspiration from ‘the the Alupas’ lineage (tenth-eleventh century). The murmuring brooks and the bubbling springs’. Nathas exchanged notes with Qalandars and The wandering minstrels of the Natha or yogi Sufis like Hamidu’d-Din Nagauri (d.1274 ce) and tradition recite the songs of Bhartrihari as they Faridu’d-Din Ganj-I Shankar—better known as play on stringed or percussion instruments, em- Baba Farid (d.1265 ce)—and with the Sikh Guru phasizing the glory of the Divine Name, the Nanak Dev (1469–1539). Siddh Gosht, a dialogue transitoriness of the world, and the need for God of Guru Nanak Dev with Siddhas—namely, realization. They wake up people in early morn- Bhangaranatha, Charpata, and Loharipa—finds ing hours singing soulful melodies and say alakh an eloquent mention in Sri Guru Granth Sahib nirañjan, synonym for God without attributes, (Ramakali Mahala 1, 938–40). Some verses in when approaching them. They wear ochre-col- Gorakhabani deride the Qazis for mechanically oured unstitched robes and remain on the move reciting the Kalima, ignoring its deep meaning.20 from place to place carrying a jholā, wide open The ethical precepts of the Nathas, as opposed bag, on their shoulders. They depend on alms for to the left-handed tantra ascetics, impressed emi- their daily subsistence and are against accumu- nent Sufis like Sheikh Ahmad ‘Abdu’l-Haqq lating money or material goods. They are famil- of Rudauli Shariff—Faizabad district, Uttar iar with Bhartrihari’s works—Shringara-shataka, Pradesh (352). Many liberal Muslims who con- Niti-shataka, and Vairagya-shataka—­ but recite curred with Malik Muhammad Ja’isi (b. 1494–5) only the last one dealing with dispassion and that Gorakhanatha and the Siddhas were like often disregard the first two relating to love and divine messengers (369), became converts to Na- politics respectively.19 Some Nathas pay obei- thism in medieval times, when Muslim rulers sance to the sage Markandeya, a devotee of Shiva were harsh on the Hindus. The pontiffs of a few who tried to conquer death, and to mother god- Natha hermitages came to be known by the Sufi desses—like Amba, Shabari Devi, Vindhyavas- epithet of Pir or Murshid, which means ‘spirit- ini, or Balasundari—or appease the nava­grahas, ual teacher’. Muslim scholars like Sheikh Chand nine planets, particularly Shani (Saturn) by (c.1650–1725) and Abdu’l Hakim (1620–90) adopting what they call yogamaya-pujā-paddhati, highlighted common points between Sufi and the technique of yoga-based worship. But they Natha beliefs. While the former wrote Hara­ are few in number and do not strictly belong to gouri Sambad—a samvada, dialogue, between the orthodox Natha sect. Shiva (Hara) and Parvati (Gauri), about the se- cret spiritual doctrines—the latter juxtaposed The Natha Impact yoga chakras with their counterparts in Sufism The Nathas lived in mountain-caves, dense forests, in his epic Chari-Maqamer Bhed (352). Shaikh solitary places near riverbanks, or in hermitages ‘Abdu’l Quddus Gangohi (1456–1537), better for ascetic practices—called ekānta sadhana— known as Alakh, explained Natha beliefs in his

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Hindi poems. Like the Nathas he emphasised among the Hindu shrines in Punjab, but does that śabda, the divine word, is the mainstay of not allude to any meeting between the Natha everything that exists and that the Sufis must stalwarts. The popular claim of Nathas and Sid- ‘absorb themselves in Onkar through zikr [recol- dha yogis, as recorded in Dabistan-i-Mazahib, lection]’. There are six references to either Gora- that the Prophet Muhammad was a disciple of khanath, Shri Gorakh, Nath, or ‘O! Nath’ in Gorakhanatha in his form as Baba Ratan Hajji, his Alakhbani or Rushd-Nama. He found pro- who still has followers in Kabul, Afghanistan,24 pinquity between the metaphysical beliefs of is mythopoeic and unhistorical. the Nathas and the Sufi concept of the unity Jalandharanatha and Bhartrihari strength- of Being—Wahdat al-Wuzud—(336–9, 343). ened the Natha cult particularly in North India, Kabir spoke highly of Natha teachers like Gora- Chauranginatha in Bengal and the eastern re- khanatha, Bhartrihari, and Gopichandra, who gion, Dharmanatha in Gujarat, Charpata­natha were experts in śabda-yoga, the yoga of sound, in the Himalayan region, and Gahininatha in and the technique of ṣatcakra-bhedanaguhya- western India. Gahininatha initiated Nivritti­ vidyā, the mystic knowledge of piercing the six natha, who in turn initiated his brothers nerve-plexuses, or kunḍalini śakti, wheels of the Jnaneshvara and Sopandeva, and sister Mukta- serpent power.21 bai into the religious order. Jnaneshvara proved In the Virashaiva literature, there are refer- to be the greatest saint of Maharashtra, and his ences to Gorakhanatha’s debates with Allama kin Nivritti, Sopan, and Muktabai emerged as Prabhu and Revanasiddheshvara.22 The view that highly evolved souls. Together they brought the former was humbled twice seems to be an ex- about a spiritual transformation by combining aggeration, since such a defeat would have caused the way of knowledge and the way of devotion a furore in religious circles and would have and by regarding Shiva and Vishnu as aspects of been widely mentioned in contemporary litera- the same supreme Reality, which can be experi- ture. Similarly, the account of Gorakhanatha’s enced by anyone. failed attempts to win over Baba Balakanatha, Prominent Natha teachers like Matsyendra, the child-siddha of Chakmoli in Hamirpur, Gorakha, Chaurangi, Jalandhara, and Char- Himachal Pradesh, who was a disciple of Dat- pati—or Charbaripa—figure in the list of the tatreya—or Datta guru, the combined manifest- eighty-four Siddhas of the Tibetan Buddhist ation of the Hindu trinity Brahma, Vishnu, and tradition.25 Their names also find mention in Shiva—as described in some legends of North the mystic tradition of Nepal. TheHatha Yoga India, has a sectarian orientation. The Khulasatu- Pradipika (1.5–8) provides a select list of adepts T-Tawarikh,23 a late seventeenth century work, in haṭha-vidyā, which includes, besides the main does not mention any meeting between Bala- Natha teachers, the names of Allama Prabhudeva, kanatha and Gorakhanatha, as it does in the case Ananda Bhairava, Bhanuki, Buddha, Kapalika, of Baba Lal and Dara Shukoh. The Tilah of Bala- Kapali, Karantaka, Niranjana, Nityanatha, Tin- natha, lying at a distance of ‘7 kos from the fort tini, Vindunatha, Virupaksha, and others. Places of Rohtas’ is described in this work as ‘a cave of and spots consecrated by Nathas are scattered, austerities’, and a meeting point of yogis during even today, throughout Punjab, Haryana, Uttar the Shivaratri festival. Another medieval text, Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, the Chahar Gulshan, lists the Tilah of Balanatha and Karnataka, but they are mostly in bad shape

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or have been encroached upon for private use. It the Natha esoteric doctrines like Shatchakra­ is common knowledge that some Muslim peas- bhedana or Kundalini-jagarana. They worship ants of Tripura, in north-east India, continue to Guru Gorakhanatha and other Natha precep- revere the Natha trinity Matsyendra, Gorakha, tors as the Varkaris worship Vitthala, and avoid and Jalandhara in their evening prayers. Dur- meat and intoxicating beverages. They make ing the census of 1901 45,463 persons described pilgrimages to the sacred places of Shaivas and themselves as Nathas.26 But their number as a Vaishnavas alike and have little understanding of religious community seems to be on the decline the metaphysical subtleties that distinguish the due to change in the mental culture of people, Natha doctrine from others. who cannot afford to follow ascetic practices or The major shrines of the Nathas in Maha- observe strict ethical discipline. rashtra are those of Siddhanatha at Kharsundi, Interest in the Siddha Siddhanta doctrine of Atapadi taluk, Sangli district; Bhoja-linga at the Nathas is, however, on the increase and, ac- Varkute, Dahivadi taluk, Satara district; Natha cording to one survey, there are perhaps 750,000 Baba at Karunde, near Natepute, Solapur dis- adherents of the school ‘who are often under- trict; Bhairavanatha at Abapuri, Satara district, stood as Śāktas or advaita tantrics.’ 27 The num- and at Sonari, Paranda taluk, Osmanabad dis- ber of Natha ascetics is going down, as is evident trict; and Lakshmi at Manegaon, Sangola taluk, from the fact that the majority of their ashramas Solapur district. How could Lakshmi, the con- or hermitages, at least in Punjab, wear a deserted sort of Vishnu, enter the pantheon of the Natha look. The places hallowed by the presence of yogis is not known. It appears that devotion to Nathas have become abodes of ritualistic wor- the goddess of prosperity has a certain local base ship rather than centres for spiritual illumin- and it does not reflect a change in the beliefs of ation through traditional practices. the Nathas. It may also be an intermingling of This author has noted the presence of the Shaiva and Vaishnava traditions, of which we Natha community in a number of villages in find many examples in Maharashtra and Kar- Solapur district of Maharashtra. They are house- nataka. Natha Panthi, Nath Jogi, and Masan holders, proud of their heritage but ignorant of Jogi figure in the category of Nomadic Tribes in

Vedic education by a Natha Pantha guru at Nath Shakti Pith, Maharashtra ola Ak i on So ci ety, at photo: Om E du c photo:

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Maharashtra, while Jogis are included in Other Buddhist leanings who belonged to the fifth Backward Castes as per Maharashtra govern- century or the one who belonged to the Natha-­ ment’s list of castes.28 Bhartrihari who emerged about six centuries later—is another question that shall remain un- The Natha yogis as a separate class of religious resolved till new facts are discovered. It may, mendicants, called Jugi in Bengal, are not held however, be said that the Natha-Bhartrihari in respect today.29 However, the high ideals, re- lives in the soulful songs that he wrote in mo- nunciatory outlook, and the yogic feats of the ments of dispassion and detachment resulting from his wife’s clandestine acts of immorality. Nathas continue to be a part of the Bengali folk- 20. A History of Sufism in India, 1.333, 339. lore and tradition. P 21. The Yoga Tradition, Its History, Literature, Phil- osophy and Practice, 513. Notes and References 22. R Blake Michael, The Origins of Vīraśaiva Sects (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1992), 56–7. 17. ‘Mīna Nātha sprang from the navel; Goraksḥa Gorakha made a show of his adamantine body, Nātha came out of the skull (according to other which could not be pierced by any weapon. Al- versions, from ghor or filth, whether sweat or lama Prabhu in reply asked him to pass a sword dung); Hāḍi-pā originated from the bones; through his body. The weapon penetrated as Kānu-pā was born from the ears; and Cauraṅgī if it were passing through vacant space. When Nātha came out of the feet’—see ‘The Nātha asked about the secret of this miracle Allama Cult’, 282. replied that ‘Māyā becomes frozen as does the 18. See The Yoga Tradition, Its History, Literature, body and when the body and the māyā both be- Philosophy and Practice, 513–16; and ‘The Nātha come frozen, shadow forms appear as real, and Cult’, 285. the body and the mind appear as one’ (ibid.). 19. For an English translation of select verses of 23. Vide Jadunath Sarkar’s translation. Vairagya-shataka see Lal Gopal Mukerji and 24. A History of Sufism in India, 1.354; The Yoga Bankey Behari, Songs from Bhartṛhari (Gora- Tradition, Its History, Literature, Philosophy and khpur: Gita Press, 1999), 1–6. The life of Bhar- Practice, 514. trihari is shrouded in myths and legends. Muk- 25. For the names of the eighty-four Siddhas see erji and Bankey Behari believe that Bhartrihari P C Bagchi, ‘The Cult of the Buddhist Siddha­ flourished about the first or second century caryas’ in Studies on the Tantras, 102–3. Accord- ce. He was fortunate in having for his minis- ing to one account, the category of navanātha, ter his own brother, the well-known Vikram- nine Natha teachers, includes: Gorakha­ aditya, after whom we have the Vikram Era natha, Jwalendranatha, Karinanatha, Gahini­ (viii). Swami Harshananda places Bhartrihari, natha, Charpatanatha, Revananatha, Nagana- the author of three well-known Shatakas, ‘One tha, Bhartrinatha, and Gopichandranatha— Hundred Verses’, somewhere between 100 bce see Bhagavataprasadsinghji, ‘Caurāsī Siddha and 500 ce—see Encyclopaedia of Hinduism, Tatha Nātha Sampradāya’, Kalyāṇa, ‘Yoganka’, 1.285. Georg Feuerstein mentions that Vikram- 468–72. The Vajrayana school of tantric Maha- aditya—Chandragupta—ruled from 1079 to yana Buddhism accepts the early Natha Siddhas 1126 ce after his brother Bhartrihari abdicated other than Gorakha as its own masters—see the throne—see The Yoga Tradition, 514. In ‘The Nātha Cult’, 286. fact, Chandragupta II belongs to a much earl- 26. Gorakhnāth and the Kanphaṭa Yogīs, 23. ier period: fourth-fifth century ce. Bhartriha- 27. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Dancing ri’s date requires further historical scrutiny, but with Śiva: Hinduism’s Contemporary Catechism the existence of Bhartrihari, the king turned (Hawaii: Himalaya Academy, 1993), 816. Natha yogi during the early phase of the sec- 28. See Arakshana Sandarbhatil Mahatvache va Ni- ond millennium of the Christian Era cannot be vadak Shashakiya Adesha (Kolhapur: Shivaji denied. Who actually wrote the popular Shata- Vidya­pitha, 1999), 180, 184. kas, whether the grammarian Bhartrihari with 29. ‘The Nātha Cult’, 280.

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