The Legend of Nāthasiddha Cauraṅgī As Reflected in Early Medieval Hagiography, Epigraphy and Art
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The Legend of Nāthasiddha Cauraṅgī as Reflected in Early Medieval Hagiography, Epigraphy and Art Amol N. Bankar1 1. Flat No. L‐ 603, Lake Vista, Dattanagar ‐ Jambhulwadi Road, Ambegaon, Pune – 411 037, Maharashtra, India (Email: [email protected]) Received: 30 July 2019; Revised: 04 September 2019; Accepted: 11 October 2019 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 7 (2019): 915‐933 Abstract: The sad tale of a young prince Cauraṅgī, falsely accused of incest by his adulterous step‐ mother who proceeds to sever his hands and legs, as well as the prince’s subsequent maturation into a great yogī, is the subject of several ballads, folk‐theatre plays and folk songs of the itinerate balladeers touching the hearts of the ordinary people all over India. In this essay I have begun the process of cataloguing and documenting many iterations of this story across a wide range of Indian languages focusing especially on much neglected early medieval old Marāṭhī sources, Iconography and Inscriptions. Keywords: Nātha Saṁpradāya, Cauraṅgīnātha, Līḷā‐caritra, Ratnamāḷā‐stotra, Jñāneśvarī, Tattvasāra, Panhāḷe Kājī Introduction The story of a prince Cauraṅgī, falsely accused of incest by his adulterous step‐mother who proceeds to sever his hands and legs, and the prince’s subsequent maturation into a great yogī, is the subject of several ballads, folk‐theatre plays and folklore songs. The story of Cauraṅgī or Pūran Bhagat is one of the favorite episodes of the Nātha hagiographical repertoire and it is subject of countless versions recited and sung throughout the subcontinent, both among Hindu and Muslim communities. The exploits of this great Siddha and his short biography are included into a range of Tibetan hagiographical collections.1 Perhaps the most celebrated collection of these tales is called ‘Legends of the Eighty‐four Mahāsiddhas’ (Tib. Grub thob brgyad bcu tsa bzhi’i lo rgyus) translated by Robinson and Dowman (Robinson 1979: 86‐90; Dowman 1985: 54‐56). This text identifies Cauraṅgī as the son of king Devapāla. According to Abhayadatta, when he was twelve years old his mother passed away. King Devapāla was induced by his courtiers to marry another wife from a foreign country. One day the king went into the jungle to dispel a secret grief. The very next morning, the new queen caught sight of her stepson and was deeply infatuated by his beauty. She invited him to come to her side and made unchaste advances towards him. But prince Cauraṅgī calmly rejected her advances. The queen felt mortally humiliated. She ordered her attendants to murder the prince, but they refused andd sai that he was as ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 7: 2019 innocent as a child. When the king returned, the queen had devised a scheme to accuse the young prince of sexual assault. She tore off her clothes and covered her body in blood from self‐inflicted wounds. After finding her in this condition and believing all her accusations, the king was extremely angry. He ordered two executioners to cut off the hands and feet of the prince and abandon him in the forest. The executioners loved the prince more than their own children. They volunteered to sacrifice their sons to protect the prince. But the prince rejected this plan and forced them to obey the king’s order. Accordingly, they dismembered him and left him, propped against a tree, to die. All at once, a yogī known as Aciṅtapā / Mīnapā appeared before the prince. Mīnapa gave him initiation and empowerment and instructed him in the yoga of pot‐bellied breathing. He left the boy under the tree to practice. Encountering a group of cow herders, Mīnapa informed them of the prince’s condition and one of them offered to serve Cauraṅgī.2 The prince remained in meditation for twelve years. After this severe penance, he regained his lost hands and feet. Apart from the hagiographical references, the Tibetan text of the ‘Vāyutattvabhāvanā‐nāma’ (Tib. rlung gi de nyid bsgom pa’i man ngag ces bya ba), which is a poetical description of a number of haṭhayogic phenomena, in the colophon of which the author identifies himself as Cauraṅgī. Curiously, the text that follows bears the same title (Vāyutattvabhāvanopadeśa‐nāma) as this one is attributed to Ācārya Ghorakha (Gorakṣa), that Siddha with whom Cauraṅgī’s legend becomes confused in Tibetan hagiography.3 As recorded by Briggs, the most common version of the legend existing in Punjab tells us that Rājā Sulivān (Śālivāhan, Sālwān, Sālbān) had two sons, Pūraṇ (as Cauraṅgī is known in Punjab) and Rasālu by two different queens.4 While the eldest queen became the mother of Pūraṇ, the other, much younger queen, was barren. When Pūraṇ became a man, this younger queen made improper advances towards him. He refused to yield so she subsequently implicated him under some false charges. The king ruled against hisd son an accordingly Pūraṇ was put to death. His hands and feet were cut off and his body was thrown into well in Karol, a village five miles from Siyālkoṭ (This village was later called Pūraṇwālā). After some days a yogī, who came for water, found the body in the well. (This well was later well known as Pūraṇ’s well.) Having learned, upon inquiry, the story of Pūraṇ’s temptation and death, he uttered a charm (mantra) over the body and Pūraṇ was brought back to life, and his hands and feet restored. Pūraṇ became a Kānphaṭā (Nātha) yogī (Briggs 1938: 184‐185). In the oral traditions of North India’s Nātha Saṁpradāya, we find considerably different accounts of Cauraṅgī’s story performed by wandering minstrels, yet even here, the textual tradition reflects some continuities. Thus, the ‘Prāṇa Sāṁkalī’, which is recognized by the modern Nātha Yogīs as part of their tradition and identified as a work of Nāthasiddha Cauraṅgī, tells a similar story.5 Cauraṅgī’s contribution to the standard anthologies is, however, exceptional in its length, content, and antiquity (White 1996: 133). Cauraṅgī identifies the Nāthasiddha Matsyendra as his ‘guru’ and 916 Bankar 2019: 915‐933 Nāthasiddha Gorakṣanāth as his ‘gurubandhu’ and ‘annadātā’.6 Another composition attributed to Cauraṅgī, ‘Śri Nāthāṣṭak’, published by Hajariprasad Dwivedi, identifies Gorakṣanāth as Cauraṅgī’s guru.7 Some versions of the story of Cauraṅgī, however, offer certain variants. We can approach this legend through Bhakta‐māla, Santa‐māla, Rajjaba‐vāṇī, Gorakha carita, Śrī Gorakhnātha caritra, Nātha‐siddha caritra which are already discussed by Munoz. Although these versions are not very extensive but they are quite close to the central motif, there are some significant variants. In all cases, Cauraṅgī is a young prince by which his stepmother comes to feel lust. Subsequent motives are: the indecorous proposition of the stepmother, rejection, lieing, dismemberment and encounter with one (or some) nāth‐siddha (Munoz 2010: 209‐229). Tale of Cauraṅgī from Early Medieval Marathi Literature Līḷā‐caritra: The early medieval Marathi prose composed in AD 1286 offers an account of the life of Cakṛadhara, the founder of the Mahānubhāva sect presented in the form of anecdotes about wanderings and discourses with his disciples. Unlike other Old Marathi texts, the problem of securing a genuine text is less severe in the case of Līḷā‐ caritra, as most of the Mahānubhāva manuscripts are written in secret codes known as lipī. Its codification put a check on the modernisation and corruption of the language of the Mahānubhava texts and proved extremely useful in preserving their original linguistic forms.8 Līḷā‐caritra is a vital source for studying vivid aspects of Nāthapantha. Cakṛadhara had narrated legends of several personalities associated with Nāthapantha viz. Adaṇḍīnātha, Indrāi Māhātmā, Udhaḷīnātha, Rasasiddha Kaṇerī, Kanthaḍīnātha, Haṭhayogīnī Kāmākṣā/ Kāmākhyā, Kuirāma Siddha, Gorakṣanātha, Siddha Ghoḍācūḍī/ Ghoṛācolī, Candrāi Māhātmā, Jaḷāndharī/ Jāḷāndhara, Jālandharanātha, Guru Dattātreya, Siddha Nāgārjuna, Yogīnī Bahuḍī, Bhartṛuharī, Machīndranātha/ Matyendranātha, Mīnanātha, Yogīnī Muguṭābāī/ Muktābāī, Vajrayānī Siddha Luipāi, Goviṁdacaṁdra / Gopicaṁda, Siddha Kānha(pā)/ Kanha). The story of prince Cauraṅgī (LP.260, Kolte 1978:178‐179) is also recounted in this context which runs as follows: On their way to Āḍgāva (Also spelt Adgaon, Dist. Nasik, Coordinates: 20°0’54”N, 73°51’5”E), Cakṛadhara and his disciples had stayed for a short while near a booth where drinking water was available. While walking in a field Cakṛadhara noticed a broken trunk of the ber tree (ziziphus mauritiana) which had started blossoming. Sarvajña (Cakṛadhara) asked his disciples, ‘Have you seen this? This is a natural tendency, If this tendency comes to a man, then we can surely saye on had acquired the knowledge (vidyā) of Cauraṅgī’. Bāisā, an inquisitive female disciple of Cakṛadhara, requested him to explain Cauraṅgī’s knowledge (vidyā). In reply to this, Cakṛadhara narrated a story: “Once a king was ruling near the foot of Saptaśruṅga Mountain, He had two queens. The Elder Queen had a son, who was very handsome. One day, when the prince was sleeping alone, the younger Queen entered his bed chamber. She was smitten by his 917 ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 7: 2019 beauty and unable to control herself, she made unchaste advances towards him. The Prince coldly rejected her proposal by innocently telling her, ‘You are my mother! (How can one ask something so perverted)’; this reply turned her into misery and humiliation. She went to her room and inflicted injuries and scratches all over her body. On finding her in that condition, the king asked her what had happened. The younger Queen then accused the young prince of trying to rape her. After seeing her clever performance, the king believed her accusations and was overwhelmed with rage. He went to his court and invited all his relatives, friends, learned men and asked them what punishment should be given to the Prince.