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Nāth Sampradāya The Nāth Sampradāya today comprises an order features that characterize the Nāth Sampradāya of renunciate ascetics and a householder caste, today will be summarized (for a more detailed both of which trace their lineages to a group ethnography of today’s Nāths, see Bouillier, 2008; of nine Nāth gurus headed by Ādinātha (“First see also → Kānphatās),̣ followed by an examina- Nāth”), who is identified with the god → Śiva. Next tion of their historicity: Nāths today claim that in most lists of nine Nāths comes Matsyendranātha, their characteristics were introduced by Goraksạ followed by Goraksanāthạ (Gorakhnāth), who is when he founded the Sampradāya, but many are said to have founded the Nāth order of ascetics. of more recent origin. Aspects of Nāth identity The earliest references to the Nāth ascetic order that are shared with other groups, such as the as an organized entity date to the beginning of Nāth ascetics’ observance of typical Hindu the 17th century, but its first historicalguru s, renouncers’ vows (see → sādhus), will not be Matsyendranātha and Goraksanātha,̣ lived much examined in detail. earlier, probably in the 9th and 12th centuries, Today the ascetic branch of the Nāth Sampradāya respectively, and during the intermediate period is quite distinct from that of the householders. there are numerous references to both ascetic and Membership of the former is open to all and householder Nāths in texts, inscriptions, iconog- effected by initiation from an ascetic Nāth guru. raphy, and historical reports. In this article, the Householder Nāths greatly outnumber ascetics Fig. 1: Two ascetics, early 19th century. On the right is a Kānphatạ̄ Nāth (© British Library – India Office Select Materials, Shelf- mark Add.27255, f.399b). © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2011 BEH, vol. III Also available online – www.brill.nl NNathath SSampradaya_1-20.inddampradaya_1-20.indd 1 88/3/2011/3/2011 55:31:31:31:31 PPMM 2 Nāth Sampradāya and consist of a broad variety of mainly endoga- and dhotīs (never undergarments or trousers), mous castes. They see themselves as descendants they cover their bodies in ash, and they often of Nāth ascetics who broke their vows of celibacy wear their hair in jatạ̄ , dreadlocks, although and settled down as householders. Householder several Nāths keep their hair short. They live by a Nāths are found throughout India and Nepal, dhūnī or sacred fire, and many smoke cannabis. with certain regions, such as Karnataka, Rajast- There are very few female ascetic Nāths. han, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, The Nāth order is traditionally associated with and Nepal, having higher concentrations than the practice of yoga and → Tantra, certain varieties others. The various householder Nāth castes of which are said to have originated from their include a wide range of social groups, from low- first gurus, Matsyendra and Goraksa,̣ but today status Muslim bards in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar few pursue either very assiduously. Despite their to relatively high-status Sanskritized jogīs (Hind. founder’s reputation as its first teacher, almost no yogī) and Nāths in → Rajasthan and → Karnataka, Nāths practice Hathạ Yoga (see → Yoga). The ini- respectively. tiatory, funereal, and other important rituals of The ascetic Nāth order is overseen by an orga- the order are tantric, with the goddess Bālā/ nization called the Akhil Bharatvarshiya Ava- Tripurāsundarī (see → Kashmir) being the focus dhoot Bhesh Barah Panth Yogi Mahasabha (“The of worship, but for many ascetic Nāths, their daily All-Indian Great Assembly of the Renunciate religious observance consists of living a renunci- Yogis of the Twelve Lineages”), which was ate life and worshipping the order’s deities and founded in 1906 and whose headquarters are in gurus in a manner consistent with typical North Haridwar. There are approximately eight to ten Indian → bhakti. The central object of worship in thousand Nāth ascetics in India today (Bouillier, several monasteries, and for the itinerant jamāt, is 2008, 15). Their monasteries, which number about the pātr, a pot containing items emblematic of the five hundred, are found mostly in northern and Nāths: the sīṅgnād janeū, earrings, a → rudrāksạ western India. There are also a handful of monas- mālā, and a chillum, the clay pipe used for smoking teries in each of the following regions of the sub- cannabis (Bouillier, 2008, 43). continent: Bihar, Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Andhra The religious life of householder Nāths also Pradesh, Karnataka, Nepal, and Pakistan. consists for the most part in devotional practices, Nāth ascetics may be sthāndhārī, sedentary, in particular the communal singing of bhajans but most are itinerant. A troop of Nāth ascetics (see → kīrtan and bhajan), as well as listening to that is known as the jamāt and has a floating pop- public performances of Nāth bards singing epic ulation of about one hundred wanders continu- romances about legendary Nāth ascetics, kings, ously about India, reinforcing the collective Nāth and heroes. In some regions, Nāth householders ascetic identity by attending important Nāth function as hereditary temple priests (e.g. Nepal: festivals. These festivals recur in annual and lon- Bouillier, 1986). Certain communities of Rajast- ger cycles. Navarātra is spent at Jwalamukhi in hani Nāth householders engage in secret sexual Himachal Pradesh and kārttikpūrṇimā (full moon rites (Gold, 2002). Like their ascetic counterparts, in Oct–Nov) at Pushkar in Rajasthan. During the Nāth householders are usually buried after death. month of māgh (Jan–Feb), a Nāth melā is held at All Nāths, whether ascetics or householders, Pushkar, from which the jamāt travels to Girnar wear around their necks the sīṅgnād janeū, a long to celebrate śivarātrī. The jamāt attends all of the black woollen thread on which a very small horn, triennial kumbhamelās. After the kumbhamelā a rudrāksạ seed, and a ring are strung. The horn held every 12 years at Nasik (the next being in (which is really more of a whistle) is blown during 2016), the jamāt spends six months walking to the certain rituals and before eating. Most Nāth ascet- Nāth monastery at Kadri, near Mangalore in ics and a diminishing number of householders Karnataka, to install on śivarātrī a new rājā yogī wear thick, hooped earrings in slits cut in the car- (see below), who is elected at the Nasik melā and tilages (not the lobes) of their ears, because of walks with the jamāt. which they are also known as → Kānphatạ̄ (“split- The appearance and lifestyle of Nāth ascetics eared”) yogīs, a somewhat derogatory name that is are very similar to those of other North Indian eschewed by Nāths themselves. All Nāths hail one ascetics, in particular the → Daśanāmī nāgā another with the greeting “ādeś” (see below). They saṃ nyāsīs, → Rāmānandī tyāgīs, and Udāsīs (see are Śaiva, often worshipping Śiva as→ Bhairava, a → sādhus). They are celibate, they wear loincloths form associated with tantric practice. NNathath SSampradaya_1-20.inddampradaya_1-20.indd 2 88/3/2011/3/2011 55:31:33:31:33 PPMM Nāth Sampradāya 3 Elements of Nāth Identity It might be supposed that the forerunners of the Nāths were denoted by the name “yogī,” but The Name “Nāth” this term is also ambiguous as it has been used, at The use of the name “Nāth” (Skt.nātha ) to denote least until the modern period, to denote yoga- an order of human ascetics is relatively recent, practicing ascetics belonging to a wide range dating to approximately the 18th century (SidPad. of orders, in particular those of the Daśanāmī 5.43; *Ādeśapadavyākhyā folio 17, recto line 1; saṃ nyāsīs and Rāmānandīs. In the absence of folio 18, recto line 8). Before this time the mem- nomenclature as a definitive criterion for identi- bers of the various ascetic lineages that were to fying “Nāths” and in the light of there being no become the Nāth Sampradāya were known as evidence of an organized pan-Indian order of yogīs (as they still are in the name of the modern Nāths prior to the beginning of the 17th century, “Nāth” organization, the above-mentioned Yogi in order to analyze the history of the Nāth Mahasabha). Householder “Nāths” were also known Sampradāya during its formative period, the his- thus, and it was not until the 20th century that tory of the various elements that constitute Nāth they began to refer to themselves as Nāths, in a bid identity today will now be examined in turn. At to elevate their status and escape the pejorative the risk of historical inaccuracy, for the sake of connotations of the name yogī/jogī, which had convenience, the forerunners of the members come to be associated with low-status castes and of what is now known as the Nāth Sampradāya are mendicant orders (Gold, 1992, 51). This has hap- herein usually referred to as “Nāths.” pened only in Rajasthan; elsewhere householder “Nāths” are still for the most part known as yogīs The Nine Nāths or jogīs. While there are some relatively early (c. 10th- The names of some of the early Nāth gurus did century) descriptions of groupings of Nāths (see sometimes bear the suffixnātha - , but other suf- below), the tradition of nine Nāths to which fixes are also found, including -pāda, -pā, -deva, today’s Nāth Sampradāya traces its origins has and -āī; very often the early gurus’ names are more names in common with those found in early found without any suffix at all. Meanwhile many lists of siddhas than in early lists of Nāths. The humans and gods with no connection with the siddhas were semidivine humans who had become Nāth Sampradāya have names that bear the suffix perfected (siddha) as a result of their mastery of -nātha, for example, the Jaina saints Ādinātha, yoga, alchemy (→ rasāyana), and other esoteric Pārśvanātha, and so on; the 16th-century guru of means.