Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c11: Chapter Seven: Religion and Superstition

Gorakhnāth and the Kānphaṭa Yogīs c11

Language: English

Chapter Seven: Religion and Superstition

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NOT only do Gorakhnāthīs recognize and worship the greater and lesser gods of the Hindu Pantheon; but also they follow the popular forms of Hindu belief, having concern for saints and other spirit powers, especially those that are evil; practising magic, exorcism, witchcraft and some primitive medicine; giving attention to lucky and unlucky days¹; and following the superstitions of the populace.

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¹ *Bombay Gazetteer*, vol. XXI, p. 185.

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Some Yogīs do not eat fish because Matsyendranāth was born from a fish; while others do not observe the taboo.²

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² *Matsya* means ‘fish.’ The saint’s other name, *Mīna*, also means fish.’

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Some hold the red dāl (*māsūr*) taboo because it resembles drops of blood. Carrots and turnips are eschewed for prudish reasons.³

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³ *NINQ*, vol. I, para. 117.

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An interesting device for detecting good and bad omens has to do with breathing. ‘To have both nostrils free and to be breathing through them at the same time is not good, and one should not begin any business in this condition. If one is breathing only through the right nostril, the left being closed, the condition is propitious for the following actions: to eat and drink, for digestion will be rapid; to fight; to bathe; to study and read; to ride on a horse; to work at one’s livelihood. A sick man should take medicine while he is breathing only through his right nostril. To be breathing through the left nostril is propitious for the following undertakings: to lay the foundations of a house, and to take up residence in a new house; to put on new clothes; to sow seed; to do service or to found a village; to make any purchase. The Yogīs practice the art of breathing in this manner by stopping up the right and left nostril alternately with cotton wool and breathing through the other. If a man comes to a Brāhman to ask him whether some business or undertaking will succeed, the Brāhman breathes through his nostrils on to his hand; if the breath comes through the right nostril, the omen is favourable and the answer is ‘yes’; if through the left nostril, the omen is unfavourable and the answer is ‘no’.¹

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¹ E. V. Russell and Hira Lal, *The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India*, vol. III, p. 247. Quoted by permision of the Macmillan Company, Publishers.

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‘There are many points in connection with regulation of breath which we nowadays class among superstitions, since we have lost the rationale. Thus it is said that one’s undertakings will all prove successful if he commences them when he respires through his right nostril. Similarly, if you start from your home to visit a friend, and wish to know whether you will find him or not at home, examine your breath; if it flows through the right nostril, you will see him, otherwise not. There are others who could tell the hour of the day from the motion of their breath. It is said, that in every healthy person the breath (technically known as sura) changes from one nostril to the other at well-established regular intervals, and thus from its being right- or left-sided, those practised in it can approximately say the hour of the day.’²

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² Rai Bahadur Sris Chandra Basu, *The Sacred Books of the Hindus*, vol. XV, Pt. 4, p. 44 f.

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Rose quotes from the ‘Ḥauz-ul-Ḥayāt (Well of Knowledge),³ which says that, if a man closes his eyes, ears and nostrils, he cannot take cold; that the right nostril is called the sun, and the left the moon; that from the former he breathes heat, and from the latter cold air.’³ Here is undoubtedly an evidence of the influence of Yoga doctrine on Islam.

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³ Rose, *The Darvishes*, p. 382.

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‘It is an established custom amongst the Yogīs that, when malady overpowers them, they bury themselves alive. They are wont also, with open eyes, to force their looks towards the middle of their eyebrows, until so looking they perceive the figure of a man; if this should appear without hands, feet or any member, for each case they have determined that the boundaries of their existence would be within so many years, months or days. When they see the figure without a head, they know that there certainly remains very little of their life; on that account, having seen the prognostic, they bury themselves.¹

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¹ *Dabistan* vol. II, pp. 138, 9.

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For the horrible rite of divination by the use of a full-time fœtus see below, chapter eight.

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In the cure of disease Yogīs make use of exorcism. In Almora, for instance, the drum, dancing and medicines are not used in the process; but it is performed in the name of Bhāiroṁ or of Gorakhnāth. The *cimṭa* (firetongs), which are of iron; branches of the nīm tree and of the *jatela* tree; and the hān morcal, or fan of peacock feathers,² are used, along with spells, to drive out disease or evil spirits. The article employed is moved over the body of the afflicted person so as to ‘sweep’ out the disease, or the spirit causing the trouble. The ‘sweeping’ is done from the head toward the feet. The practice is applied to snake-bite as well as to other afflictions. Morning and evening are auspicious times for the practice of exorcism.

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² SHTC, p. 262.

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Kānphaṭas have a considerable reputation in the practice of medicine. Their method is in part that of exorcism and in part the use of magic, of charms and of drugs.

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A certain Yogī at Almora claimed (1924) that he was widely employed to heal the sick, and that he had wrought cures where doctors, even Western doctors, had failed. He cited in particular a case where he claimed that he had cured a paralytic woman. He did not discuss his method.

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Various substances are applied or administered for medicinal effect. Ashes, with a spell pronounced over them, are used as a ṭīkā, made with the thumb on the forehead, to effect the cure of illness or barrenness, or to protect from the evil eye. In the legends are related many instances of the use of ashes for magical effects.³ Powdered rhinoceros skin is dusted into wounds as a healing substance. The use of ashes from the dhūnī is described in the study of the legends about Gorakhnāth. Yogīs at Gorakhpur wash a large nummulite, obtained in Sind, in water and administer the solution to women to insure easy delivery. The Yogīs at Gorakhpur have long had a reputation for pronouncing spells which are specially efficacious in restoring children to health.¹

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³ See chap. nine.

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¹ Buchanan reported this many years ago. *Martin*, vol. II, p. 484.

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Yogīs make and sell charms of various kinds; some are given to children as a protection against the evil eye. As the descriptions, especially in chapter one show, Kānphaṭas make a considerable use of amulets themselves. Many of these are of the usual form, box-shaped or cylindrical, made of copper or some other metal, often of silver, and worn on the arm or hung from the neck. In the receptacle are placed a variety of objects.

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The ear-ring carries with it special protection and vouchsafes success in all undertakings.² And the thread (kaṅgna), worn about the wrist, or on the upper arm, serves a protective purpose. Ornaments hung from the neck and worn on the fingers may perform a similar office. A silver tooth-pick attached to the sacred thread serves to ward off the evil eye.

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² E.g., so they say at Śrinagar. See section on Ear-rings.

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In some parts of the Konkan the swastika is used as a symbol of Śiva.³

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³ Enthoven, *Follkore of Bombay*, p. 45.

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Quite in keeping with the claims to supernatural power, which skill the Yoga is supposed to confer, is the popular belief that Yogīs work in magic. And the practice is carried on.

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In Gujarāt drought was attributed to Indra and a sorcerer was called in who made offerings to Mātājī (the Mother Goddess), in potsherds representing human skulls out of which the Yoginīs (female demons), her attendants, delight to eat. The offerings were carried outside the city and set down beyond the east gate, in a circle already prepared, and the food was then given to outcastes and dogs.⁴

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⁴ *Rās Mālā*, vol. II, p. 321 (Rawlinson’s Edition).

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In various parts of the country Yogīs have a reputation for being able to control hailstorms and rain. In Siālkot the Yogī who is able to check a hailstorm or to divert it into waste land is called *rathbanā*.¹ These are well known at Ṭilla. In the Central Provinces he is called *gārpagāri*.

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¹ *RTCP*, vol. II, p. 398. See *Census Report, Berār*, 1881, p. 58.

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Wool being a protective, the Yogī uses it for his sacred thread, for *kaṅnas*, and often in his head covering. When Gorakhnāth wished to draw Puran from the well in Siālkot, he sought a thread spun by an unmarried virgin.²

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² *Temple*, vol. II, p. 432.

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Instances of the practice of the black art are reported. Near Patānkot, *zarī būti*, a herb, is mixed with the ashes of an unmarried Hindu and given to an enemy in order to bewitch him. The effect of this potion can be overcome only by the incantations of another Yogī.³ For the phase of the practice of black magic covering the control of spirits through ceremonies over a corpse see below under ‘Vāmacāra.’ Left-hand Śāktas, with the intention of killing an enemy, make an image of flour and clay, stick razors into the breast, navel and throat; and pegs into its eyes, hands and feet. A fire sacrifice is made with meat; and an image of Bhāirava or of Durgā holding a trident is placed so that the weapon pierces the breast of the image, and death is invoked on the person whose destruction is intended.⁴

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³ *RTCP*, vol. I, quoting *NINQ*, vol. I, para. 117.

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⁴ *CTC*, vol. I, p. 137.

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The subject of the possession and of the exercise of supernatural powers for which Yogīs are famous all over the world, will be considered in a following chapter.

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The use of blood is evidenced on every hand, in red ochre smeared on images and symbols, in the tīkā, and in actual offerings. A survival of blood used magically, reduced to blood drawn from the tongue or little finger of the worshipper,

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‘The Jogīs flew thence and went straight to the land of Kārū.
Seeing the virgins spinning they demanded a thread.
Spake a beldame of a hundred years: “I tell you truth,
The spinning wheel was made in the Golden Age; the skein and ropes in the Silver Age;
The thread was drawn in the Third Age and went up into heaven.”
If ye be the disciples of a saint, bring down the thread.’

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is suggested in the case where Gorakhnāth drew water from his finger when he restored Mahitā and Silā Dāī to life.¹

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¹ Temp., vol. I, p. 362.

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It was believed that Śāktas formerly ate portions of the flesh and drank the blood of the victims sacrificed at their secret orgies.² Undoubtedly there is involved here the idea of magic. The practices described under Kāmākhyā, below suggest customs which have passed there and in Orissa by less than a century.³

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² Modern India and the Indians, p. 64.

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³ See Modern India and the Indians, p. 65.

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Bhattacharya says that Kāmārs, blacksmiths, are Śakti worshippers and that they are usually employed in slaughtering animals used in sacrifice to the bloodthirsty gods and goddesses that receive the adoration of Śāktas.⁴

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⁴ HCS, p. 243.

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In connection with the sacrifice of the rhinoceros, most Gurkhas offer libations of blood after entering its disembowelled body. On ordinary ‘Śrādh’ days the libation of water and milk is poured from a cup carved from its horn. Its urine is considered antiseptic, and is hung in a vessel at the principal door as a charm against ghosts, evil spirits and disease.⁵

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⁵ Landon, Nepāl, vol. I, p. 292, quoting H. H. General Kaiser Sham Sher Jang Bahādar.

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Many objects are held sacred, or are regarded almost as fetishes, because of their associations, or through the sanctity of the substances from which they are made, or to which they are related. Ear-rings, made of earth⁶ (and of other substances); the four ancient caldrons at Dhinodhar; and numerous dhūnīs, particularly those at Pāi Dhūnī, Gorakhpur and Dhinodhar may serve as examples.

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⁶ So reported at Ṭilla.

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The Ganges, especially, and other rivers such as the Godāvarī are held sacred by them, as by all Hindus. At Deoprayāg, in the Himālayas, where the Bhāgīrathī and the Alaknanda join to form the Ganges, the former, the swifter stream, is said to be sixteen annas pure and the other but fifteen annas. This is an ancient important site.

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At the Śivarāmāṇḍap temple the statue of a bronze horseman, Nakaland (the coming incarnation of Viṣṇu), is worshipped; and at Dhinodhar the mount of Rāwa Pīr.⁷

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⁷ Bombay Gazetteer, vol. V, p. 87.

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An interesting incident in tree-worship is reported in the north-west. On the fifteenth and eleventh of Phāgun, Kānphaṭas, like villagers of the Panjab, worship the āṇolā tree, or *phyllanthus emblica*. This tree is the emblic myrobolus, a representation of the fruit of which is used for the finial of Buddhist temples. Its worship is now connected with that of Śiva. Brāhmans will not take the offerings. The people circumambulate the tree from left to right, pour libations, eat the leaves and make offerings, which are taken by Kānphaṭa Yogīs.¹

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¹ RTCP, vol. I, p. 238. The āṇolā (sk. āmalaka) is an object of worship as the Birham birich (Brahm tree): ‘He who in October eats beneath the āṇolā tree to Heaven will surely go with all his family.’ Quoted from Fallon, *Hindustani-English Dictionary*, p. 168.

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Some Nāthas worship the pāduka of Gorakhnāth and of Matsyendranāth on the Śivrātri. Their carans are regularly worshipped.

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Many animals are held sacred, or are in some way given special attention by Gorakhnāthis. Like all Hindus, they worship the cow. There are special taboos against fish.² Of special interest to the Yogīs are the rhinoceros, the black buck, dogs and snakes.

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² See above, p. 125.

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The rhinoceros receives considerable attention. The rulers of Nepāl and others who come to look at those held in captivity for example at Calcutta, always worship them. In their worship of the sun, Yogīs wear a ring of rhinoceros horn on the second finger of the right hand; and in other forms of worship this same practice obtains. Some who do not wear the cuṭiya, use a ring of rhinoceros horn when making an oblation of water. Ear-rings of rhinoceros horn are very much prized. One explanation why men hold the rhinoceros sacred is that the animal bows its head slowly like an elephant; and the latter animal is sacred to Gaṇeśa, son of Śiva. Still another reason is that Śiva ordered rings of rhinoceros horn to be worn. The body and legs of the rhinoceros are offered to Gorakhnāth. It is further said that the Pāṇḍavas once killed a rhinoceros and used its skin as a vessel in which to offer water to the sun. Hence the animal is regarded as sacred.¹ Moreover, Rām Candra had a shield of rhinoceros hide. Besides, the animal is closely associated with mud, and so rings of the horn of the animal are buried with the body of a Yogī, although rings of metal or of precious stones are not.² Kirkpatrick reported the forests on the southern slopes of Nepāl to be greatly infested with rhinoceroses.³

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¹ This story was told at Śrī Nagar, in the Himalayas. See above.

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² The rhinoceros was declared to be sacred by Aśoka, in one of his Pillar Edicts. See Radhakumud Modkeji, Aśoka, p. 181. In Manu (3: 271, 272) the rhinoceros is one of the animals whose meat satisfies the manes for an endless time when offered at the Śrāddha. The story referred to above confirms this. It is hermits’ food universally On the Indian rhinoceros see EB, 13th ed., vol. II, p. 771; vol. XVI, p. 976; vol. XXIII, p. 243. The horn is a mass of hairs cemented together by cells. See also JAOS, vol. LI (1931), pp. 276 ff.

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³ An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal (1793) p. 19.

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The black buck is revered, and its horn and skin are used by Yogīs. A story which explains this fact is as follows: King Bhartṛhari, while out hunting, came upon a herd of seventy hinds and one stag. He was unable to kill the stag; and, finally, one of the hinds asked him to kill her. But he said that as a man of the warrior caste he could not do so. She then asked the stag to receive the king’s arrow. As the stag fell, he said, ‘Give my feet to the thief, that he may escape with his life; my horns to the Yogī, that he may use them as his whistle (nād); my skin to the ascetic, that he may worship upon it; my eyes to a fair woman, that she may be called mirga nāinī (having eyes like a deer); and eat my flesh thyself.’ It is said that Bhartṛhari soon afterwards met Gorakhnāth who accused him of having killed one of his disciples. Bhartṛhari replied that if he had, then Gorakhnāth could restore him to life. Thereupon Gorakhnāth threw some earth upon the stag, thereby restoring him to life.⁴

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⁴ RTCP, vol. II, pp. 403, 404.

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Reference is made⁵ to legends in which the name and the deeds of Gorakhnāth are associated with serpents, especially the rain or water-controlling serpents (nāga) of Nepāl. Notice is taken, also of the story of the great war for the extermination of serpents (nāga) under the leadership of Janmegi. In the story of Gūgā, serpents and Gorakhnāth both play an important part.¹ Yogīs celebrate the Nāgpañcamī festival. Images and pictures of serpents are found about their shrines and monasteries. The Sepalas² are snake-charmers. Besides these, there are other Kānphaṭas who exhibit snakes at melas; and there is a group or tribe, called Kor Mantar, who are Kānphaṭas, but who live in the jungles and are not often seen, who eat snakes.² Furthermore, there is the relation between Śiva and serpents, which lends some significance to the fact that these Yogīs trace their line of teachers back to the great god of destruction. Śiva is represented with a cobra, or other snakes, in his hand, about his neck or twisted in his hair. But here the significance is not so much of the worship of the serpent, as that of terror, or fear, aroused because of Śiva’s sinister character, the serpent serving as a weapon.³ Associated with the liṅga, the significance of the snake may be partly that of worship. In the wall of the steep stairway leading down to the Nāg Kuam, or Serpent-Well, in Benares, is a sculptured three-headed serpent, and on the floor a serpent is represented crawling towards the liṅga. Both Nāg and the well are worshipped.⁴ The only time during the year that the well is visited for religious purposes is on the Nāgpañcamī,⁵ when women visit the well on one day and men on the next. Worshippers bathe in the well. Respectable people do not tarry there. The well is recognized as a place of pilgrimage, Karkoṭak Nāg Tirth.¹ In Benares Śiva is worshipped as Nāgeśwar, Lord of Serpents; and in the United Provinces and in the Himālayas as Rikheśvar, Lord of Serpents (Nāgas).²

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⁵ See chap. nine.

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¹ *IA*, vol. II, p. 124. See chapter dealing with legends. It is of interest to note that the Great Śālavāhana was a Nāga. *Tod*, vol. I, p. 82. See the legends about Puran Bhagat.

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² Reported at Ṭilla.

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³ See *Tree and Serpent Worship*, p. 69. Compare *CR*, 1897, pp. 50 ff.

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⁴ *The Sacred City of the Hindus*, p. 89.

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⁵ *The Sacred City of the Hindus*, p. 220. This well, which bears marks of considerable antiquity, is situated in the north-western part of the city, and is dedicated to the Nāgarāja, Ananta or Śeṣa, who is believed to have incarnated himself in Patañjali, the famous grammarian and author of the *Mahābhāṣha*. On that account the grammarians of the city gather on the spot to discuss grammar on the fifth of the bright half of the month Śrāvan. This is the date of the Nāgapañcanī or Festival of the Nāgas. On this occasion common folk, too, repair to the ancient well and make their offerings, the average attendance being estimated at 4,000 persons. Four flights of steps, numbering altogether forty steps, lead down to a large circular well which is considerably below the level of the street. There is a stone slab with a Nāgarī inscription

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¹ Ibid., p. 220. Karkoṭak Nāg was the Serpent King of Nepāl who dwelt in the lake, Nāgavāsa. See also Landon, Nepāl, vol. I, p. 182. He is of the royal house of Kashmīr.

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² ERE, article, ‘Serpent Worship,’ vol. XI, pp. 415, 418. But see above, p. 82.

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Snakes are the servants of Rāja Bāsuk, with whom Gūgā had dealings. One legend makes Gūgā’s bride the daughter of Bāsaknāg. The Rāja has a temple at Priyāg (Prayāg) which is a place of pilgrimage, especially at the time of the Nāg-pañcami.³ A saying connected with Gūgā may be of interest. ‘It is a good thing for a Hindu to listen to the tale of Gūgā at night during the Dīwālī festival as a means of preventing snakes entering houses.’⁴

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³ IA, vol. II, p. 124.

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⁴ PNQ, vol. IV, para. 178.

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Serpents are associated with Bhāiroṁ. Images of Devī and Nāga are often found side by side.⁵

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⁵ IA, vol. II, p. 124.

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Nāgas are beneficently inclined and are connected with water and the giving of rain, or when angry with sending hail.

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‘The same idea seems to underlie the following legend which is current in Nepāl. In the days of King Guṇakām, so the story goes, the country of Nepāl was visited by a terrible famine which lasted for seven years. Since all prayers were vain, the king had recourse to the great magician, Śāntikāra. This master, while using the proper incantations, drew a magical eight-petalled lotus-flower, which he filled with gold and powdered pearls. Then he made therein the effigies of the nine great Nāgas, and by his spells induced them to occupy their proper places. Varuṇa, white of complexion, wearing a sevenfold, jewelled nāga-hood, and carrying a lotus and a jewel in his hands, took his position in the centre;

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let into the wall. The pūjārī declares that the well gives access to Pātāla, or the nether world, the abode of snakes. A snake image is said to exist inside the well, below the water level. Besides, there are snake stones let into the well. See Indian Serpent Lore, pp. 267, 288.

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Ananta, dark blue, in the east; Padmaka, with his five hoods and of the colour of a lotus-stalk, in the south; Takshaka saffron-coloured and nine-hooded, in the west; Vāsuki, greenish with seven serpent heads, in the north; Śaṅkhapāla, yellowish, in the south-west; Kulika, white coloured and provided with thirty hoods, in the north-west; Mahāpadma, gold-coloured, in the north-east. Only Karkoṭaka, who was portrayed in blue colour like a human being with a snake tail, remained absent, as he was ashamed of his deformity and would rather expose himself to the deadly influence of the spells than appear in person.

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'On the advice of Śāntikāra, the king himself went to secure the help of the obstinate Nāga and, notwithstanding his remonstrances, forcibly dragged him along by the hair. When the nine great Nāgas had thus been brought together Śāntikāra worshipped them and besought them to reveal unto him a remedy against the drought. Then they told him that he should paint their images with the blood of Nāgas, and for the purpose they offered him their own blood. As soon as the wizard had followed their instructions the sky darkened. Clouds overcast the celestial vault, and heavy rain began to pour down. This is the rite known as Nāga-sādhanā which has been resorted to ever since when the country was threatened with famine. The remedy, M. Levi says, "has lost nothing of its credit and is practised in Nepāl up to the present day."'¹

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¹ J. P. Vogel, Indian Serpent-Lore of The Nagas in Hindu Legend and Art, pp. 226, 27. See description of the festival of Matsyendranāth in Nepāl, below. ² Indian Serpent-Lore, p. 268. ³ See Underhill, The Hindu Religious Year, p.

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Vogel² says that worship is seldom devoted to live serpents, but usually to gods or saints who are considered able to give protection from snake bite.

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Dogs, especially black dogs, are associated with Bhāirom and are venerated.³

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To Yogīs who haunt the jungles are attributed power over wild beasts and 'you may hear in any Indian village of Yogīs to whom the cruel beasts (e.g. tiger, leopard) are as lap-dogs;

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¹¹⁷ See also descriptions of Bhāirom, below.

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and stories where a rāja, out hunting, endangered by a mad wild elephant or a ferocious tiger is saved by the appearance at the critical moment of the Yogī, who orders the obedient beast away.¹ It is believed that Yogīs live in the jungles surrounded by tigers and ride on them.

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¹ Man and Beast of India, pp. 355 ff. See Hunter, Statistical Account of Bengal, vol. I, p. 119.

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The spirits of Yogīs are worshipped at the samādhs. For example. the Āipanthīs of Rohtak offer, at noon, food on all samādhs and set a lamp of ghi at each one. The food is then distributed. Such worship takes place over the graves of Yogīs at all monasteries. While making offerings of food and water to their sainted dead, Yogīs make use of the pavitrī.

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Besides, Gorakhnāths worship nine Nāthas and eighty-four Siddhas. Nāthas are religious leaders, or gurus, or guides, who derive their names from Ādinātha, or Śiva. Śiva himself is called a Nātha. While the word nātha is a synonym for Hindu Yogī,² and while it is a sect name of the Kānphaṭas,³ still, in this connection it refers to the nine great, or deified and immortal teachers of the sect, of whom Gorakhnāth is sometimes called the chief.⁴ They now live far back in the holy Himālayas. Their names are: Gorakhnātha (the chief Nātha), Matsyendranātha, Carpaṭnātha, Mangalnātha, Ghugonātha, Gopinātha, Prāṇnātha, Sūratnātha and Cambanātha.⁵ They are not related to the divisions of the order.⁶ In another list nine Nāthas are named, each of whom is identified with a Hindu god. These are: 1. Aumgkār Ādinātha (Lord of Lords), Śiva; 2. Shelnātha (Lord of the Arrow Shaft), Kṛṣṇa or Rāma Candra; 3. Santoknātha (Lord of Gratification); 4. Alacambhunātha (Lord of Wondrous Immortality), Hanumān or Lakṣman; 5. Gajbali Gajkāṇṭhnātha (Lord of the Elephant’s Strength and Neck), Gaṇeśa Gajkarṇa (Elephant-Eared); 6. Prajnātha, or Udāinātha (Lord of the People), Pārvatī; 7. Māyārūpī Macchendranātha (The Wondrous Form), Guru of Gorakhnātha; 8. Gathepiṇḍe Ricayakari, or Naraṇthar, Śambhujāiti Guru Gorakhnātha; 9.

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² RTCP, vol. II, p. 389.

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³ Compare OMAS, p. 185.

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⁴ Temp., vol. I, p. 358, note.

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⁵ OMAS, p. 186. BHCS, p. 404.

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⁶ Panjab Census, Report, 1891, p. 115.

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Gyānsarūpe, or Purakh Siddh Caurañjwenātha, or Puran Bhagat.¹ Still another list is given by Kitts²: Oṃkārināth, Viṣṇu; Saṃtokanāth, Viṣṇu; Gajboli, Gajāna, Hanumān; Acaleśvar, Gaṇpati; Udayanātha, Sūrya; Pārvatī Prem, Mahādeo; Santhanātha, Brahmā; Gyānijī Siddhacewaraṅgi, Jaggannāth; Māyārūpī, Matsya. The Nāthas are also the guardian spirits of the Himālayan peaks.

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¹ RTCP, vol. II, p. 397.

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² Census Berar, Report, 1881, p. 59.

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The Siddhas³ are famous saints, of exceptional purity of life, who have attained to a semi-divine existence through the practice of Yoga. They are supposed to be living in the fastnesses of the Himālayas.⁴ In the Nānak Sākhī an account is given of Nānak’s visit to their retreat. There he finds, in the residence of Mahādeva, Gorakhnāth, Bhartṛhari and others in company with these perfect Yogīs.⁵ At another time Nānak met, at Gorakhhatri, eighty-four Siddhas who performed miracles and wonders before him. One made a deer-skin fly in the air, another caused a stone to move about, a third gave forth fire and a fourth caused a wall to run about.⁶ Later, he and Gorakhnātha talked together there.⁷ Siddhas are referred to in Macaulayffe.⁸

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³ RTCP, vol. II, pp. 397, 398.

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⁴ See ERE, vol. II, p. 94. A partial list of them is given in Wi, p. 214, note 2.

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⁵ Tr., p. xl.

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⁶ Tr., p. xlii..

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⁷ Tr., pp. xlii, xliii, xliv.

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⁸ Mac., vol. I, p. 41.

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Besides the chief Siddhas there are others who are supposed to be still upon the earth.

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It is a well-known belief that the Nāthas and the Siddhas follow Gorakhnāth in his wanderings, and that the path of this journey may be traced by the small trees bearing sugar candy which spring up wherever they go.⁹

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⁹ RTCP, vol. II, p. 396.

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There is, besides, a class of spirits, or beings, Siddhis, whom legends connect with Gorakhnāth. Generally they plague mankind. There are, however, celas who know the mind of their Siddhis and who can avert their anger, for a consideration.¹⁰ Siddhis have special worshippers whose distinctive emblem is a silver siṅghī or cylindrical ornament, worn on a thread round the neck.¹ Villagers consider the Siddhis as demons who have received their power from Gorakhnāth. In the lower Himālayas of the Panjab, in Ambāla, and Hoshiyārpur, Siddhis are worshipped in the form of stones, under various names. There are several that are known by name: Ghāzidās has a considerable reputation near Una; and Cānu, said to have been a Camār (Camārs feast on goats and sing songs on certain occasions);¹ and Kāla Pīr worshipped in the low hills and throughout the eastern districts of the Panjab, and, more particularly as Kāla Mahār by the Sindhu Jāṭs as their forebear.² Sindus of Khot in Jīnd and Khātis and Lohārs worship him there. His samādh at Khot is in charge of an Āipanth Yogī.

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¹⁰ Census of the Panjab, 1891, p. 115.

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¹ OMAS, p. 186, quoted from the Panjab Census, Report, 1891, p. 115. This is the siṅgnād.

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² RTCP, vol. II, p. 397.

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Gorakṣa is sometimes considered as a name of Śiva, and Gorakhnāth is often looked upon as a manifestation of the dread god, and as such receives worship in some Śaivite temples. He is worshipped also in temples of his own. At Gorakhpur, where his gaddi is situated, his caran occupies the place of worship in the temple. His caran is an object of worship in Kāṭhiāwār also.³ Images of Gorakhnāth are found in many places; for example, at Gorakhmandi,⁴ in various places in the Himālayas, both in Garhwal and Kumaun, and at Trimbak:⁵ and he is represented by a very large, realistic image in the shrine at Gorakh Bansuri. Furthermore, at some shrines of Gūgā his images, or shrines, are to be found, and also in some temples of Bhāiroṁ. Each year a stone liṅga is carried in procession from Dāṅg Cangra to Devī Pātan, and is worshipped on the way and for a period of four days at the latter place because it is supposed to contain the spirit of Gorakhnāth.⁶ He is a household god among the Kānphaṭas of Belgaum.⁷ The Gurkhas of the hills worship him in a special place in their houses, where lamps, flowers, sweetmeats and bel leaves make up the offerings;

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³ Bombay Gazetteer, vol. VIII, p. 155.

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⁴ Bombay Gazetteer, vol. VIII, pp. 446, 447.

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⁵ See chap. six.

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⁶ For details of these references, see chap. five.

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⁷ Bombay Gazetteer, vol. XXI, p. 185.

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and in the temples through pūjārīs of the sect. The morning and evening worship consists of the ringing of bells, the beating of drums, the circumambulation of the shrine and the offering of food which is then distributed in the form of prasād.

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The worship of Dharamnāth is not so widespread as is that of his predecessor, his chief centre being at Dhinodhar, where his shrine is at the top of the hill. A temple containing his image is found in the compound of the monastery at the foot of the hill.¹ The service of worship is held twice a day. The image is washed and worshipped and flowers and leaves are offered. Incense and ghi are burned and a light (artī) is waved amidst the sounds of bells, gongs and drums, and the worshippers prostrate themselves before the image.

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¹ Compare Bombay Gazetteer, vol. V, p. 87.

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Other noted Yogīs of the sect receive reverent attention and gurus and mahants are recipients of offerings, the food placed before them being distributed as prasād.

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The services of worship are in the hands of special officers, or pūjārīs. These persons are found at all the principal shrines and seats of the sect.

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Besides this, Gorakhnāthīs serve as pūjārīs, or officiants, at various temples, especially to those of Bhāiroṁ and Śakti, and at some temples of Śiva.² In Benares they serve as priests of Kāl Bhāiroṁ,³ and in the Himālayas, e.g. Almora, they are in possession of many temples of Bhāiroṁ, where they conduct worship. Some of these places of worship, as already stated, are in possession of women of the sect. All of the temples of Bhāiroṁ, except those where Khasiyas serve, are in their hands.⁴ In the Panjab and in Northern India these Yogīs often act as priests for the village gods.⁵ In the Himālayas they serve as priests of the lower Śakti worship and of the village gods.⁶ They also act as pūjārīs at some shrines of Hulikā and of Sītalā Mātā. At Kurukṣetra, in the south-west of Rām Rāi, there is a temple of Kapilā Yakṣa, the door-keeper of which was a Kānphaṭa Yogī.¹ Gorakhnāthis are also in charge of the temples and shrines at the centres of their organization, temples of Śiva, Bhāiroṁ, Devī and others. Buchanan reported at Gorakhpur Kānphaṭas who were serving Śūdras in their worship of Śiva.² At Dhinodhar the pīr takes charge of the annual sacrifice at the top of the hill on the Nāurātri (Śivrātri).

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² Wi, p. 217.

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³ SHTC, p. 262; Wi, p. 217.

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⁴ Atkinson, Himalayan Gazetteer, vol. II, p. 865.

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⁵ ERE, vol. XII, p. 835; Martin, vol. III, p. 336; CTC, vol. III, p. 1.

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⁶ CTC, vol. III, p. 159.

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¹ IA, 1894, p. 300, Archæological Survey of India, vol. XIV, p. 86.

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² Martin, vol. II, pp. 484, 485.

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The ritual of worship is that of the ordinary type. An example may suffice. At Devī Pātan, at the noon-day offering to Bhāiroṁ, the pūjārī, taking in his hand a small dish heaped with cooked rice, walks around the shrine, or platform, his right hand towards it, pouring water as he goes. He next places the dish of rice before the platform, and then throws the food out for the dogs. At the same place the evening worship is begun by the beating of the kettle drums and the ringing of the temple bells. After this has gone on for about half an hour, the temple doors are opened, and the offerings to the Devī are made in the usual way.

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The offerings used in worship in temples and at samādhs are those commonly given to Śiva (Mahādeo) such as flowers, bilva leaves, dhatura, water, uncooked rice, sweets and camphor. Cocoanuts, cooked food, leaves of thick bread (roṭ) and incense are also presented to the gods and saints. Offerings of food are consumed by the worshippers. Before mahants and the chief gurus food and sweets are offered and consumed as prasād. In procession at the annual mela at Tulsipur all sorts of things, including food, sweets, and chickens are presented before the pīr and carried away as holy, or left in his path. The Triśul, usually of iron, sometimes of bamboo, nearly always painted red, is commonly offered to Bhāiroṁ. At the right of the approach to the door of the shrine at Gorakhpur, there is a very large collection of such weapons, and the space below the platform is said to be filled up with them.

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The blood sacrifice is common. Animal sacrifices include, in Nepāl, buffaloes and goats, and an occasional rhinoceros. In many places, as in Nepāl and at Devī Pātan, slaughter is carried on on a large scale.¹ At Devī Pātan the sacrifice of suckling pigs is made close to the temple. At Dhinodhar two buffaloes, one of which is given by the Rāo of Kacch and the other by the Yogīs, are sacrificed to Bhāirom on the Nāurātri of Dasehra. At Gorakhpur, at the same festival, even Hinduised Musalmāns sacrifice animals at the shrine.² On the question of human sacrifice see the description of Kāmākhyā. Gorakhnāth and Bhīmsen are said to have substituted the sacrifice of buffaloes for that of human beings.³

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¹ See account in chap. five.

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² Alexander, *Statistical Description and Historical Account of the North-Western Provinces of India*, Gorakhpur, p. 365.

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³ Martin, vol. III, p. 38. Or the eating of buffaloes in the place of human sacrifice.

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An interesting ceremony is that in which a drop of blood from the little finger or from the tip of the tongue is offered to Bhāirom. This is done by one who does not eat flesh, or who does not care to offer animal sacrifice. Again, it is said that if no goat is provided for the worship of Bhāirom at Kālrātri, the pūjārī must offer some of his own blood, or he must offer what Bhāirom requests, speaking through a worshipper who drinks the blood.

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In former times, at Dhinodhar, when trouble threatened. Yogīs used to commit trāga, sacrificing one of their own number, so that the guilt of his blood might fall upon the oppressor's head.⁴

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⁴ *Bombay Gazetteer*, vol. V, p. 87.

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In the left hand worship of Śakti the sacrifice takes the form of the five tattvas, or ‘realities’—wine, flesh, fish, parched grain and sexual intercourse.⁵

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⁵ See next chapter, under the description of Śakti.

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Some attention should be given to the religious festivals of the Hindus with special reference to Yogīs.

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Besides the melas and festivals connected with special shrines, such as that at Devī Pātan, and described above, and the great melas at the sacred places of Hindustan, the Kānphaṭas celebrate the sacred seasons belonging to the worship of Śiva. Among these is the Nāurātri of Dasehra. This is the celebration of the nine nights (and ten days) of the light half of the lunar month Aśvina (the time of the autumnal equinox). At Dhinodhar the pīr takes charge of the annual sacrifice which is performed on the top of the hill. This is the only time during the year when he makes the ascent. During this festival a special offering in charity is made at the monastery, the food being cooked in the four famous caldrons that date from the time of Dharamnāth.¹ This is also an important occasion at Kāmākhyā and at Gorakhpur. The great festival at Ṭilla takes place at this time, when throngs of men, women and children make the difficult ascent and are supplied with accommodation, food and coverings while there.² For here, as at other places, the Yogīs pride themselves on their liberality.

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¹ See p. 115; and *IA*, vol. VII, p. 51.

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² Rose, *RTCP*, vol. I, p. 289, says that the fair is not attended by many now, on account of the difficulties of the road, but that Yogīs make an effort to visit the cave at Ṭilla.

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Gorakhnāthīs recognize also the feasts of Śivrātri.³ The thirteenth of the light half of each lunar month is sacred to Śiva, and he is worshipped at sunset, a fast being kept until the stars appear. However, it is the dark thirteenth of each month that is called Śivrātri and that is devoted to the worship of Śiva the terrible. The Śivrātri of Māgh (some say Phālguṇa), Mahāśivrātri, is the chief day of the year for his worship. A very famous legend explains why this is so, why worship at this time is of absolute value.⁴ A hunter, a man of bad character, going out to hunt one day, which happened to be Māgha kṛṣṇa thirteenth (the thirteenth of the dark half of the month of Māgh), passed a Śiva temple, and saw a number of people worshipping the liṅga, singing, calling out ‘Śiva, Śiva,’ etc. Mockingly the hunter imitated their cries, and without his knowledge or desire, the very utterance of the god’s name on that holy day removed some of his sins. He killed nothing that day, and had to keep an involuntary fast. As night came on, through fear of wild beasts, he climbed into a tree, which happened to be a bel tree (the wood-apple, sacred to Śiva), but was unable to sleep, owing to the cold, thus keeping an involuntary vigil. Not only so, but, shivering and shaking, he dislodged a number of bel leaves, which fell, together with moisture, from the tree on a stone Śiva liṅga beneath, thereby offering, involuntarily, bel leaves and cool water to the god. The cumulative merit of all these involuntary acts not only released him from past sins, but caused his reception into Śiva’s abode of Kāilāsa.

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³ See Murdock, *Hindu and Muhammadan Festivals*; Wilson, *Religion of the Hindus*, vol. II, pp. 201 ff, 395; Underhill, *The Hindu Religious Year*, pp. 93 ff; as well as the works of Monier-Williams, Mukerji and others.

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⁴ Told by Underhill, *Hindu Religious Year*, p. 93, from the *Skanda Purāṇa* and *Śiva Purāṇa*. The story has been reported many times.

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According to this tradition, the celebration marks the day when Śiva first manifested himself, as a marvellous and interminable liṅga, to Brahmā and Viṣṇu.¹

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¹ *Iśāna Saṃhitā.*

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The establishment of the festival is attributed to Śiva himself. The worship of Śivrātri is open to all classes, even to Caṇḍālas and women, the use of mantras, except *Oṃ*, being permitted to them.

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The fast for the Śivrātri lasts for twenty-four hours. The worshipper abstains from food and drink during the day. At every third hour during the night the liṅga must be worshipped with offerings of flowers, dhatura, ketiki (Sk. *Ketaka*, *Pandanus odoratissimus*, used only at this time), and bel leaves. It must be bathed in succession with milk, curds, ghi and honey; and with water from the Ganges; or water from some other running stream is poured over it. Gesticulations are prescribed and prayers are addressed to various subordinate divinities connected with Śiva.² On the morning of the fourteenth the worshipper must bathe, and after anointing himself with sesamum oil, worship the liṅga with mantras, with the recitation of the 1,008 names of Śiva, offering 1,000 or 108 bel leaves. At the conclusion of worship the priest recites the story related on the preceding page.

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² For details see *Wi*, vol. II, pp. 213 ff.

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In addition, Kānphaṭas stay awake all night, singing songs in honour of Gorakhnāth,³ and worship the feet both of Gorakhnāth and Matsyendranāth.⁴

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³ *RTCCP*, vol. III, p. 252.

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⁴ *Census Report, Berār*, 1881, p. 60.

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On this night a flag is said to ascend the face of the cliff at Ṭilla, from the bottom to the top, by the help of an unseen hand.⁵

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⁵ *Census Report, Panjab*, 1891, p. 117.

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The worship of Śakti is involved in this festival. Vāmacārīs keep, besides the Mahārātri, the night of Kālarātri (of Kṛṣṇajanmāṣṭamī), the Mahārātri, or Kālīsaturdaśī, of the fourteenth of the second half of Aśvina, and the Dāruṇirātri kept on the day before the Holi festival (the fifteenth day of the first half of Phālguna). Moreover, nine nights in each of the months, Aśvina, Cāitra, Pāuṣa and Āṣādha are observed as holy. Ceremonies performed on any of these nights must of necessity confer superhuman power on the worshipper.

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The observances of Śivrātri expiate all sin, secure the attainment of all desires during life, and union with Śiva, or final release, after death. The liberal Akbar was initiated into the secrets of the Yogīs, and on the Śivrātri ate and drank with them, expecting to prolong his life fourfold thereby. He wore his hair in their fashion, and anticipated the liberation of his soul by the fontanelle, as they teach.¹

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¹ Wi, vol. II, p. 395.

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The festival of Śivrātri is a comparatively modern celebration.²

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² See Underhill, *The Hindu Religious Year*, pp. 96, 117, 131, 151, 164, 174 for further references.

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Kāl Bhāirom is worshipped, as a manifestation of Śiva, on the dark eighth of the lunar month, particularly on that of Kārttikā, which is considered his birthday. At his temple at Bhudargad, a mela is held on the first ten days of the dark half of Māgha. At Devgad he has a temple where, it is believed, all sickness due to evil spirits may be cured. Fairs are held there on the Mahāśivrātri and on the eleventh to the fifteenth of the light half of Kārttikā.

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At a temple of Bhāiravanāth at Sonāri a fair is held from the eighth to the fifteenth of Cāitra.

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At Kāṭhmāṇḍu in Nepāl there is a procession at this time.³

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³ See chap. ‘Legends’; and Levi, *Le Nepāl*. vol. II, pp. 44 ff.

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Connected with the name of Matsyendranāth⁴ is the annual festival, the most popular of all festivals, at the capital of Nepāl. This ceremony brings in the rains of the spring. Matsyendranāth came into Nepāl to release the Nāgas whose confinement by Gorakhnāth had brought on a twelve years' drought. It is believed that without Matsyendra's influence the heavens would still withhold the rains. This procession of Matsyendranāth marks the solemn opening of the religious year. It has become the annual fête of the land. The object of veneration at this festival is a small image of Matsyendranāth, an idol about three feet high, painted red. It is evidently very old. During the whole period of the celebration a company of soldiers, under the command of a sardār, accompanies the idol.

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⁴ See Landon, *Nepāl*, for description and some good pictures. See also for these festivals, Kirkpatrick, *Kingdom of Nepāl*, pp. 192, 194, 195.

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On the first day of Vāiśākhavadi,¹ the Nikhus of Pātan take the idol from the temple and carry it in procession to the south of the town, to the exact spot where, under a tree, Narendra Deva and his company halted on their return from Kāpōtal with the pot in which Matsyendranāth, in the form of a bee, was confined. There the idol is placed upon a stone platform, undressed, and bathed, except the head which they are not permitted to touch. This is the ‘Bath of Matsyendranāth.’ The sword of the king, equivalent to the sceptre of Nepāl, is then presented to the god; and the idol is brought back to its temple, painted and dressed.

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¹ The dark half of Vāiśākha, an auspicious month corresponding to April-May.

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On the eighth day the idol is exposed to the sun. The Nikhus, who are Śāivites, then make the idol over to the Banras.²

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² Monks of Nepalese Buddhism, who are not celibate.

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On the twelfth and thirteenth the Banras perform the ten ceremonies, beginning with the conception of Matsyendranāth, introducing the god as an infant to be born in the regular ranks of society.

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On the first of Vāiśākhiśudi the procession of the cars begins. Two cars are provided; one, very large, in the eastern outskirts of Pātan, near the Cāitaya of Aśoka,³ the other, a smaller car, in Pātan itself, in the court of the temple of Matsyendranāth. The larger car carries, on a platform of wood, a chapel, square, plated with gilt, which has around it a footpath permitting circumambulation. The roof of the chapel supports a pyramid of lattice work interlaced with ribbons. On the top of the pyramid, twenty or twenty-five metres high, is set a gilded image of Vajrasattva, which is crowned with a bouquet of leaves. Landon says that the superstructure of the car is raised to some sixty feet, being renewed annually; that this ‘sky-piercing car’ is about twenty-five feet broad and that in old days no house in Pātan was allowed to be taller than the spire of the car of Macchendranāth.¹ The four wheels of the car have for ornaments eyes of Bhāirava. Fastened to the axles is a long, light pole which is bent back to the front, and which bears on its extreme end a head of Bhāirava. The second car is not a reproduction of the other, but a distinctive one on which is placed the small red image. It is drawn by the crowd. The route is divided into three stages at each of which there takes place a regular programme of sacrifices and offerings. The most important stage is the last, at the fountain of gold, the grove of Narendra. All the Newār population of Pātan takes part in the fête, and the king, followed by the prime minister and the nobles, all mounted on elephants, joins the procession. The cars are turned to the right of the grove, and are kept there for two nights. At another station, a short distance away, the cars are halted for from ten to twenty days, waiting for a propitious time for the Gūḍrī Yātrā. When the astrologers have discovered a favourable day, the procession moves on and the cars are drawn to the parade grounds at the north-east of the village. There they remain for three nights awaiting the great day of the festival, the day when the idol is undressed before the people. All are eager to take part in this ceremony. The Banras in full dress, clothed in red robes, their heads freshly shaved, lean the small car against the larger one. They take from its sacred niche the holy image and remove, piece by piece, its tinsel-spangled garments. It is the shirt which all wish to see, and the priests show it solemnly to the crowd. The people bow, worship and prostrate themselves before it.

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³ Landon, Nepāl, vol. I, p. 209, note 2. At the northern stupa of Aśoka, the wheels of the car are kept.

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¹ Landon, Nepāl, vol. I, p. 210.

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After this ceremony, the image is free to leave Pātan. The undressed idol is transferred, under a shower of flowers and offerings, to a sort of holy ark, which the Banras carry on their shoulders. As the procession passes Bāgmati, flowers are strewn in the way and fireworks are set off. Bāgmati is the old Amarāpura, the place where one of the bearers of the pot, which contained Matsyendranāth, barked like a dog, when the company was returning from Kāpōtal.

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The image is kept for about six months at Bāgmati. It is then returned to Pātan.

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On every twelfth year Matsyendra refuses to travel in the usual manner. Consequently, at Bāgmati, a car is made, on which it is possible both to carry and bring back the god. In this instance the procession goes right across the uneven fields, through furrows, streams and gullies, avoiding the roads.

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One of the most recent descriptions of this festival, reported by eye-witnesses, is as follows:

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The Machendrajātra is divided into three portions. Firstly, the bathing of the image of the god near Narendra Deva’s tree in Pātan; secondly, the parading of the image in a car through the streets of Pātan; and thirdly, the unrobing of the image and exhibition of his shirt to the people. The image is taken out of the temple of Macchendra at Pātan and, in the presence of a large crowd, is bathed and carefully washed on the stone platform beneath the sacred tree. After this, he is carried back with much pomp to the temple, and there painted and got ready for his appearance at the principal ceremony. Seventeen days after the bathing ceremony, the image is dragged through the main streets, and on this occasion there are two cars, each consisting of a square chamber, covered with copper-gilt plates in the case of the larger and with thatch in the case of the smaller. These are placed on rough wagons, some six or seven feet high, and in the larger one is placed the image of the god. The cars are dragged, by means of ropes, by about one hundred and fifty men, and the whole circuit of about a mile and a quarter is performed in three stages, at the end of which a halt is made at some previously appointed spot, where sacrifices are performed and great feasting takes place. The third stage

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includes the circuit of Narendra Deva’s tree, and at this place the cars stand for two whole nights. After this they proceed to an open space near the city, called Puriyā Tāl, where they remain for another ten to twenty days, awaiting the auspicious day for them to be dragged to the parade grounds for the disrobing of the image. On the day of the disrobing about six Banras, dressed in red and with shaven heads, bring the small car to the side of the large one. The Banras then proceed to undress the image as he sits in his car, taking off his clothes piece by piece until they come to the shirt. This is then held aloft for all to see and worship, after which this also is packed away in a box. The Banras now take the unclothed image out of its shrine and place it in the smaller car which is now borne in triumph to Bhungmatti, a spot near Pātan where Narendra Deva halted during his return from pilgrimage, where it remains for six months.¹

First 187 of 198 passages. Read on

Cites (3)

Mānava Dharmaśāstra — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit
Śivapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit