Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c12.26

c12.26

With Śiva is associated the bull, and the phallic element in his worship is always present. The samādhs of the Yogīs are surmounted by the yoni-liṅga; these emblems are symbolized in the siṅgnād and the pāvitrī of their sacred thread; the brand mark which Yogīs receive at Koṭeśvar is a representation of these same figures; and, of course, every temple of their sect contains these symbols. The worship of the liṅga is very old in India,¹ and it is probable that it owes its origin to aboriginal sources. It is possible that this worship, like that of Śiva himself, in some of his aspects, found its way into Brāhmanic culture slowly at first. At any rate, early references to phallic worship are few. There are two in the *Rig Veda* (7, 21, 5; 10, 99, 3), if such be the meaning of *śiśna*. The term is one of reproach and descriptive of non-Aryans. In later times, Sāyaṇa remarked that those who sported with the *śiśna* were unchaste. The *Rāmāyaṇa* does not know the *liṅga*² but in the *Didactic Epic* it, like Śiva himself, is fairly well-known.³