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Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c15: Chapter Eleven: Gorakhnāth

Gorakhnāth and the Kānphaṭa Yogīs c15

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Chapter Eleven: Gorakhnāth

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HAVING considered at length the characters of the sects of Śiva in which the Kānphaṭas have their origin, it becomes necessary to review the various data which have a bearing on the time of the founder of the order

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Traditions and legends concerning Gorakhnāth are as already shown, widespread and extensive. Nepāl, the United Provinces, Bengal, Western India, Sind and the Panjab each has a large collection.

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Kānphaṭas say that their sect existed before the world came into being. Their story is that when Viṣṇu emerged from the lotus at the creation of all things, Gorakhnāth was in Pātāla Viṣṇu, terrified at the waste of waters, went to Pātāla and implored the aid of Gorakhnāth, who, in pity for the deity, gave him a handful of ashes from his eternal fire (dhūnī) and said to him that, if he would sprinkle the ashes over the waters, he would be able to create the world. It happened as Gorakhnāth had promised, and then Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva became the first disciples of Gorakhnāth.¹

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¹ CTC, vol III, pp. 153, 154.

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In many places Gorakhnāth is looked upon as more than a human teacher, outside of the ordinary laws of time, who has appeared on the earth in different ages (yuga) He is said to have lived in the Panjab at Peshāwar, beyond Lahore, in the Satya (Krta) Yuga; at Gorakhpur in the Tretā Yuga; at Hurmuj, beyond Dwārakā, in the Dvāpara Yuga; and three months journey west of Gorakhpur, at Gorakhmari (Gorakhmandī) in Kāṭhiāwār in the Kalī Yuga.² This is evidently an attempt not only to refer the origin of the sect to the distant past, but to incorporate in the record references to widely separated places where Gorakhnāth and his followers had headquarters and were well known. It is also reported that Gorakhnāth appeared in the Kali Yuga in the form of Śeṣa Nāga.¹

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² See Martin, vol. II, p. 484; Gr., p. 329.

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¹ RTCP, vol. I, p. 191.

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His followers frequently refuse to give the time and place of his origin because they consider him as superhuman. Nevertheless, statements are made concerning his movements in this age. The Nepalese hold that he came to Kāṭhmāṇḍu from the Panjab, or at least from beyond the borders of their kingdom.² And he is said to have lived near the temple of Paśupatināth in Kāṭhmāṇḍu.³ He is also claimed as a saint of Oudh.⁴ The monks of Gorakhpur say that he came to the United Provinces from the Panjab, and that their chief seat is at Ṭilla, in Jhelum. Traditions in Kacch go back to the Panjab; their chief, Dharamnāth, a disciple of Gorakhnāth, having come from Peshāwar. At Nāsik Yogis hold, on the other hand, that Gorakhnāth went from Nepāl to the Panjab and from thence to other parts of India. Judging from the preponderance of tradition and the relation of the monastery at Ṭilla to the others in India, it would seem best to hold that Gorakhnāth was a native of the Panjab. On the other hand, Bengal and Nepalese traditions point to the east. And, with communications as they were, it is possible that he came from the east into the Panjab. Moreover it seems that Gorakhnāth was originally a Vajrāyaṇa Buddhist, connected to Śaivism by Matsyendranāth. The legends of Gopicand show how easily men could move from place to place even in those days.

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² See above, the story of his coming to Matsyendranāth.

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³ Martin, vol. II, p. 484.

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⁴ BCI, p. 1,235.

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Before proceeding to the discussion of the spiritual descent of Gorakhnāth and of his place in the history of India, it may be well to refer to some less pertinent scraps of information about him.

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In the *Dabistan* there is mention of Gorakhnāth and of Yoga practices. Both the writings of Gorakhnāth and of those who quote him are cited.¹ Moshan Fani, the author of the *Dabistan*, lived in the time of Har Gobind (1607–1644).²

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¹ *Dabistan*, vol. I, p. 127.

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² Sita Ram Kohila, in *The Journal of Indian History*, February, 1922. The translators of the *Dabistan* place the death of Moshan Fani not far from 1670. (vol. I, p. 15.)

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Another tradition connects Gorakhnāth with Bābā Farīd who visited Girnār in 1244, and who died in 1266. Gorakhnāth is represented by an old shrine on Girnār.³

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³ See above, page 119.

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The famous monastery at Dhinodhar, in Kacch, is connected with the name of Dharamnāth. This famous saint, who was a Gorakhnāthī, came to Kacch in 1382.⁴ It is with reference to this event that Grierson places, provisionally, the date of Gorakhnāth in the fourteenth century.⁵ The *paramparās* put at least one disciple between Dharamnāth and his famous guru and these two Yogīs might not have been contemporaries.⁶

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⁴ *IA*, vol. VII, p. 49.

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⁵ Gr., p. 329. For an account of Dharamnāth, see pp. 116 ff.

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⁶ See chap. four. Appendix D.

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The spiritual descent of Gorakhnāth is recorded in several places.⁷ All of these *paramparās* agree in placing before him two teachers, Ādināth and Matsyendranāth (Macchendranāth). Khakkar names five teachers preceding Ādināth⁸; and Svātmarāma states that six gurus intervened between Matsyendranāth and Gorakhnāth.⁹ Of these Lakṣminārāyaṇa, commentator on the *Gorakṣa Śataka* identifies Mīnanātha with Matsyendranāth.¹⁰ Current tradition makes Matsyendranāth the teacher of Gorakhnāth. In the *Gorakhnāth kī Goṣṭhī* of Kabīr Gorakhnāth speaks of himself as the son of Matsyendranāth and the grandson of Ādināth.¹

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⁷ *Gorakhnāth kī Goṣṭhī* (See Price, *Hindu and Hindustani Selections*, vol. I, p. 141); Trump, *The Ādi Grantha*, p. 36, note 4; *The Haṭhayogapradīpikā* of Svātmarāma, verse 5; *Report on the Architectural and Archaeological Remains in the Province of Kacch*, p. 3; *Śrī Jñāneśvara-mahārāja Carita*, Pāṅgārkar, p. 47; and current traditions. See also *Wi.*, p. 214, note 2 and the reference to Weber.

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⁸ Niranjan Nirākār, Ādhika Somnātha, Chet Somnātha, Oṃkāranātha, and Achetnātha. *IA*, vol. VII, p. 47.

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⁹ Nātha, Sahara, Ānanda, Bhāirava, Gāuraṅgi, and Mīnanātha.

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¹⁰ With this Levi agrees: *Le Nepāl*, vol. I, p. 155. Śrī Nānāmahārāja Josi Sākhara, *Sārtha Jñāneśvarī*, 18, verse 1754, translates Mīna as Matsyendra. Both ‘mīna’ and ‘matsya’ mean ‘fish.’ Bengal tradition seems to make them two different Yogīs, with Matsyendra the Guru of Gorakhnāth and Mīna a follower.

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¹ Wi., p. 214. Price, *Hindu and Hindustani Selections*, vol. I, p. 141. Quoted by Trump, p. 36, note 4.

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Although Ādināth may have been a Yogī preceding Matsyendranāth, he is now identified with Śiva, and the name is used in an attempt to trace the origin of the sect to the greatest of Yogīs, the god Śiva.

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Much human interest centres around Matsyendranāth, who is close to Gorakhnāth. He is the guardian deity of Nepāl,² presiding over the destinies of the kingdom.³ He is considered as a Buddhist saint,⁴ as an incarnation of Padmapāṇi, or as Avalokiteśvara, the fourth divine Bodhisattva.⁵ He evidently belongs to some place outside of the kingdom, for he is said to have come to Nepāl at the command of the Buddha.⁶ It is said that Aryavalokiteśvara Padmapāṇi Bodhisattva taught Śiva the Yoga. On his way home, after having received his instruction, Śiva explained the doctrines to Pārvatī, at the seaside. She fell asleep while Śiva was speaking, but Lokeśvar⁷ heard it, disguised in the form of a fish. He is consequently known as Matsyendranātha.¹

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² Wright, *History of Nepāl*, p. 34; Oldfield, *Sketches of Nepal*, vol. II, p. 117.

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³ Levi, *Le Nepāl*, vol. I, p. 352.

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⁴ Matsyendranāth is a much Hinduised form of Dhyāni Bodhisattva Padmapāṇi or Avalokiteśvara. Temple, *Hyderabad, Kashmir, Sikkim and Nepāl*, vol. II, p. 244.

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⁵ Barth says that he belonged to Nepalese Buddhism. *RI*, p. 213. Under the name Chen-re-zi, Avalokita is the patron deity of Tibet, belonging to the Tāntric Buddhist cycle. Bell, *The Religion of Tibet*, p. 30.

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⁶ Aitkinson, *The Himalayan Districts of the North-Western Provinces of India*, vol. II, p. 808.

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⁷ Avalokiteśvara is called Lokanāth and Lokeśvar. His cult may be traced back to the dawn of the Christian era. He is an ascetic and magician, demiurge and saviour. He became a great Yogī and possesses the great mantra, or spell, *Om mani padme hum* which means ‘Om, the jewel in the lotus.’ (Thomas, *JRAS*, 1906, p. 464.) Tāntric literature gives this sentence an obscene interpretation. Tibetan forms of this god are reflections of the Hindu cults as early as the tenth and eleventh centuries. There is a Nepalese inscription which reads: ‘The chiefs of the Yogis call him King of Fishes (Matsyendra); the devotees of the female deities call him Śakti;

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¹ Wright, *History of Nepāl*, pp. 140, 141. This story is found in the *Jñāneśvarī*, 18, 1752, and in the introduction to the *Gorakṣa-paddhati*.

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It is supposed that Matsyendranāth actually came from Assam, from the region of the Kāmarūpa. In the shrine at Kāmākhyā there is a drawing under one of the windows representing the waves of the sea.

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Another legend tells how Matsyendra was brought into Nepāl from Kāpōtal Parbat in Assam, to save the country from a twelve years’ drought which Gorakhnāth had brought on.² This story has been told above. In Pātan (Kāṭhmāṇḍu) in Nepāl is held an annual ceremony in Matsyendra’s name, during which an idol is carried in procession.³ The idol, which formerly belonged to the Buddhist cult, is very old. It was taken over into Śaivism when Buddhism was superseded.⁴ Then a temple was built in honour of Matsyendra and the festival in his honour was introduced. The idol, which is very small, is painted red. The procession of Matsyendranāth brings the rain of the spring, and without his effectual help the heavens would withhold their waters.⁵

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² Oldfield, *Sketches from Nepāl*, vol. II, pp. 325, 326; Wright, *History of Nepāl*, pp. 140 ff.; Levi, *Le Nepāl*, vol. I, p. 349. Tradition is divided nevertheless, regarding the location of this mountain. (Waddell, *JRAS*, 1894, p. 54). And some place it in Ceylon, or South India. It seems, however, that Avalokiteśvara came to Nepāl in the guise of a Śaivite priest, a Pāśupata Śaivite. In either case he would represent Śaivite faith. Dr. Singh (G., p. 73) suggests that Saṅgaldvīpa is really Sakaladvīpa or Shakadvīpa near Sialkot.

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³ Landon, *Nepāl*, vol. I, pp. 43, 212; vol. II, pp. 213, 217-18, gives an account of the festival. See above, chap. seven.

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⁴ Levi, *Le Nepāl*, vol. I, p. 356.

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⁵ Levi, *Le Nepāl*, vol. I, p. 356. See also, Oldfield, *Sketches from Nepāl*, vol. II, p. 327; and above, chap. seven.

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In the *Dabistan* it is stated that Matsyendranāth was Jonah.⁶

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⁶ Vol. II, p. 137.

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Buddhists call him Lokeśvar. All honour to this being whose true form is Brahman.⁷ The date of this inscription is 1672 (792 Nepali Samvat), *IA*, p. ix, 192. Vallee Poussin, *ERE*, vol. II, pp. 256–261. Avalokita regulates transmigration and can produce ready entrance into Paradise and escape from hell. His mystical spell, *Oṃ maṇi padme huṃ*, wins his favour. Waddell, L. A., Article, ‘Lamaism,’ *ERE*, vol. VII, pp. 784–789; Gr., *ERE*, vol. VI, p. 329.

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Matsyendranāth figures neither in the Brāhmanical nor in the Buddhist pantheon in India proper. He is, however, well-known in the traditions of the Yogis, as one of their first teachers.¹ Gorakhnāth is represented as saying that Matsyendra was his teacher² and he is sometimes looked upon as the founder of the sect of Kānphaṭas. He is said also to have introduced Śaivism into Nepāl.³

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¹ Levi, Le Nepāl, vol. I, p. 354.

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² Temp., 34; Gorakhnāth kī Goṣṭhī, quoted above.

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³ Wright, History of Nepāl, p. 142; Wi., p. 214.

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There is a legend that gives Matsyendra a place in the Hindu social order. A Rāja, Udhodhar, who lived in the Satya Yuga was exceedingly pious. At his death, his body was cremated, but his navel did not burn. This unburnt portion of his body was cast into a river and was devoured by a fish, which later gave birth to Matsyendra. By reason of having been a good man in his previous life, he became a saint.⁴

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⁴ RTCP, vol. II, p. 393.

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In one legend Matsyendra is represented as going to Ceylon where he was enamoured of the queen of the land. When Gorakhnāth heard of the fall of his master, he went to Ceylon in search of him. He found his teacher in the halls of the court and called him to account. Matsyendra then left the queen, but took their two sons with him. They afterwards became Pārasnāth and Nimnāth, founders of the Jain religion.⁵

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⁵ Kitts, Report, Census of Berār, 1881, p. 59. See, for variants of this legend, RTCP, vol. II, p. 393 and note.

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In a Nepalese version of this story, Matsyendra, by means of his powers of Yoga, left his body in the care of his disciple, Gorakhnāth, and entered that of a king, just dead. In this situation he fell into temptation. Luckily, Gorakhnāth, who was watching over his body, recalled him to his senses and the teacher returned to his own body.

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In Nāsik they say that Matsyendranāth came from Muktināth, which lies to the north of Nepāl. These references testify to contacts between Gorakhnāth and Matsyendranāth and to the struggle between Buddhism and Śaivism in Nepāl.⁶

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⁶ See also Tessitori, ERE, vol. XII, pp. 833 ff.

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There is evidence from Bengal to show that Matsyendra was a guru of the Nāthamārga who converted Gorakhnāth from Buddhism to Śaivism (Or).

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Concerning the other teachers preceding Gorakhnāth, as named by Khakkar and Svātmarāma, little can be said. Those listed by the latter must be nearly or quite contemporary with Matsyendra and Gorakṣa, for the weight of tradition, especially in the Panjab, Nepāl and in Western India, indicates that Matsyendra was the immediate teacher of Gorakṣa.

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There are numerous lists of disciples of Gorakhnāth.¹ The names recorded by Svātmarāma² are:

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¹ For the list of sub-sects, see pp. 62 ff.

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² Haṭhayogapradīpika, I, 5, 6, 7, 8.

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Gorakhnāth, Virūpākṣa, Bileśyā, Manthāna, Bhāirava, Siddhibuddha, Kathadi, Karaṇṭaka, Surānanda, Siddhipāda, Carapaṭi, Kānerī, Pūjyapāda, Nityanātha, Nirañjana, Kapāli, Vindunātha, Kakacandeśvara, Allāma, Prabhudeva, Ghodā, Colī, Ṭinṭini, Bhānukī, Nāradeva, Khanda, Kāpālika, and others.

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These are probably the names of gurus in some particular establishment. They do not seem to relate themselves to other available lists.

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In the Jñānesvarī, the poet gives the following names: Mīnanāth, Gorakṣanāth, Gāinināth, Nivṛttināth and Jñāneśvar; and the author says that his Yogī discipleship runs back through this line. As stated above, Mīnanāth is Matsyendranāth. Nivṛttināth, also a poet,³ is usually considered to be the brother of Jñāneśvar.⁴

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³ Underhill, The Hindu Religious Year, p. 147.

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⁴ Jñāneśvarī, 18, 1752-4. This is in the Poona edition of 1915. See also V. L. Bhāve, Mahārāṣṭra Sārasvat, first edition, p. 39; R. L. Pāṅgārkar, p. 47.

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By putting the list just given alongside that found in Bahinā Bāī⁵ some light is thrown on the date of Gorakhnāth. The account is as follows:

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⁵ Translation by Abbott, p. 1.

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(1) Adināth (Shiva) taught a mantra to Pārvatī (His wife). Matsyendra heard it from within the belly of a fish. (2) Thus through him the supreme mantra, that Shiva held in His mind, became effective through bhakti. (3) He (Matsyendra) showed his favour by passing the mantra on to Goraksha (Gorakhnath). Through him it became known to Gahini. (4) Gahini bestowed his favour on Nivrittināth, even while he was a child, but yet a Yogi. (5) From him Dnyāneshvara received the favour of the mantra, and this made him famous at Alandi, the home of Siddhas. (6) Dnyāneshvara gave his blessing to Satchidānanda, the home of bhakti. (7) Further on Vishvambhara, in the beauty of his Shiva form, gave the mantra to Rāghava (Chaitanya). (8) He gave it to Keshava Chaitanya, and he to Babaji Chaitanya, who gave it to Tukobā (Tukārām). (9) Because Bahinī placed her undivided devotion at the feet of Tukobā, she received (the mantra through him).

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There are evidently gaps in this list. The dates, so far as certain, in this list are: Bahinā Bāī, 1628–1700: Tukobā, 1608–1649; Viśvambhara (Kṛṣṇa Carianva), 1485–1533. The usual date given for Jñāneśvar is *c.* 1290.¹

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¹ But see below.

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Turning now to a study of legend and tradition, an attempt will be made to determine the time when Gorakhnāth lived.

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The richest field for legends in which Gorakhnāth plays an important part is the Panjab.² The several legends, concerning Gūgā, a disciple of Gorakhnāth, are related to events of varying date. One version, which makes him the son of Jewar, a chieftain of Bagar (about fifty miles from Sirsa), is connected with local ballads that represent him as having fought with Aurangzeb (1659–1707).³ According to another,⁴ Gūgā was killed in battle with Firoz Shāh (1351–1388) of Delhi. This would put the death of Gūgā towards the close of the fourteenth century. A more complete story puts him still earlier. Gūgā, who became a saint, is now considered as a snake godling and is well known and popular in the Panjab, in fact in all northern India. He is worshipped especially by the lower castes. Tod⁵ gives him a substantial place as a Rājput hero who fell before Mahmud of Ghazni. The Ambāla version of the legend⁶, together with Wynard’s account of the Rāipur Rāos⁷, support Tod. The Firozpur version¹ makes Gūgā a Chāuhan by birth. The Bijnor version² places him in the reign of Pṛthvī Rāj, Chāuhan of Dehli, and makes him the son of a rāja. These various legends converge upon a definite era. Mahmud of Ghazni made numerous raids into India, the last of which was in 1024.³ Pṛthvī Rāj fell before Muhammad of Ghor in 1192.⁴ Near Gūgā’s tomb, which is about two hundred miles south-west of Hissar, there is now a tribe of Muhammadan Chāuhans⁵, Gūgā’s descendants, the Gogawats. They were part of the force with Abhāi Singh in his struggle with Muzaffar.⁶ At Mandor, the ancient seat of the Rāos of Jodhpur⁷ there is a gallery of colossi, sixteen figures, knights errant of the desert, hewn out of a single, natural rock. Some are on horseback and others are unmounted. Among the former is Gūgā, the Chāuhan.⁸ These colossi were erected during the reign of Abhāi Singh (1720–50). Gūgā is thus placed amongst the ancient heroes of Mārwār. Moreover, tradition says that he was a Chāuhan by birth and that he became a Muhammadan faqīr.⁹ He is also known as Zahra Pīr. The most likely conclusion, then, from these data is that Gūgā belonged to the time of the struggle between the Rājputs and their Muhammadan conquerors, not later than the twelfth century.

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² Temp; Swynn; Steele and Crooke in the *IA*; Trump; Tod. See pp. 183 ff.

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³ *IA*, 1881, pp. 32–43.

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⁴ Temp., vol. III, pp. 261 ff.

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⁵ Tod, vol. II, p. 807. Compare Steele, *IA*, 1881, pp. 32 ff.

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⁶ *IA*, 1881, pp. 34, 35.

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⁷ Amballa Settlement Report, 1859.

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¹ IA, 1881, p. 35.

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² IA, 1895, p. 49.

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³ Ox, pp. xix, 11.

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⁴ Ox, pp. 195, 197, 218–220; Duff, p. 277; HIG, vol. II, p. 312.

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⁵ ERNP, vol. I, p. 255.

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⁶ Tod, vol. II, p. 1,027.

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⁷ Tod, vol. II, p. 951.

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⁸ Tod, vol. II, p. 848; opposite this page (848) is a good picture of the figure.

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⁹ IA, 1882, p. 35.

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The writings of Kabīr and of the Sikhs contain many references to Gorakhnāth.¹⁰ In the time of Amar Dās (1552–1574) there was trouble between the Sikhs and the hitherto powerful Yogīs, and temples of the Gorakhnāthīs were defiled.¹¹ Gorakhnāth must have lived long before this evident defeat of his sect, for the famous legends of the Panjab picture him as a very powerful leader with a large following. But, earlier than this, as recorded in the Janam Sākhīs of Bābā Nānak (1469–1538), Nānak is represented as talking with both Gorakhnāth and Matsyendranāth.¹ In these accounts Nānak is said to have visited many places. He is mistaken for Gorakhnāth in Ceylon.² In this third retirement from the world,³ Nānak visited the northern region, and, in the fastnesses of the mountains, came to the residence of Mahādeva (Śiva). There he met Śiva, Gorakhnāth, Bhartṛhari, and others, all of whom were perfect Yogīs (Siddhas).⁴ Nānak’s fifth retirement was passed at Gorkhatari,⁵ a quarter in the city of Peshāwar.⁶ There he met eighty-four Siddhas (adepts) who performed many wonders for him. Later, he and Gorakhnāth had a talk together.⁷ The setting of this account, and especially the third retirement of Nānak, shows that Gorakhnāth belonged to a much earlier period. Nānak seems to have known about the Yogīs of Gorakhnāth’s order for, Bhartṛhari says to him:⁸

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¹⁰ Tr., Gorakhnāth kī Goṣṭhī, Mac.

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¹¹ Mac., vol. II, pp. 139, 140.

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¹ Tr., p. xxxvi.

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² Tr., p. xxxvii; Mac., vol. I, p. 156.

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³ Tr., p. xxxix.

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⁴ See Mac., vol. I, pp. 170, 171.

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⁵ Tr., pp. xlii, xliii.

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⁶ Mac., vol. I, p. 172.

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⁷ Tr., p. xliv.

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⁸ Mac., vol. I, pp. 133, 151, 60, 161–163; Tr., p. xl.

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The form of the Jōg is the ear-ring, the patched quilt, the wallet, the staff (and) the horn.

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Nānak speaks about Gorakṣas and Siddhas.⁹ He talks with ascetics at the temple of Gorakhmātā (at Pilibhīt, U.P., now Nānakmātā;¹⁰ he knows their teaching and their practices;¹¹ and he is acquainted with their hypocrisies.¹² Gorakhnāth pressed Nānak to become a Yogī!¹³ All of these references show familiarity with a well-established and well-known order, and not to a sect in the early process of its development.

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⁹ Mac., vol. I, p. 41;

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¹⁰ Mac., vol. I, pp. 59, 60, 309.

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¹¹ Mac., vol. I, pp. 160, 161, 173, 174, 225, 274, 295, 338, 349, 350.

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¹² Mac., vol. I, pp. 314, 315, 350–352, 356, 357.

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¹³ Mac., vol. I, p. 162.

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Further, Kabīr (1440-1518), to whom Nānak was largely indebted for his teaching¹, is supposed to have been a contemporary of Gorakhnāth. In the *Gorakhnāth kī Goṣṭhī*² is recorded a controversy between Kabīr and Gorakhnāth. It was on the basis of this reference that Wilson assumed that Gorakhnāth belonged to the fifteenth century. This date has been followed for the most part since Wilson’s time.³ But the general attitude of the *Janam Sākhīs* of Kabīr point to an earlier age. Wilson⁴ quotes the following verse in translation from the *Bījak of Kabīr*:

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¹ Wi., p. 69.

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² Price, *Hindi and Hindustani Selections*, vol. I, p. 140. The *Gorakhnāth kī Goṣṭhī* is one of the books in the collection of *The Book at Chāura*, the *Khass Grantha*. Wi., p. 76. This dialogue (*goṣṭhī*) is published and translated by Dr. Singh (G.) as the *Gorakhbodh*.

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³ Wi., p. 255. See also Alexander, *Statistical, Descriptive and Historical Account of the North-Western Provinces of India, Gorakhpur*, p. 371, ‘Not earlier than the fourteenth century.’ Winternitz, *WGIL*, vol. III, p. 258, note 1, says that he should be placed in the first half of the fifteenth century. See also *WGIL*, vol. III, p. 142.

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⁴ Wi., p. 86.

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Gorakhnāth, enamoured as he was of Rāma, is dead; his body was not burnt (the Jogīs bury their dead), and the flesh has decayed, and is turned to clay, and such rank as the Kāuravas enjoy, does he obtain (bodily annihilation).⁵

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⁵ Verse 40.

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This verse conveys the impression that Gorakhnāth had been long dead, and that his name was so well known in common tradition that Kabīr could give point to his teaching by reference to him. The passages in the *Ādi Granth* bear out this contention. In this book Kabīr speaks of himself as having been a Yogī in previous births⁶ and he knows something of Yoga doctrine.⁷

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⁶ Tr., p. 462; Mac., vol. I, p. 149.

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⁷ Mac., vol. VI, pp. 164, 167, 168, 169, 194, 199, 200, 285.

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(Whose) breath is returning (through) the six (mystical) spheres (of the human body), whose thought is intent on vacuum.⁸

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⁸ Tr., p. 472; Mac., vol. VI, pp. 168.

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Kabīr makes references to Yogīs;⁹ the nine Nāthas;¹⁰ some of the distinctive marks of the Yogī, such as the ear-rings,¹ the patched coat,² postures,³ the horn,⁴ ashes,⁵ the wallet,⁶ the club,⁷ matted hair,⁸ the cry, ‘Gorakh, Gorakh,’⁹ and their faults of drinking¹⁰ and hypocrisy.¹¹ It is evident that in Kabīr’s time Gorakhnāth was a well-known person of the past.¹²

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⁹ E.g., Tr., pp. 475, 654; Mac., vol. VI, pp. 142, 154, 155, 198, 235, 240.

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¹⁰ Tr., p. 696.

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¹ *Mac.*, vol. VI, pp. 168, 231, 243. ² *Mac.*, vol. VI, pp. 168, 231, 243. ³ *Mac.*, vol. VI, p. 168. ⁴ *Mac.*, vol. VI, p. 169. ⁵ *Mac.*, vol. VI, p. 169. ⁶ *Mac.*, vol. VI, pp. 169, 243. ⁷ *Mac.*, vol. VI, p. 231. ⁸ *Mac.*, vol. VI, p. 272. ⁹ *Mac.*, vol. VI, p. 263. ¹⁰ *Mac.*, vol. VI, pp. 154, 255. ¹¹ *Mac.*, vol. VI, p. 270. ¹² According to the traditions of the Sādhs (Allison, *The Sādhs*), Uda Das (early 17th cent.) was a disciple of Gorakhjī (p. 99) and the Bhandhara was established by Gorakhjī. (pp. 86, 116). ¹³ See chapter on Legends, p. 199. ¹⁴ CR, 1884, pp. 379-415. ¹⁵ See Griffin, *Rajas of the Panjab*, p. 2. ¹⁶ Tod, vol. II, pp. 1,204, 1206; Duff, p. 290; *Rājputāna Gazetteer*, p. 171. ¹⁷ CR, 1884, p. 390; Griffin, p. 2, says that he was driven from Jāisalmeer in 1180. Table of descent from Jāisal is found in Griffin, p. 9. ¹⁸ CR, 1884, p. 392.

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Another cycle of Panjab legends, those of Rāja Rasālū and his half-brother, Puran Bhagat, is intimately concerned with Gorakhnāth. Rasālū’s name is famous from Afghanastān to Bengal, and Puran is one of the most famous saints of the Panjab. Both became followers of Gorakhnāth, and Puran, especially, became a renowned Yogī. The well where Puran was left for twelve years,¹³ is still shown in Siālkot. Rasālū was the son of the famous Śālavāhan of Siālkot. If the date of this famous rāja could be fixed, much light would be thrown upon that of Gorakhnāth. In 1884, Temple¹⁴ attempted to show that Rasālū belonged to the early eighth century. He traced Rasālū’s ancestry through Jāt families in the Panjab in two main stocks, the Siddhus and the Samsīs. The former trace their line back to the Rājput prince, Jāisal, who founded Jāisalmeer¹⁵ about 1156 A.D.,¹⁶ and who died in 1168.¹⁷ The Samsīs go further back, practically through the same descent, to Rāja Gaj, father of the great Śālavāhan.¹⁸

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Śālavāhan had many sons of whom Puran was the second and Rasālū the third. Tod¹ says that Rāja Gaj opposed the king of Khurasān at Ghazni, with great success at first, but was finally slain, and was succeeded by his son.² Śālavāhan retreated to the Panjab which he conquered. There he founded Siālkot. Later, he recovered Ghazni. Rāja Gaj is placed in the end of the seventh century.³ This would put Rasālū early in the eighth century. This conclusion is confirmed by the account of the struggles of Hindu chiefs in Afghanastān from A.D. 697. Rasālū evidently had a considerable share in the early part of this struggle. There is reference to a very prominent character on the Hindu side whose name is variously written and who fought the Musalmans. He became the subject of many Arab stories in the holy wars on the frontiers of India and played a considerable part in events in the Kābul valley around the beginning of the eigth century. A Hindu chief by the name of Ranbal defeated Abdullah, governor of Seistān in 697 and played an important part in events that followed in 700–703.⁴ In 712 a treaty was made, in Sind, by Muhammad Qasim with a Hindu king named Rasil. The name of the chief referred to above has been variously rendered Zantil, Zanbil, Ratbil, Retpeil, Ratbal, Raptil, Rantal, Rattiel, Ratbyl, Ratpeil⁵ and Ranbal.⁶ In modern legends Rasālū’s name varies as Risalu, Salu, Rasal, and Risal.⁷ If Risal is Rasālū, as Temple suggests, then Gorakhnāth must have belonged to a time not later than the eighth century. Some writers are inclined to place Rasālū still earlier. Princep⁸ would say A.D. 400, and Mrs. Steele⁹ would date Śālavāhan in A.D. 78. Dr. Hutchinson¹⁰ who, in his revision of the *Gazetteer of Siālkot* some years ago,¹ went into the question, holds that Rasālū was a Punwār Rājput, belonging to the Yadubamsi race, which had its seat at Rāwalpindī, then called Gajpur. They were expelled by Indu-Scythians and returned to the east of the Jhelum where Śālavāhan made Siālkot his capital. Rasālū succeeded his father, Śālavāhan, about the end of the first century A.D. He seems to have been succeeded by an Indu-Scythian by the name of Rāja Hudi.²

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¹ Vol. II, p. 1,179.

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² Tod, vol, II, p. 1,180.

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³ CR, 1884, p. 393. See table on same page.

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⁴ EHI, vol. II, pp. 416, 417.

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⁵ EHI, vol. II, p. 417.

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⁶ CR, 1884, p. 393.

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⁷ But, is this man Rāi Sāl, who was destroyed in 1205? In this case the Rasālū legend would point to and strengthen the conclusion drawn on p. 236. See Cambridge History of India, vol. III, p. 47.

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⁸ IA, 1884, p. 183.

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⁹ IA, 1882, p. 347. Also Gazetteer of Siālkot, 1883–4, p. 20.

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¹⁰ In a personal letter to Dr. H. D. Griswold, of Lahore, dated June 20, 1925. See also Siālkot Gazetteer, 1921, p. 14.

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¹ 1921.

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² Sials were also Punwār Rājputs. In the time of Hiuen Tsaing Sialkot was called Śakala. Kot is a modern addition. Śakala became Sala, Sal, Sial through phonetic modifications. Rāja Hudi, with whom Rasālū’s name is associated in the legends, Princep (*IA*, 1884, pp. 182, 183) would put about A.D. 360. Śālavāhan is also said to have been of the Nāga race of Takṣa (*JRAS*, 1891, p. 37; *Tod*, vol. I, p. 82). The name of Hudi, or Udi is associated with the caves at Hoda in Afghanastān, the largest being known as the Palace of Hoda Rāja. Khairābād, opposite Attock, is known as the stronghold of Hodi, or Udi (*JRAS*, vol. XIV, p. 323). Cunningham (*Archæological Survey of India*, vol. XIV, pp. 44-47) thinks that Hodi should be placed before the Christian era. Others (*IA*, 1884, p. 78) seem to think that his date is about A.D. 200.

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These data show that there are traditions, which supersede those of Kabīr, which point to an early date for Gorakhnāth. Whether the stories of the relations between Gorakhnāth and Puran Bhagat, which are very persistent, would allow a date as early as the eighth century A.D. for Gorakhnāth, as Temple would suggest, or still earlier, as Dr. Hutchinson’s data would suggest, must depend upon corroborative evidence from other sources. At the lowest, the weight of the Punjab legends, Gūgā, Rasālū, Puran and Śālavāhana, point to the struggles between Musalmān and Hindu on the frontiers, before the end of the twelfth century.

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The note made by Jñāneśvar in his famous paraphrase of the *Bhagavad Gītā* is of great importance, for the author states that he was a Yogī, a disciple of Gorakhnāth.³

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³ See above, pp. 311, 312.

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Using tradition based on Nāmdev,⁴ R. L. Pāngārkar, in his *Śrī Jñāneśvaramahārāja Carita*, Poona, 1912, states that Gorakhnāth came to the home of Govindpanth, the grandfather of Jñāneśvar (p. 32) and that Gāinināth was the guru of Viṭṭhal, the father of Jñāneśvar (p. 32). Bhave repeats the tradition to show that there was an old connection between Gorakhnāth and Jñāneśvar’s grandfather, Govindpanth. He says also that Govindpanth’s father worked under Jāitrapāl of Bīra in 1207, and had his mind turned to religious things by Gorakhnāth.¹ The same author (Bhave)² holds that similes and arguments in passages from the Gorakṣa-amarsamvād and the Jñāneśvarī are sufficiently in agreement to belong to the same literary descent. The Gorakṣa-amarsamvād is attributed to Gorakhnāth. He, therefore, thinks that there were very close relations between Jñāneśvar’s forebears for two or three generations and the Nātha sect.³ Bhave also says that the Nātha sect was widely spread throughout Mahārāṣṭra about the twelfth century.⁴

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⁴ *Abhangacī Gāthā*, Bombay, 1894, pp. 421 ff.

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¹ Bhave, vol. I, p. 30.

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² Bhave, vol. I, pp. 38, 39.

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³ Bhave, vol. I, p. 41.

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⁴ Bhave, vol. I, p. 37.

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There is thus found in the Jñāneśvarī a literary reference to Gorakhnāth, which gives him a definite place in history. If the usual date, 1290,⁵ for the Jñāneśvarī be accepted, Gorakhnāth may be placed not later than 1225. There is, however, some uncertainty concerning the date of this work. While it may be said that the poem was written not later than 1290, it may have been written earlier. The late Dr. Justin E. Abbott, in an unpublished paper, reported four manuscripts of the Jñāneśvarī which are undated, indicating that the dates found in the others have been interpolated, and that there are manuscripts belonging to a recension which does not know this date, and, therefore, may be older. The language of the Jñāneśvarī is sufficiently archaic, he said, to allow for argument for an earlier date than 1290 for its composition. The date for Gorakhnāth might, therefore, on the argument from the Jñāneśvarī, be placed as early as A.D. 1100.⁶ Bhave would say the tenth or eleventh century.⁷

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⁵ BVS, p. 92.

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⁶ His shrine is at Alandi.

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⁷ Bhave, vol. I, p. 37.

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There is another cycle of legends, centering around Gopicand, Rānī Piṅglā, and Bhartṛhari (Bhartri), which is repeated from Bengal to Western India and Sind and which is not unknown in the Panjab.

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Gopicand is known in a famous legend of Sind as Pīr Patāo. This story goes back to the first decade of the thirteenth century, since the saint is said to have died in 1209.¹ Pīr Patāo lived in a cave, Pīr Arr, in an island hill near Thaṭha in the delta of the Indus, about twenty miles from the present railway station of Jungshahi. By Hindus he is called Gopicand. The story of Gopicand as told in the East is found in *The Song of Manickchandra*.² Manikcand, a chief who lived in the neighbourhood of Rangpur, in Eastern Bengal, was a brother of Dharmapāla.³ The Pāla dynasty came to an end in Bengal in 1095.⁴ The Yogīs rose to power under the Pālas. Manikcandra’s wife, mother of Gopicand, was a disciple of a sweeper, Hāḍi by name, a Yogī of the sect of Gorakhnāth. Gopicand’s mother was herself a skilled magician. Grierson thinks that the Yogī Hāḍi represents the movement of the Kānphaṭa Yogīs eastward from Nepāl. Sen⁵ conceives of the movement in the other direction. The Kānphaṭa Yogīs of the neighbourhood of Rangpur, today, who sing the song of Manikcandra, are Pāśupata Śiva worshippers who consider Gorakhnāth as their guru. Hāḍi, therefore, lived as early as the first half of the eleventh century. Gorakhnāth preceded Hāḍi.

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¹ Account furnished by E. L. Carter, Esq., I.C.S., and sent to the author by Dr. J. J. Modi, Hon. Secretary of the Anthropological Society of Bombay. The legend is found in the *Tufat ul Kiram*.

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² *JASBe*, 1877, 1878, articles by Grierson.

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³ *JASBe*, 1878, p. 135.

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⁴ Kennedy, *Imperial Gazetteer, Indian Empire*, vol. II, p. 317.

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⁵ *History of Bengali Language and Literature*, p. 29.

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Dinesh Chandra Sen⁶ points out that the *Dharma Mangala* there are frequent references to Mīnanāth, Gorakhnāth, Hāḍipā and Kālupā, whom he terms Buddhist saints.⁷ He says also that the ballads of the Pāla kings of Bengal have the distinct marks of Buddhism on them and indicate the marvellous powers wielded by Gorakhnāth and Hāḍisiddha. They were popular. Hāḍi was a Ḍom.⁸ Sen also states that the Dharma cult, to which these saints belonged, was expounded by Rāmāi Paṇḍit who was born at the end of the tenth century; that his contemporary, Dharma Pala V belonged to the early eleventh century; and that Manikcandra Pāla of the first half of the eleventh century is the Manikcandra of the song translated by Grierson.¹

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⁶ *History of Bengali Language and Literature*, p. 29.

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⁷ *History of Bengali Language and Literature*, p. 28.

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⁸ Sen, p. 29. Grierson held that Hāḍi was not a Ḍom and that Manikcandra was a Bania by caste; *JASBe*, 1878, p. 138; 1877, p. 186; not a Pāla (ibid., p. 135). But see below, p. 244.

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¹ Sen, History of Bengali Language and Literature, pp. 407, 456.

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The mother of Gopicand, Manavatī, is spoken of as the sister of Bhartṛhari, who abdicated his throne in favour of his brother, Vikramāditya (Candragupta II) of Ujjāin, after the death of his queen, Rānī Piṅglā. Bhartṛhari (Bhartri) became a Gorakhnāthī.² One of the sub-sects of the Kānphaṭas is named after him. Vikramāditya ruled in Ujjāin from 1076 to 1126.³ This would place the death of Rānī Piṅglā before the end of the eleventh century.

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² See Eknāth, Ananda Lahari, edition of 1912, Poona, verse 95. A legend describing his acceptance of Gorakhnāth is as follows:

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³ Ox, p. 202.

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Another version of the Rānī Piṅglā story makes her the queen of Rāja Bhoj of Dhār (Mālwā), who reigned from 1018 to 1060.⁴

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⁴ See RTCP, vol. II, p. 403; Archæological Survey of Gujarat, p. 3; Ox, p. 189; compare HIG, vol. II, p. 249. Forbes, Rās Māla, vol. I, p. 112, gives Bhoja Pramāra the dates 1010 to 1053.

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The references to Gopicand, Bhartri, Bhoja and Rānī Piṅglā all suggest a date not later than the early eleventh century for Gorakhnāth.

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Moreover, there are historical data to support these Bengal traditions. The Pālas were plebeians elected to kingship (Sāstrī, p. 3), and their period runs from the eighth to the twelfth centuries (Ban). During the reign of the third king

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Bhartri happened to go into the forest where Gorakhnāth was practising asuterities, but he knew not that the saint was there. Soon after the disciples of Gorakhnāth met him and asked him to become one of them. He answered, ‘What do I care for Gorakhnāth? If he wishes to learn the ways of the almighty let him come and hear from me.’ Finally, Gorakhnāth said to Bhartri, ‘If you give me a handful of patience, I will become your disciple.’ So Bhartri, in search of patience, came to the gods, but they could not supply it. At last he went to Viṣṇu, who said, ‘I cannot supply you with patience. If you want it, you must go to Gorakhnāth who is the greatest of saints.’ Thus convinced, Bhartri accepted Gorakhnāth as his guru. CTC, vol. III, p. 154.

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of the line, the worship of Dharma as a god came into fashion through the influence of Rāmāi Paṇḍit. Devapāla’s sister, Mayanā, actively encouraged the Paṇḍit. The next king but one of the line is known to have granted lands to Pāśupatas, whose temples he is said to have erected by the thousands (*Śāstrī*). Conflicts with the Pratīhāras would make possible the relationships suggested by the stories involving Bhoja and Bhartri. Mahīpāla (before 1020) saw vernacular literature developing and the admission of the Tāntric gods Bhāirava and Bhāiravī into popular Buddhist religion. Then too, the Nāthas were becoming objects of veneration. Rāmanavajra, of the Vajrayāna Buddhist development, became a disciple of Matsyendranāth (see above, p. 151 and below, p. 277), a Śaivite belonging to the Nāthamārga, taking the name of Gorakhnāth. (*Śāstrī*, p. 9.) And he only among the great Nāthas was considered as a heretic by the Buddhists (*Or.*). Govinda Chandra (Gopicand) was a contemporary of Mahīpāla and belongs to the eleventh century (*Śāstrī*).

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There is, moreover, in Rājputāna, a tradition which associates Gorakhnāth with Bappa in the early eighth century. Bappa of Mewār grew up in the wilds of Udaipur. The story is that he met there, one day, a hermit, by name Gorakhnāth, who gave him the two-edged sword with which he opened the way to the throne of Mewār.¹ Tod relates² how Pushpavatī, daughter of a Pramār prince of Candravati³ was returning from a pilgrimage to her own country, from the shrine of Ambā Mātā when she heard of the sack of Vallabhī⁴ at the hands of the Māitrikas.⁵ Her lord, a prince of the Solar dynasty, perished. The queen took refuge in a cave in the hills of Malia. There she was delivered of a son. She gave him into the keeping of a Brāhmanī with instructions that he be brought up as a Brāhman, but that he be married to a Rājputnī. The queen then mounted the funeral pyre. The child's foster mother named him Goha, which is popularly rendered as ‘Cave-born.’ The word is derived, however, from ‘Guha,’ or ‘Guhasena’ the name of the fourth and probably the first great Vallabhī monarch, 559–567.¹ As he grew up, he became the friend of the Bhīls, and later, their king, ruling the Idar, south of Mount Abu. The ninth in the line from ‘Goha’ was Bappa, or Bāpa, who overthrew the Moris of Chitor, of whom he was a chieftain, in A.D. 728² and founded the dynasty of Mewār.

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¹ Tod, vol. I, p. 265.

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² Tod, vol. I, pp. 258–268.

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³ Tod, vol. I, p. 265. This place has disappeared. It was about twelve miles from the foot of Abu, at the junction of the Banās and the Śivālan. See *Archaeological Survey of India*, 1903, pp. 96–99.

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⁴ Wala, eighteen miles north-west of Bhāunagar in Kāthiāwār. The Gahlotis took possession of this place about A.D. 470; *Archaeological Survey of India*, New Series, vol. II, p. 80. Compare Forbes, *Rās Māla*, vol. I, p. 261.

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⁵ Ox, p. 164; Tod, vol. I, p. 255.

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¹ Tod, vol. I, p. 259.

c15.179

² Tod, vol. I, p. 269; *HIP*, vol. X, p. 229, says 734; Duff, p. 278, says 735. See Tod, vol. I, p. 265, note.

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The sack of Vallabhī took place in 524.³ This and the date 728 agree sufficiently to satisfy the chronological requirements of the tradition.

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³ Tod, vol. I, pp. 254, 251; Yates, *Rajputana Gazetteer*, vol. III, p. 15, accepts the date. *FHIEA*, vol. I, p. 24: ‘From about A.D. 500, Kāthiāwār was held by the Māitrikas’. See also Cunningham, *Coins of Mediæval India*, p. 46; Ox, p. 164; *Archæological Survey of India*, vol. II, p. 70, says A.D. 523.

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There is additional evidence concerning this tradition of Bappa and the Yogīs. The famous temple of Ekliṅgaji, north of Udāipur, was founded by Bappa.⁴ While he was herding cattle in the neighbouring hills, Bappa followed, one day, one of the cows that was behaving strangely. In his curiosity about her he stumbled upon a phallic symbol of Mahādeva.⁵ On this spot the temple was built. The sage whom Bappa found there became his teacher, and Bappa was initiated into the mysteries of Śiva. Śiva’s consort invested Bappa with divine weapons and the sage made him invulnerable from weapons. An inscription, found in a storeroom of the temple, and dated A.D. 971, and written in the Devanāgrī character of the tenth century, confirms the tradition and shows the earlier existence of the temple. The location of the temple above the ruins of Nāgahrada (Nāgda, Nāgendra) shows that Tod’s legends concerning Bappa have some historical foundation.⁶ This inscription would place the time of the founding of the temple not far from that when Bappa took Chitor from the Moris. The store room was a temple of the Nāthas. The inscription confirms also the tradition of the Rānas of Udāipur as ministers in the temple. The hermit who met Bappa may have been Gorakhnāth. In that case his date would be not later than the early part of the eighth century.

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⁴ *HIG*, vol. XXIV, p. 104.

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⁵ Tod, vol. I, pp. 263, 264.

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⁶ Bhandarkar, *JASBy*, vol. XXII, pp. 151 ff.

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An interesting coin of Bappa has been found and is described in a recent issue of the *Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal*.¹ On the *obverse* of this coin are found the words *Śrī Voppa*, in characters of the eighth century and figures of the trident, the liṅga of Śiva and the bull. Below these is the image of a man, prostrate, having large ears, pierced, the holes exaggerated. The *reverse* shows a cow. All of this is suggestive of the legend recorded above.

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¹ *Numismatic Supplement*, 1926–27, p. 14.

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It is true that the prevailing Śaivite ascetics of that time in Rājputāna are usually considered to have been of the Lakulīśa sect.² But, the name of Gorakhnāth is mentioned, in an inscription recording a consecration of five liṅgas at Somnāth in 1287, along with that of the Lakulīśas.³ Bhandarkar points out⁴ that Lakulīśa was a general name by which Śaivite sects were called in inscriptions (i.e., from 943 to 1285). It is not improbable, then, that Gorakhnāth was known in Bappa’s time.

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² Fleet, *JRAS*, 1907, p. 420, states that Ekliṅgajī is a temple of the Lakulīśas.

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³ In the *Cintra Praśasti* of the Reign of Sāraṅgadeva, *Epigraphia Indica*, vol. I, pp. 271 ff. The images, a Gorakṣaka, a Bhāirava, an Āñjaneya (Hanumān), a Sarasvāti and a Siddhi Vināyaka (Gaṇeśa) were placed in five temples.

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⁴ *Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism, &c.*, p. 120.

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Considerable attention has been given to Nepalese legends and the meeting of Matsyendranāth and Gorakhnāth at Pātan.⁵

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⁵ See pp. 231, 232, 233, above.

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Later traditions and coins⁶ do not help to fix the date of Gorakhnāth. But the main tradition concerning Matsyendranāth and his disciple does. That the tradition goes back for some centuries is clear from an inscription cited by Valleé

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⁶ See p. 179, note 4.

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Poussin¹ which shows that Matsyendranāth, in his relations with Yogīs, as represented in the story of the fish, and as Lokeśwar, were traditional in 792; Nepālī Samvat, A.D. 1672. Matsyendranāth represents the union of Pāśupata Śaivism and Buddhism in Nepāl.²

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¹ *ERE*, vol. II, p. 260.

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² Tibetan tradition says that Gorakhnāth’s Kānphaṭa disciples originally were Buddhists and that they became Śaivites in the twelfth century. Levi, *Le Nepāl*, vol. I, pp. 355 f.

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In the *Vamśāvalī Pārbatiyā* it is stated that Matsyendranāth came to Nepāl to meet Gorakhnāth in the reign of Bardeva (Varadeva). This king lived not later than the middle of the eighth century.³ According to Walsh⁴ coins of the dynasty to which Bardeva belonged, ranging from 635 to 751, have been identified. Chronology based upon these coins would place Bardeva somewhere about 700, at least not later than the middle of the eighth century. Levi⁵ puts Narendradeva, father of Bardeva, in the middle of the eighth century. The father, an old man, was living when Gorakhnāth came to Nepāl.

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³ Wright, *History of Nepal*, p. 313. The list contains 5. Narendradeva, 8. Vara Deva, 9. Śaṅkaradeva.

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⁴ *JRAS*, 1908, pp. 669, 760.

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