Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c15.4

c15.4

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