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Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c16: Chapter Twelve: The Literature

Gorakhnāth and the Kānphaṭa Yogīs c16

Language
English

Chapter Twelve: The Literature

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THERE seems to be little teaching of books and a limited practice of Yoga amongst the Kānphaṭas.¹ Inquiries at the principal centres of the Yogīs elicit very little knowledge of their texts, even of the names of their treatises on the Haṭha Yoga. Many of the Yogīs and some of their mahants are quite illiterate. There is, however, some oral teaching. Besides the cyclic songs already mentioned, there are a number of works which Goraknāthīs use, and others which are attributed to them, or which deal with the Haṭha Yoga. For convenience of record, these books are arranged in four groups and numbered consecutively.² 1. Devī Bhāgavat.
2. Sapta Deva Stotra.
3. Bhagat Sāgar.
4. Sati Sāgar.
5. Durgā Pāṭ.
6. Bhāirom Pāṭ.
7. Rāmbodh.
8. Gorakhbodh. Written in an old form of Hindi, and reported to date from the fourteenth century.¹
9. Gyān Sāgar.
10. Brāhmaṇḍa sar Gītā.
11. Haṭha Yoga. Attributed to Gorakṣanātha.
12. Haṭha Saṃhitā.
13. Caturasityāsana.
14. Yoga Cintāmani, on Haṭha Yoga by Śivānanda Sarasvathi.²
15. Yoga Māñjarī.
16. Yoga Saṃdhya.
17. Gorakṣa Saṃhitā. Mitra says that this deals with details of performing Yoga Meditations.
18. Yoga Saṃgraha, by M. Sukla.²
19. Gorakṣa Kāumudī.
20. Yoga Mārtaṇḍa.
21. Vivekamārtaṇḍa Yoga, by Rameśvara Bhaṭṭa.
22. Gorakṣa Gītā.
23. Gorakṣa Pañcaya.

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¹ At Ṭilla they reported no practice and very little teaching. Others claim that all Yogīs practise a little meditation in the night, at four in the morning and at nine in the evening. They fix their minds on Parameśwar.—The Āipanth at Hardwār.

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² The works are numbered for convenience, not for suggested chronological order. The author's own lists are supplemented by references to the following writers against whom the works they cite are numbered. Gr., Numbers 13, 14, 21, 36, 43, 45, 46, 47. Wi., Numbers 24, 26, 31, 32, 35, 36, 41. Hall (*An Index of the Indian Philosophical Systems*), 11, 12, 14, 25, 33, 35, 36, 45, 46, 47. Farquhar (*FORL*), 11, 15, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 41, 42, 45, 47. Garbe (*Sāṅkhya und Yoga*), 34, 35. Atkins (*Himalayan Gazetteer*, vol. II, p. 809), 26, 36, 41. Jñāneśvara (Pāṅgārkar), 22, 26, 36, 41. Aufrecht (*Catalogus Catalogorum*), 13, 14, 17, 20, 21, 26, 36, 37, 38, 43, 45, 46, 47. Mitra, Rajendralala (*Yoga Aphorisms of Patañjali*, pp. 219 ff.; *Sanskrit Manuscripts of the Raja of Bikanir*, pp. 567 ff.; *Sanskrit*

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¹ Tessitori, ERE, vol. XII, p. 834. He also reports Gorakhnāth ki vacan, by Banārsī Dās, a Digambara Jain priest of the seventeenth century. Dr. Singh gives an English translation of this work and reproduces the text.

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² Mitra.

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Manuscripts of the Raja of Bihar, pp. 11, 14, 17, 18, 25, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47.

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Besides these, he lists other secondary works on the Haṭha Yoga; Haṭha Pradīpika-Ṭika, by Rāmānanda Tirtha; Haṭha-Pradīpika Ṭippaṇa, by Umāpati; Jyotsnā, by Brahānanda; Haṭha Ratnavali; Haṭha Yoga Dhīrāya by Śiva; Haṭha Yoga Dhīrāya Ṭika by Rāmānanda Tirtha; Haṭha Yoga Viveka, by Vāmadeva; Jñānamṛta Ṭippaṇa by Sadānanda; Jñāna Yoga Khaṇḍa.

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24. *Śiva Gītā.*
25. *Haṭha Saṅketa Candrikā*, by Sundra Deva.¹
26. *Gorakṣa Sahasranāma.* Mitra states that this is a book on the 1,000 names of Kṛṣṇa while he was employed as a shepherd in Vraja.

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These books are of varying dates, some in Hindi, others in Sanskrit, and are not of primary significance.

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II.

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27. *Śiva Purāṇa.*
28. *Nirañjana Purāṇa.*
29. *Viṣṇu Sahasranāma.*
30. *Visvānanda Tantra.*
31. *Śiva Rahasya Tantra.*
32. *Rudra Yamala Tantra.*

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The books of this list are general *Purāṇic*, *Tāntric* and sectarian works.

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III.

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33. *Haṭhayogapradīpika.* This is a *Tāntric-Haṭha-Yoga* treatise written by Cintāmani, who as a hermit took the name of Swātmarāma and attained the title, *yogīndra*.¹ He knows a long list of Yogīs who preceded him, more than twenty-four in all.² The book, therefore, is fairly late, and is sometimes assigned to the fifteenth century. It is certainly not earlier. It contains 382 verses arranged in four chapters. The verses in the *Gorakṣaśataka* are found, verbatim, or in substance, scattered in the *Haṭhayogapradīpika*. Portions of it are found in the commentary, as well as in the text of the *Gorakṣa Paddhati*. It may be considered, therefore, as an elaboration of earlier works of the school. The verses were translated into English in 1915 by Pañcam Sinh, and printed at Allahabad in the series known as ‘The Sacred Books of the Hindus’. Herman Walter, in 1893, at Müncen, published a translation of the book, with commentary. In the same year Śrīnivās Jayangār published an English translation in Bombay, and in 1889 Brahmānanda Bhaba of Śrī Dhara, likewise published a translation at Bombay. It was translated by Yogī Śrīnivāsa Iyangār in 1893 and a second edition of this work was issued from the Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Madras, in 1933. The numbering of the verses in this edition does not always agree with that in Pañcam Sinh’s edition.

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¹ Mitra.

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² See opening verses of the work.

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34. The Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā is a work very similar to the preceding, from which it borrows;¹ but it gives much attention to dhāuti and more details of personal hygiene. It was translated and an introduction was prepared for it by Richard Schmidt, at Berlin, second edition in 1921, under the title, Faqire und Faqirtum. The work was edited by Bhuvana-nana Chandra Vasaka, at Calcutta, in 1877. There are English translations by Śrī Chandra Vasu, Bombay, 1895, and by Rai Bahadur Śrīs Chandra Vasu, Allahabad, 1914. This last belongs to the series entitled ‘The Sacred Books of the Hindus.’ It was re-issued in 1933 from the Theosophical Publishing House at Adyar. The author was an adept named Gheraṇḍa, a Vaiṣṇavite of Bengal. His pupil, to whom he addresses his teaching, was Caṇḍa-Kāpāli. This is an interesting name, in view of the origins of the sect of the Kānphaṭas.

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¹ SBH, vol. XV, pt. 4, p. 11.

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35. The Śiva Saṃhitā is a Tāntric treatise on Yoga also, but much more difficult than the two preceding works and much longer, containing 517 verses. It is Vedantic in its philosophical outlook. Chapter Five seems to be of independent origin, its contents having been recited to Pārvatī by Śiva himself. In 1923 a second edition of an English translation by Rai Bahadur Śrīsa Chandra Vidyarnanda was published in the series ‘The Sacred Books of the Hindus,’ the first having been issued in Lahore in 1884.

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These three treatises, especially the first and the third, are of considerable value for this study.

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IV

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36. Gorakṣa Śataka.
37. Jñāna Śataka.
38. Jñānaprakāśa Śataka.
39. Gorakṣa Śataka Ṭīka, a commentary on No. 36 by Śaṅkara.² 40. *Gorakṣa Śataka Ṭippaṇa*, notes on No. 36 by Mathurānāth Sukla.¹
41. *Gorakṣa Kalpa*.
42. *Gorakṣa Paddhati*.
43. *Yoga Siddhānta Paddhati*, on the practice of Yoga by Gorakhnāth.¹
44. *Siddhānta Paddhati*, rules of Yoga praxis by Gorakhnāth.¹
45. *Siddhasiddhānta Paddhati*, or metaphysics according to Yoga doctrine, by Nityānanda Siddha.¹ ‘*Siddhānta*’ is demonstrated truth, i.e., what is proved by reason. The commentary on verse thirteen of *P*² attributes this work to Gorakhnāth.
46. *Yoga Mahimān*.
47. *Jñānamṛta*, poems on duties of Yogīs by Gorakhnāth.³

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² Mitra.

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¹ Mitra.

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² Hereafter *P* refers to the ‘Poona Text’ of the *Gorakṣaśataka*; *B*, to the ‘Benares’ manuscript; *GP* to the *Gorakṣa Paddhati*.

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³ Mitra.

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Of these works numbers 37, 38 are identified as the *Gorakṣaśataka* (No. 36).⁴ Farquhar⁵ states that the *Gorakṣa Kalpa* (No. 41) is translated into Hindi as the *Gorakṣa Paddhati* (No. 42). The latter consists, however, of the *Gorakṣaśataka* and one hundred other verses, all in Sanskrit, with a commentary in Hindi. This commentary contains quite a number of verses found in the *Haṭhayogapradīpika* (No. 33).

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⁴ Aufrect, *Catalogus Catalogorum*, p. 165; Mitra, *Aphorisms*, p. 219.

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⁵ FORL, p. 384.

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Numbers 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 are commentaries (*ṭīka*, *ṭippaṇa*) and manuals, secondary or supplemental documents (*paddhati*) on the *Gorakṣaśataka* (No. 36). Mitra attributes numbers 43, 44, and 47 to Gorakhnāth, number 39 to Śaṅkara (788–850) and the others (numbers 40, and 45) to later writers.

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In the foregoing lists there must be many duplicates of books, with names as variations of descriptive titles; so perhaps No. 26 and No. 29. This may be illustrated further. In the commentary on the *Gorakṣa Paddhati* (No. 42), the first hundred verses, which are the *Gorakṣaśataka*, are spoken of as the *Gorakṣa Śāstra* and on page ninety-five the second hundred verses are often spoken of as the *Yoga Śāstra*. On pages ninety-four, ninety-five and ninety-six of the same work the text is referred to as *Gorakṣa Saṃhitā*. The Benares manuscript after verse 157 calls itself the *Gyān Prakāsh* and at the end speaks of the *Gorakṣaśataka* and of the whole 198 verses as *Yoga Śāstra* and at the very end of the ‘*Jñāna Śataka* composed by Gorakhnāth.’

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Moreover, in verse four of the commentary to *P* the *Śataka* is called *Haṭha Grantha* and in the comment on verse fourteen the *Yoga Sāgar*; in that to verse fifty-four, *Yoga Cintāmaṇi* (No. 14) and in that to verse forty-one, *Haṭha Yoga Chintāmani*.

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The *Gorakṣa Paddhati*, on page four, calls itself *Gorakṣa Saṃhitā* (No. 17) where *P* has *Gorakṣaśataka* and on page twenty speaks of the *Śiva Yoga Śāstra*.

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In the foregoing analysis of the titles of works attributed to the Yogīs it seems clear that the *Gorakṣaśataka* is a fundamental text of the sect.¹ It has, therefore, been selected for translation and exposition. The copies made use of for this purpose are three: The *Gorakṣaśataka* with commentary by Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa, copied from a manuscript in the library of the Bhandarkar Oriental Institute in Poona, and one copied from a manuscript in the library of the Sanskrit College at Benares. Both of these were secured for the author by the late Dr. J. N. Farquhar. The third text is the *Gorakṣa* Paddhati, a book procurable in the bazaars from Hardwār to Bombay.

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¹ Gopi Nāth Kavirāj says that ‘the *Gorakṣa Śataka* and the *Gorakṣa Paddhati* are two of the few Sanskrit works published, which profess to give an exposition of this teacher’s (Gorakhnāth’s) instructions. The *Haṭha Yoga Pradīpika* also belongs to this school.’ The *Prince of Wales Sarasvati Bhavana Studies*, p. 85: Article, ‘The System of Chakras according to Gorakhnāth.’ Dr. Singh does not agree with this, but holds that the doctrines of Gorakhnāth belong to a period covered by some *Upaniṣads*, not the earliest, and tries to show by the literature he uses that left-hand śākta doctrine is foreign to Gorakhnāth’s thought. Verses 131 and 132 of the *Gorakhbodh*, which he translates, however, show knowledge of the Haṭha Yoga framework. In his work, Dr. Singh (pp. 8 ff.) cites and translates quite a number of works, both in Sanskrit and in vernaculars, that are not listed in this chapter.

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A word may be said concerning each of these works.

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The ‘Poona’ text consists of one hundred and one verses together with a voluminous commentary called Bālaprabodhinī (for the use of beginners) by Lakṣmi Nārāyaṇa.

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The ‘Benares’ manuscript consists of 157 verses with a supplementary series of forty-one verses. A comparison with the Gorakṣa Paddhati shows that it is essentially identical with that work.

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The copy of the Gorakṣa Paddhati used in this study was purchased in the Bombay Bazaar. It consists of two series of one hundred verses each, the first hundred being the Gorakṣaśataka. The second hundred deals with six topics, prāṇāyāma (twenty-one verses), pratyāhāra (thirty verses), dhāraṇā (nine verses), dhyāna (twenty-four verses), samādhi (thirteen verses) and mukti (four verses). The commentary is in Hindi, and contains numerous quotations from the Haṭhayogapradīpika.

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It is impossible to date this material. The Śataka is attributed to Gorakhnāth and the traditions and literary references all persist in connecting his name with this body of literature. The only datable reference, which is not modern, is that which assigns the Gorakṣa Śataka Ṭīka to Śaṅkara. The text of the Śataka with the commentary of Lakṣmi Nārāyaṇa is dated guṇa-abdhi-aṅka-mahī, which may be rendered Samvat 1143 or 1943 and in our calendar 1086 or A.D. 1886. The author states that he wrote the commentary while living in Benares.

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There seems to be unanimous agreement that Gorakhnāth is the author of the Śataka; and, in that case, the work must be as old as the twelfth century.

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The teaching contained in the Gorakṣaśataka is a mingling of Yoga and Tāntra doctrines.

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