Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c7.65

c7.65

According to Risley⁶ there are in Eastern Bengal two sub-castes of Yogīs, the Māsyas and the Ekadasīs. Between these two sections no marriages are arranged, and they do not accept cooked food from each other. But they drink from each other's water vessels. Their division is based upon differences in their funeral rites. The period of mourning for one group is thirty days (māsa), for the other, eleven (ekadasa) days. The division is based upon the further fact that some live upon an island and others upon the mainland.¹ The cultivating members of the caste form a distinct group called Hālwa Jugī. It is said that they were out-casted for abandoning the traditional occupation of weaving. There are legends accounting for the origin of these castes. The Māsyas were born from the unions of eight Siddhas with eight Śaktis created by Mahādeo. Another legend makes the Māsyas descendants of unions between Sannyāsīs from Benares and Vāiśya women. Again it is said that these Yogīs are descendants of pupils of Nāthas (Yogīs) and Brāhman widows, the latter being of the Nātha group, the former of the Śiva gotra (family, stock).