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Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c17.s2: (ii) The final End of the Nātha Siddhas

Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c17.s2

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(ii) The final End of the Nātha Siddhas

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What was the final aim of the Nātha Siddhas and what was the means (Sādhanā) through which this end was to be attained? If we are to give the answer in a nutshell, we should say that the final aim of the Nātha Siddhas was the attainment of Śivahood in and through the attainment of immortality, and the means of attaining it was primarily Haṭha-yoga. The question of escaping death may be taken to be the most salient feature of Haṭha-yoga in general as contrasted to the other forms of yoga, viz., Mantra-yoga, Laya-yoga and Rāja-yoga. The latter three schools are idealistic in their philosophical outlook and, therefore, lay the greatest emphasis on the final arrest of the mind and the attainment of liberation thereby (liberation from the whirl of coming and going); the emphasis of Haṭha-yoga seems to be primarily on the physical or physiological practices which remove disease, decay and death. In the description of the benefits attainable through the practices of yoga we frequently meet with statements that through such and such yogic practices the yogin gets rid of all diseases, his old body becomes rejuvenated, his body becomes changeless like a mountain; he becomes a victor over *Kāla* (i.e., time) and a deceiver of *Kāla*; he becomes a victor over Death (*mṛtyuñjaya*). Patañjali, the great propounder of yoga, gives Haṭha-yoga but a subsidiary place—it is resorted to only for gaining a control over the physical and the physiological systems, and this control necesssrily affects psychological states and conditions, and a perfect control over the psychological states leads to final liberation. In this final state of liberation the Puruṣa or the ‘seer’ remains in his sheer essential nature. This final aim of yoga as the final arrest of mind has often been admitted also by Haṭha-yoga, and in some of the standard texts Haṭha-yoga has been made subservient to Rāja-yoga (i.e., the yoga par excellence, which is the yoga of meditation);¹ but considering the general tone of Haṭha-yoga it seems that the very approach of Haṭha-yoga was somewhat different from the approach of the other schools of yoga. There is indeed the question of liberation in Haṭha-yoga,—but here the conception of liberation itself is different from that of the other schools of thought. Liberation here means immortality first in a perfect body (*siddha-deha*) and then in a divine body (*divya-deha*), and this is the *Siddhi* or the perfection after which the Siddhas aspired.

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¹ *Jivan-mukti* or immortality in a perfect body is the final aim of the Nātha Siddhas.

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The final aim of the Nātha Siddhas is *Jivan-mukti* or liberation while living, and this state of liberation is what is meant by immortality. While the other schools of thought regard the final dissolution of the body or its final dissociation from the spirit indispensable for liberation, the Siddhas seek liberation in a transformed or transmaterialised body, which is the perfect body. What is this perfect body or the divine body? It is an indestructible spiritual body,

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*kevalaṃ rāja-yogāya haṭha-vidyopadiśyate* ||
*Haṭha-yoga-pradīpikā*, (1-2).

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absolutely free from the principles of defilement or the principles of *aśuddha-māyā*; but it is associated with principles of *viśuddha-māyā* which prevents it from becoming absolutely static and acts as the absolutely purified dynamic principle for its further evolution through subtler stages to lead it to the final state of *parā-mukti*. The yogins in their perfect body are prompted by the principles of *viśuddha-māyā* to benevolent activities rendering spiritual guidance to innumerable religious aspirers,—and this state is the fittest state for becoming a Guru or spiritual preceptor. It is for this reason that the Siddhas are the true preceptors in the world. Further, due to the absolute dissociation of the *aśuddha-māyā* these benevolent activities of the Siddhas cannot any more bind them down to the world of suffering. This active state of the Siddha, which helps the religious aspirers of the world on the one hand and evolves its own final state of *parā-mukti* on the other, may very well be compared to the Bodhisattvahood of the Buddhists, where there is the principle of activity in the form of universal compassion, which uplifts the suffering beings on the one hand, and, on the other hand, makes the Bodhisattva march forward through the ten stages of *Bodhisattva-bhūmi* towards the final goal of Buddhahood.

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In the *Yoga-vīja*, a small yogic text, we find that the body is of two kinds, *viz.*, unripe (*apakva*) and ripe (*pakva*). The unripe body is the body not disciplined by yoga, and the ripe body is the body disciplined by yoga. Through the fire of yoga the body becomes supra-material and above all sorrows and sufferings, while the unripe material body of ordinary people becomes the cause of all sorrow and sufferings. Such a yoga body (*yoga-deha*) is rare even to the gods; it is a body bereft of all limitations and bondage and at the same time possessing great powers; it is limitless like the sky but

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The ripe body and the unripe body.

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purer even than the sky.¹ The great yogin with his perfect body moves in the world according to his own will,--and as this perfect body is produced through the burning away of his physical body through the fire of yoga there is no further death for him. Where an ordinary man lives (in his physical form) the yogin is dead,--and where there is the death for all (in the physical form) there is no death for the yogin. He has no duty of his own,--but at the same time is not defiled by any activity,--he is liberated while living --and is always living in his true body, which is bereft of all defilement.² A deathless ripe body of this type is the first requisite for a Siddha; for such a ripe body helps the Siddhas in attaining the first state of *Divya-deha* or *Parā-mukti*.

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¹ *apakvāḥ paripakvāś ca dvi-vidhā dehinaḥ smṛtāḥ* | *apakvā yoga-hīnāstu pakvā yogena dehinaḥ* || *pakvā yogāgninā dehī ajaḍaḥ śoka-varjitaḥ* | *jaḍas tat pārthivo jñeyaḥ apakvo duḥkhado bhavet* || *śarīreṇa jitaḥ sarve śarīram yogibhir jitam* | *tat katham kurute teṣām sarva-duḥkhādikam phalam* || *mahā-bhūtāni tattvāni saṃhṛtāni krameṇa ca* | *sapta-dhātumayo deho dagdho yogā-gninā śanaiḥ* || *devair api na labhyate yoga-deho mahābalaḥ* || *cheda-bandhair vimukto'sau nānā-śakti-dharaḥ puraḥ* | *yathā-kāśas tathā dehaḥ ākāśād api nirmalaḥ* || Verses 33, 34, 46, 48, 49 and 50. Vasumatī edition (in the collection of *Śāstra-śataka*).

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² *saṃsarec ca punas tāni svecchayā vijitendriyaḥ* | *maraṇam tasya kim devī pṛcchasindu-nibhā-nane* || *nāsau maraṇam āpnoti punar yoga-balena tat* | *puraiva mṛta evāsau mṛtasya maraṇam kutaḥ* || *maraṇam yatra sarveṣām tatrāsau sakhi jivati* | *yatra jivanti mūḍhās te tatrāsau mṛyate sadā* || *kartavyam naiva tasyāsti kṛtenāsau na lipyate* | *jivan-muktaḥ sadā svasthaḥ sarva-doṣa-vivarjitah* || Ibid., verses (53-56).

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It seems that as pre-eminently a Śaivite school the aim of the Nātha cult was the attainment of Śivahood or the state of Maheśvara. Immortality is recognised to be the quintessence of the ultimate nature of the Lord; to attain the state of *Parā-mukti* in and through the state of *Jīvan-mukti* is, therefore, virtually the same as to attain the state of Maheśvara. It is for this reason that in common belief we find great Nātha Siddhas like Matsyendra and Gorakh often identified with Śiva or Maheśvara. It will not be correct to think therefore that the Nātha cult is essentially an atheistic school of alchemy. The real significance of the attainment of immortality is the attainment of the state of the Great Lord.

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The legendary accounts, given in the Nātha literature of the life and activities of the Nātha Siddhas, including king Gopī-cānd’s mother Mayanāmatī and king Gopī-cānd himself, will corroborate our statement on the final aim of the Nātha yogins and their general religious attitude. The myths, legends, traditions and stories have all behind them the quest of immortality,—an escape from the clutching jaws of decay and the cruel snatch of death. It is easily detectable in the stories of the Nātha literature that what differentiates the Siddhas from ordinary men is their power of control over death and decay. Yama, the king of death, had no hold over the Nātha Siddhas, and whenever he, in the course of the execution of his ordinary daily duties, forgot this important fact and transgressed his power and foolishly extended his hands to any of the Siddhas, the poor Lord of Death was taught a very good lesson by the Siddhas. In the *Gorakṣa-vijaya* or the *Mina-cetana* we find that when Gorakh heard from Kānu-pā of the captivity of his Guru Mīna-nāth in the land of Kadali in the hands of wicked women, he took up his mystic bag of cloth (*siddha-jhuli*), put on his loose garment and the pair of wooden sandals, held his staff in hand and at once entered the city of Yama. Yama was seated on his throne in the open assembly and at the sight of Gorakh he rose from his seat in reverence and humbly enquired about the cause of his (Gorakh’s) sudden visit to the city of the dead. Gorakh took Yama severely to task for summoning his Guru Mīna-nāth and thus poking his (Yama’s) nose in the affairs of the immortal Siddhas. Gorakh further remarked that if Yama would have the audacity of meddling with the affairs of the Siddhas he (Gorakh) would drag him (Yama) to Brahmā himself and let him (Yama) learn from Brahmā the exact limitations of his capacity. Gorakh rebuked Yama strongly in a high spirit, threatened him with an immediate order of dismissal and the ruin of his capital; and as a matter of fact when Gorakh stood up angrily with his hanging bag and loose garment of patched cloth and began to utter the Humkāra, Yama began to tremble with his whole kingdom. Yama got afraid, felt helpless and immediately lay before Gorakh all the files of official records; Gorakh examined them one by one, picked up the file containing the decree on his Guru,—effaced the name of his Guru from the list of the dead, upset the decree of Yama and then left the city with a strict warning.¹

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¹ Gorakṣa-vijaya, pp. 45-48.

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The story of the fall of Mīna-nāth among the women of Kadalī signifies that worldly enjoyment in the form of the satisfaction of carnal desires leads a man to disease and decay; and death in that case becomes the inevitable catastrophe of the drama of life. The self-oblivion of Mīna-nāth symbolises man’s oblivion of his true immortal nature;—and the charms of Kadalī represents the snares of life. What was repeatedly emphasised by Gorakh in his enigmatic songs in the guise of the dancing girl to recall his self-forgotten Guru to his true judgment, is that the life of pleasure in company of beautiful women leads to the inevitable end of death, while the only way of escaping death and being immortal even in this very life and body is to have recourse to the path of yoga.¹ This is the cardinal truth which Mīna-nāth, inspite of all his former Sādhanā, lost sight of through the curse of goddess Durgā, the curse symbolising the eternal curse of Nescience on humanity : and this is the cardinal truth which was variously explained through various imageries by the worthy disciple Gorakh to his Guru. In his songs as the dancing girl Gorakh repeatedly pointed out that the Guru was going to die a most ordinary death in the company of women; he (Gorakh) therefore urged him to have recourse to the yogic processes of making the body perfect, which has been spoken as Kāya-sādhanā² or the cultivation of the body through the processes of yoga. This Kāya-sādhanā is the most important thing in the Nātha literature and Kāya-siddhi or the perfection of body may be taken to be the summum bonum after which the yogins were aspiring.

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¹ Cf. tomhā sama puruṣa je nāhi kona dese | gali gela mohāras yāu mātra ses || kadalir rājā tumhi mina adhikārī | uṭhite nā pāra mātra āpanā samvari || ... .. sādha sādha āpanā kāyā mādaleta bole | sarva dhan hārāilā kāminīr kole || ...... guru haiyā nā bujha āpanār bo! | kāyā sukhāila tohmār kāminīr kol || abhay bhāṇḍār guru nirbhaye nila hari | sudhā ghar gṛha tumi rahicha pāsari || ......kāyā sādha kāyā sādha guru mocandar | [tumi guru mocandar jagata īśvar || ] etc. Ibid., pp. 21 et seq. Cf. also pp. 106 et seq.

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² Cf. nācanti je gorakhnāth ghāgharer role | [kāyā sādha kāyā sādha mādale hena bole || ] navin kukile jena ādha ādha bole | kāyā sādha kāyā sādha mandirāe bole || Gorakṣa-vijaya, pp. 94-95. sādha sādha āpanā kāyā mādaleta bole | sarva dhan hārāilā kāminīr kole || * * * kāyā sādha kāyā sādha guru mocandar | [tumi guru mocandar jagata īśvar || Ibid, p. 98. kāyā sādha kāyā sādha āhni putra bali | Ibid. 130.

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It may also be pointed out that the original question of Durgā (who may be taken to be the Prakṛti or the embodiment of the principle of phenomenalism) to Śiva (who is the changeless truth in its ultimate form), with which the Gorakṣa-vijaya, or the Mīna-cetena begins, is,—"Why is it, my lord, that thou art

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The original question.

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immortal, and mortal am I? Advise me the truth, O lord, so that I also may be immortal for ages.'¹ It was in answer to this question of Durgā or Pārvatī that the secret of Haṭha-yoga was expounded by Lord Śiva to his beloved consort, which the first Siddha Mina-nāth managed to hear in the form of a fish, and which was afterwards spread and popularised by the latter all over the world.

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¹ tumhī kene tara gosāñi āmhi kene mari | hena tattva kaha dev joge joge tari || Gorakṣa-vijaya, p. 12. ² Cf. tīrir ghārer jñān dekhi rājā jñān kaile helā | ai dine bhāḍuyā yam pāti gyāla khyālā || Gopi-candrer Gān (C.U., Part I), p. 12.

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This quest of immortality and the secret of its attainment through yoga is the pivot round which the whole cycle of the stories of Māṇik-candra and his son Gopī-candra revolved. There we find that when Mayanāmatī came to know that due to the spells employed by the subjects of the king through the practice of some malevolent Tāntric rites king Māṇik-candra was about to fall a prey to Death, she hastened to the kingdom and asked the king to learn Mahājñāna (i.e., the secrets of yoga) from her, which, she repeatedly assured, would enable him to defy the decree of Death; but the king declined and as a result he met with the ordinary mortal end. It has been said that the disregard of Mahājñāna was the plea for Yama for extending his hands on to the king.² However, after the death of the king Yama sent one of his officers with summons to bring the life (jiu=jīva) of the king; Mayanā in her meditation saw the messenger of Yama near the king and offered him a pony in exchange of the life of the king. The next day two officers came, and Mayanā bribed them with the life of a maid-servant; on the fourth day came four, who were bribed with the life of Mayanā's brother; on the fifth day again came five officers, and Mayanā offered them an amount of five hundred rupees in cash for buying sweet-meats and eating to their heart's content. But this time Godā-yama, the messenger, would not be satisfied without the life of the king. At this Mayanā flew into rage and began to tremble,—she at once muttered within the *Mahā-mantra*, transformed herself through her yogic power into Caṇḍī and into Kālī with her large sword (*khāḍā* = Skt. *khaḍga*) and attacked the whole host of the Yamas, caught hold of some of them and belaboured them severely and the Yamas flew away somehow with their lives. Godā-yama (who seems to have been the leader of the party) was in a fix; helpless as he was, he, with his elder brother Āvāla-yama, went to Śiva. With the advice of Śiva the Yamas extracted from the king his life in the absence of Mayanā who was sent for water and they flew away in the form of golden black-bees. Mayanā could know of this from the river and at once pursued Godā-yama and entered the palace of Death. Through her spell all the inhabitants of the palace at once got attacked with severe headache, and some flew away in fear. By her *Huṃkāra* Mayanā caught hold of Godā-yama, bound him down and began to beat him severely with an iron rod. Godā, however, begged most humbly Mayanā's mercy and agreed to give her back the life of her husband, which, Godā said, was kept in the market place. Mayanā followed Godā, who somehow managed to slip from her hands and escaped. Godā went straight to the queen of Yama and sought her protection; she took pity on Godā and hid him in a corner covering him with straw; but Mayanā could know everything in her meditation and chased him there in the form of a serpent. Godā transformed himself into a mouse, Mayanā chased it in the form of lacs of cats; Godā became a pigeon,—Mayanā pursued it in the form of innumerable hawks. In this way Godā-yama tried to escape by transforming himself into innumerable beings in land, water and air,—but he did not succeed. Mayanā at last caught hold of Godā who was compelled to let loose the life of Mānik-candra. Lord Śiva and Gorakh, Mayanā's Guru, however, interfered in the matter and the prestige of Death was somehow saved by coming to respectable terms with Mayanā. The whole story, in its full-fledged form, is nothing but a popular myth; but the spirit that is hidden behind and serves as the nucleus of the whole detail is that a perfect yogin conquers death completely,—and so much is his control over death that he may deal with Death at any time in any way he pleases.¹

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¹ The story of Mayanāmati's initiation by Gorakh-nāth in her childhood shows that Gorakh was moved at the idea that even a chaste and beautiful girl like Mayanā should meet with the same fate as other ordinary mortals, and he then initiated her into the cult of yoga to make her immortal. After her initiation Gorakh declared,—'Death himself has now given a written bond (not to extend his hands over Mayanā).' He further declared that Mayanā would never be burnt in fire, drowned in water, pierced through by any weapon; if she should die in the day-time he (Gorakh) would not let the sun go, but would bind him down,—if she should die at home, he would not let Yama go, but bind him down,—if she should die of a cut from a flat sword (*khāḍa* = a large sacrificial knife), he would bind goddess Caṇḍī (who generally bears such a weapon) down,—Mayanā would survive even the sun and the moon. *tave jñān kahe gorakh anādir tatva | āpane jam rājāe lekhi dila khata || tave jñān kahi dila brahma-jñān buli | jamer sahite rājā karila kolākuli | maināmatir nāme lekhā phelila phāriyā | āḍāi akṣar jñān kahe karṇa-tale niyā || agnie nā jāve poḍā pānite nā hae tal | lohār astra nā phuṭiva śarīr kuśal || guru bole dine maile maenāmati āi | sūrya bāndhi māṅgāiva eḍā-eḍi nāi | rātrite paḍiyā maile maenāmati āi | candra bāndhi māṅgāiva eḍā-eḍi nāhi || bāḍite paḍiyā maile maināmati āi | jam bāndhi māṅgāiva eḍā-eḍi nāhi || [khāḍḍāe kāṭā gele mayanāmati āi | caṇḍire bāndhiyā laimu eḍā-eḍi nāi || āmi dilām brahma-jñān tomārā deya bar | candra sūrya maraṇe jiyāva lā āḍāipa har || ] Gopī candrer Pāṃcāli, (C. U. Part II), p. 345,

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We may further note that Mayanā became *Satī* with her husband, but fire could not burn Mayanā. At the instance of his queens, Gopī-cānd put Mayanā to cruel and direful tests. She was thrown into fire, but even her garment was not stained with smoke; she was drowned in water bound within a bag, but mother Gaṅgā herself came forward to welcome her in her (Gaṅgā's) lap; she walked on a bridge made of hair; she walked on the edge of a razor; she was shut up for full seven days and nights within a boiler containing boiling oil, which was being heated from below constantly;

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she crossed all the rivers in the boat of the husk of a corn, but nothing could bring about her death, neither was any part of her body damaged in any way.¹ Mayanā herself declared to her son Gopī-cānd,—"By the practice of the mystic knowledge one becomes immortal, (and the course of life will retard towards immortality from its natural flow towards death and decay) just like the current of the tide-wave running backward. Through the boon granted by Gorakh-nāth I am deathless; I can remain in the void for full fourteen ages,—in water for full thirteen ages, in the fire for twelve years. When the creation will sink below and finally dissolve, and the earth will be not and there will remain only all-pervading water, the sun and the moon will set for ever and the whole universe will be destroyed,—I shall float on for ever,—I shall have no death."²

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¹ See Gopī-candrer Pāṃcāli, (C. U. Part II), pp. 366-369; Govinda-candra-gīta (Mr. Śil's edition), pp. 71-73; Gopī-candrer Gān, Bujhān Khaṇḍa, (C. U., Part I), pp. 87-130, etc.

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² Govinda-candra Gīt (Mr. Śil's edition). pp. 70-71.

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Jālandhari-pā or Hāḍi-siddhā also gave ample proof of his control over Death. In describing the extraordinary yogic power of Hāḍipā Mayanā says to Gopī-cānd that whenever Hāḍipā chances to catch hold of Yama or any of his officers he beats them severely for full eight hours, and there is no escape for Yama from the hands of the Hāḍi.³ When Gopī-cānd accepted Hāḍipā as his Guru, renounced the world and left the palace with his Guru, the king was unable to keep pace with the Guru in the path through the dense forest, created by the *Huṃkāra* of the Hāḍi and he was lagging behind. The police officers of Yama, so to speak, availed themselves of this opportunity and attacked Gopī-cānd and extracted his life from him⁴ and went to the city of Death. After sometimes Hāḍipā looked back and found the king dead. The yogin flew into fierce rage, ordered all the tigers of the forest to guard the corpse of the king and himself went straight to the city of the dead, inflicted severe punishment on all, beginning with the king to the lowest of the officer. The king of Death begged his (Hāḍipā's) pardon and promptly ordered his officers to return the life of king Gopi-cānd.¹ These popular legends are significant. Of course the imagination of the poets has often exaggerated the yogic powers of the Siddhas and put the yogic truths in extremely popular legendary form,—but the truth behind is the truth of immortality attainable through Haṭha-yoga.

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³ dauḍiyā byāḍāite jadi jamer lagya pāy | cilācāṅgi diyā jamaka tin pahar kilāy || māriyā dhariyā jamaka karuṇā sikhāy | hyāna sādhya nāi jamer palāiyā eḍāy || Gopī-candrer Gān (C. U., Part I), p. 61.

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⁴ It may be remembered in this connection that in the ordinary course the king had only eighteen years' longevity.

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¹ See Gopi-candrer Gān, (C. U. Part I), pp. 202-207. In another place Hāḍi-siddhā with the help of a Huṃkāra called upon the sovereign Yama with all his followers and officers to make a good road for him and Gopi-cānd; Yama readily obeyed the order and went out with all the necessary implements to construct a long road for them. Ibid., pp. 213-217.

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A very important fact to notice in this connection is that the keynote of the story of Gopi-cānd's great renunciation also is the quest of immortality. It was his own mother Mayanāmatī, who compelled the king by hook or by crook to leave his loving wives, his boundless wealth and immense power and to take the vow of a Nātha-yogin in his budding youth at the age of eighteen. Mayanā lamented that she had none else to call her a mother excepting Gopi-cānd,—yet she did insist on (his Gopi-cānd's) becoming the disciple of Hāḍipā and taking the vow of a yogin, inspite of the stubborn unwillingness of the king and his conspiracy with the queens. What was there in Mayanā that dominated over her ordinary motherly affection? It was the hope of immortality for her only son, who otherwise, in the course of his ordinary life of worldly enjoyment, would have died a premature death at the age of eighteen. She was not by nature a heartless witch,—it was for a higher gain that she acted heartlessly for the time being to compel her son to be a yogin.¹

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¹ *Gopī-candrer Pāṃcālī*, (C. U. Part II), pp. 326-331.

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The ideal of immortality in the *Siddha-deha* as propounded by the yogins of the Siddha-school exerted considerable influence also on the Orissa school of Vaiṣṇavism of the sixteenth century. Though the general conception of the final state as described by the exponents of this school was mainly in the line of the *Bhagavad-gītā*, the ideal of immortality in the *Siddha-deha* was there.² We find there instructions on yoga for making the body immutable.³ The yogic system involving the control over the sun and the moon⁴ was advised to be adopted for the perfection of the body.⁵

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² *Vide*, *Brahma-śaṅkali* of Acyutānanda Dāsa, Prāci-grantha-mālā series, No. 5, p. 2, 3.

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³ *yantra binyāsi tantra kaha* | *yemante rahiva e deha* || *Ibid*., p. 4.

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⁴ *Vide Infra*, p. 269 et seq.

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⁵ *Brahma-śaṅkali*, p. 15. *cf.* also *candra sūryaṅku kale goṣṭhi* | *biṣama brahma agni uṭhi* || *pralaya tāku na bādhai* | *teveṭi siddha aṅga hai* || *Ibid*., p. 17,

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Here we may note that though there was a general similarity in the methods adopted by the Nātha-yogins, the Buddhist Sahajiyās, the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyās and the followers of the Nirguṇa-school of Hindi poetry mainly in the practices of *Kāya-sādhana*, yet there were fundamental differences in their aims and attitude. Thus, while the former schools held the realisation of the ultimate nature of the self as well as of the not-self, either in the form of perfect enlightenment, which is great bliss (as in the case of the Buddhists) or in the form of perfect love (as in the case of the Vaiṣṇavas) or as the ‘Incomprehensible Beloved’ (as in the Nirguṇa school of Northern and Western India), to be the final aim of all Sādhanā, the Nātha-yogins employed all the yogic practices for the attainment of immortality and Maheśvarahood thereby. Of course, this final immortal state of the yogin has also been spoken of as the state of liberation or the state of the Sahaja, yet a difference in the general outlook as well as in the religious approach is on the whole perceptible. It is this difference in outlook and approach and also the differences in practices, which we shall speak later on, that necessitate the postulation of a line of demarcation between the different Sahajiyā schools on the one hand and the school of the Nātha-yogins on the other.

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(iii) The Means

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(A) Ulṭā-sādhanā or the Regressive Process

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Coming to the question of the practical Sādhanā we find that the Nātha Siddhas called their Sādhanā Kāya-sādhanā (culture of the body) with a view to attaining Kāya-siddhi (perfection of the body). The process has frequently been styled in the vernaculars as the Ulṭā-sādhanā, or the regressive process ¹ and the epithet is doubly significant. The yoga-practices of the Nātha Siddhas is Ulṭā or regressive, firstly in the sense that it involves yogic processes which give a regressive or upward motion to the whole biological as well as psychological systems which in their ordinary nature possess a downward tendency; and secondly, in the sense that such yogic practices lead the Siddha to his original ultimate nature as the immortal *Being* in his perfect or divine body, back from the ordinary creative process of *becoming*. We have had several occasions to dwell on the two aspects of the reality underlying the universal process as a whole; *viz.*, Śiva as the noumenal aspect, or pure consciousness and perfect rest and the Śakti as the phenomenal aspect of world-activity—the aspect of change and evolution. As most of the schools of yoga take the body to be the epitome of the universe, and the life-process, including its physical, biological and psychological aspects, to be a microcosm of the world-process, the life-process in the physical body is also believed to possess these two aspects, *viz.*, the Śiva aspect of perfect rest in the divine or the perfect body, and the Śakti aspect of activity in the physical body of continual change. Śakti in her ordinary course of phenomenal manifestation leads to change, death and decay—to the whirl of coming and going. The aim of the yogin is to stop this ordinary downward course of Śakti, downward in the sense of a phenomenal manifestation, and to give her, through physical and psychological, or rather physico-psychical efforts, an upward motion so that by a regressive process she may once more proceed backward to be united with Śiva and be absorbed in the nature of Śiva who is the Motionless Immortal Being. According to Tāntric and Haṭha-yogic belief, we have already seen, the region of the body below the navel is the region of Śakti, while the region above the navel is the region of Śiva; the former is called the domain of *Pravṛtti* or activity and change, while the latter is the domain of *Nivṛtti* or rest. It is generally believed that Śakti, or the principle of change, resides coiled as a serpent in the nature of the world-force in the lowest nervous plexus situated just on the lowest extremity of the spinal chord, while Śiva, the principle of rest, is situated in the Sahasrāra or the lotus of thousand petals in the head. The Sahasrāra and the Mūlādhara (the highest and the lowest plexuses) are the two poles within which evolves the whole creative process. Yoga consists in the raising of the Śakti from the lowest region of change and activity to the highest region of rest so as to be united with and absorbed in Śiva. This union of Śiva and Śakti symbolises in the wider sense the stoppage of the ordinary process of becoming and the retrogression of the whole world-process for the attainment of the changeless state of the Immortal Being. How is this retrogression to be effected? By a perfect control over the physical, biological and psychological processes and by setting a regressive motion in them through slow and gradual processes of yoga;—this is what is meant by the Ulṭā sādhana. Because of this Ulṭā nature of the Sādhana, the language of the songs in which the secret of the Sādhana is couched is also generally of a Ulṭā nature, or extremely paradoxical and enigmatic.¹ The process has also been explained under the imagery of proceeding against the current (ujāna-sādhana).²

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¹ āe guru ūlaṭiyā yog dhara kāyā tomhār sthir kara nija mantra karaha svoran | ūlaṭiyā āpanā tripini dea je sthānā (thānā ?) khāl jor bharite kāraṇ || Gorakṣa-vijaya, p. 115. bhāla kaha yae putra jati gorakhāi | ūlaṭi sādhite jog gāe bal nāi || Ibid, p. 116. jadi se sādhivā kāyā ulaṭi dhar jog || ūlaṭiyā dhar guru sumerur kalā | pākiche māthār keśa hai jāiva kālā || Ibid, p. 145. etc. Cf. gigani caḍhi pivai pāṇi | ulaṭi sakaṭi āp ghari āṇi || Gorakh-bodh, Verse No. 38.

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¹ Cf. guru mīna-nāth re ulṭā ulṭā dhārā | pukura mure dhāna śukāiyā ugāra-tale bāḍā || etc. Quoted in the introduction of the Goraḳṣa-vijaya by Munsi Abdul Karim. Cf. also a similar song in the Dharma-maṅgala of Sahadev Cakravartī, B. S. P. P., B.S. 1304. See Appendix E.

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² Cf. saṭ-cakra bheda guru khelauk ījān | Goraḳṣa-vijaya, p. 147.

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All spiritual or religious endeavours are processes of Ulṭā-sādhana in a general sense inasmuch as they give a higher or upward tendency to our lower being. It has been said in a popular Buddhist verse that when an intense thirst is felt within for something higher, the mind becomes no more perturbed by desires, and at that state one is said to be in an upward current.³ We have referred before to the word parāvṛtti found in Mahāyānic texts. In the Mahāyāna-sūtrālaṅkāra we hear of the parāvṛtti of the five senses, of the mind, of the sex-act, etc.¹ It seems to us that the real significance of the word *parāvṛtti* is just the same as the *Uḷṭā*-sādhana. It is the process of introversion, a reversal of the world of *pravṛtti* to the state of *nivṛtti*. We have seen also that the Pañca-śākhā school of Orissa Vaiṣṇavism was influenced to a considerable extent by the ideal of Kāya-sādhana of the Siddha school; these Vaiṣṇavas also have often spoken of the *Uḷṭā* process or the *Ujāna* process in their yogic Sādhana.² We have further seen that the Sūfīs and the Bauls of Bengal were Sādhakas of this *Uḷṭā*-sādhana.³ A very nice exposition of this *Uḷṭā*-sādhana is found in the *Jñāna-sāgara* of Āli-rājā. There it is said that the process of divine love is a reverse process,—and he who does not know the secret of this reverse process cannot have eternal life. Here the forward becomes the backward and the backward becomes the forward and the world is related to the reality in this inverted law.⁴ The way towards perfection

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³ chanda-jātā avasāye manasā ca phuṭā siyā | kāmesu appaṭibaddha-cittā uddhamsoto ti vuccati || Therī-gāthā, (1. 12).

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¹ IX, Verses (41-46).

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² > e pañca-bhūta madhye byāpi |

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³ Vide Supra, pp. 185-86.

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⁴ > pirīti uḷṭā rıt nā bujhe cature |

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khelanti parama svarūpī ||
binā ujāni na balāi |
ke acchi siddha aṅga bahi ||
uḷaṭa ujāni calile |
pūrita mānasa-sarovare ||

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Brahma-śaṅkali of Achyutānanda Dāsa, (Prācī-grantha-mālā series), p. 26.

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Again, uḷaṭi ūrdhvaku kṣepai || Ibid., p. 7,
hetura mūle dhara ṭāṇi |
bahantā nadīka ujāṇi ||
* * * *
ujāna laya-yoga khaṭa | etc. Ibid., p. 11.
yeve tu dhāivu ujāni |
kṣepīva gagana ku pāni ||
teve parame hoi mela | etc. Ibid., p. 17.
Again, yogīmkara yoga ujānare siddha hoi | Śūnya-saṃhitā, Ch. XXI.

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(Prācī-grantha-mālā series), p. 112.

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ye nā cine uḷṭā se nā jiye saṃsāre ||
samukh bimukh hae bimukh samukh |
pāḷṭā niyame ṣav jagat saṃyog || Jñāna-sāgara, pp. 36-37,

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has been kept hidden by the Lord and only the unreal path (*asāra panthā*) is kept open before all creatures; it is for this reason that man, after his birth in this world, naturally has recourse to the unreal path and remains absorbed in transitory enjoyment. The reason why the path towards pefection is thus concealed by the Lord from the eyes of ordinary creatures is that the possibility of easy access would have made it cheap; the Lord has enhanced the value and the glory of the path by keeping it secret and extremely difficult of access.¹ All these seem to be an echo of the well-known Upaniṣadic saying that by giving the senses an outward tendency and turning them away from the inward truth the Self-created One gave proof of His jealousy, as it were; it is because of this fact that man generally sees what is external, and not that which is within; but wise people there are, who, in quest of life eternal, have inverted their visual power and realised the self in and through a reverse process.²

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¹ *bimukhe āgam pantha rākhiche gopate* | *calile bimuhh panthe siddhi sarva mate* || *samukher sav pantha bimuk kariyā* | *palaṭi bimuk panthe jāiva caliyā* || Ibid., p. 38.

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² *parāñci khāni vyaṭrṇat svayambhus* *tasmāt parān paśyati nāntarātman* | *kaścid dhiraḥ pratyag-ātmānam aikṣad* *āvṛtta-cakṣur amṛtattvam icchan* || *Kaṭha*, (2.4.1.).

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The process of arrest or control of various sorts, which is the most important function of yoga, is personified in the Bengali texts as ‘Khemā’ (from Skt. Kṣema—safety, security, tranquillity),³ who has been spoken of as the best guard to be placed in the different centres of the body so that the wealth within may not be stolen away by Kāla (death, decay, change). Khemai has sometimes been depicted as a very smart policeman, who arrests all the evil tendencies, pierces the undisciplined and unsteady elephant of mind with the hook (aṅkuśa);¹ it is for this reason that Gorakh-nāth in the form of the dancing girl instructed the captive Guru Mina-nāth (who was at that time made the king of the country of Kadali) to give his royal sceptre to Khemāi and to serve him most obediently, and Gorakh assured him that he (Khemai) would be the best man to rule the country (of this body).²

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³ The word may also be derived from the word *Kṣamā* which has its dialectal variant as *Khemā*. This *Khemā* has its secondary meaning as stoppage (as in *khemā deoyā*) and hence the word has acquired the sense of ‘restraint’ *Cf. dvīṭie ajapā jāna cāri beda sār* | *sadāe japae jiv kṣemā nāi tār* || *Garakṣa-vijaya*, p. 192.

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¹ *khemāir hāte guru nā dilā je dhanu* | *kāma-rase dhanu dilā bhedilek tanu* || *Ibid.*, p. 124. *khemāire aṅkuśa diyā manāi pāgal* || *Ibid.*, p. 141. *māgh māsete guru hima kharaśān* | *kṣemāir cākari kari rākhaha parāṇ* || *Ibid.*, p. 143. *khemāire aṅkuś māra hastiyār muṇḍe* || *Ibid.*, p. 150. *ehi cari dhaut jan sarir alay* | *kām krodha lobha moha ehi cāri hae* || *ei cāri janere dhariā daḍ kari* | *sakale miliyā kara khemāir cākari* || *Ibid.*, p. 151.

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² *Cf.* *pāṭe rājā daḍa kari khemāir sane mili* | *kāmer galāte dey lohār jiñjali* || *sakala chāḍiyā guru khemāire kara rājā* | *bhakṣiyā garala candra kāyā kara tājā* || *Ibid.*, p. 152. *Also Ibid.*, p. 159 *biṣam śikal bānde manake nā deya ṭhāi* | *manake bāndhile bāchā taler lāgal pāi* ||

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The purification of and the control over the muscles, sinews, nerves, ducts and the nerve-centres through the processes of Āsana (posture), Dhauti (washing), Bandha (different kinds of arrest), Mudrā, Prāṇāyāma and other process of Haṭha-yoga are generally prescribed to be directed towards the final aim of the transformation and transubstantiation of the body. Closely associated with the question of transubstantiation of the body is the question of attaining full control over the mind. An echo of the general Indian trend of idealism is also found here and there in the stories of the Nātha literature.³ We have seen that the control of the mind is the yoga par excellence, and it is held that the vital wind is the vehicle of this mind, and the control of the vital wind through the processes of Prāṇāyāma leads to the control of the mind. With the arrest of the vital wind the mind becomes arrested, and it is for this reason that the arrest of the vāyu (i.e., the vital wind) has been held very important in the Nātha literature as in the literature of other religious schools containing discoures on yoga.

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Kāya-sādhana of the Nātha Siddhas implies, on the whole, a slow and gradual process of continual purification, rejuvenation and transubstantiation of the body through various yogic processes. It has been said that through the fire of yoga (i.e., the purifying processes of yoga) the ordinary body of change and decay is burnt away and from the process of purification and rejuvenation results a new immutable divine body as a transformation of the old. Without entering into the details of this Kāya-sādhana, let us discuss here at some length a particular form of yoga that was most emphasised in Kāya-sādhana.

(B) Kāya-sādhana

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(a) The Theory of the Sun and the Moon

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To understand fully the secrets of Kāya-sādhana we should first of all understand the theory of the sun and the moon as postulated in yoga.

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The sun and the moon are very frequently to be met with in the Tāntric and yogic texts and it is held that yoga consists in the unification of the sun and the moon. The sun and the moon refer generally

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ei saṃsār mājhe man ḍākāt baḍa |
bipad pāthāre man dāgā dive baḍa ||
man rājā man prajā man māyā phanda |
man bāndha tan cinta śuna gopī-candra || etc.
Gopī-candrer Sannyās (C. U., Part II), p.435.

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to the two important nerves in the right and the left and their union generally refers to the union of the two currents of the vital wind, *Prāṇa* and *Apāna* or inhalation and exhalation.¹ But the sun and the moon have got a deeper meaning still. In the *Siddha-siddhānta-paddhati* (ascribed to Gorakh) we find that the physical body emerges from the collocation of five factors, *viz.*, *Karma* (activity), *Kāma* (desire), *Candra* (the moon), *Sūrya* (the sun) and *Agni* (fire).² Of these the first two are rather the conditions of the visible body (*piṇḍa*), while the other three are the primary elements of which the body is made. Of these three again the sun and fire are generally held to be the same. Then the primary elements out of which the visible body is made are reduced to two, *viz.*, the sun and the moon. The moon represents the elements of *Rasa* or *Soma*, (*i.e.*, the quintessence in the form of the juice) and the sun is the element of fire, and, therefore, the body is called the product of *Agni* and *Soma*.³ *Rasa* as *Soma* is the food (*upabhogya*) while fire as the consumer is the eater (*bhoktā*),⁴ and through the well-proportioned combination of the consumer and the consumed the whole creation is sustained. The sun and the moon as *Agni* and *Soma* respectively are manifested in the physical world as the seed of the father and the ovum of the mother, through the combination of which proceeds the visible body, ¹ and thus *Agni* and *Soma* are the two primordial elements of the whole creation. The moon, in addition to the one digit (*kalā*), which is the digit of nectar, and which it possesses by virtue of its own nature, possesses sixteen other *kalās* which are explained here as the sixteen modes in which the moon functions. ² The sun, again, in addition to its own digit of self-luminosity, possesses twelve other digits, which are the modes in which the element of the sun functions. ³ This theory of the sun and the moon with its cosmological significance is found explained in the second *Brāhmaṇa* of the *Vṛhaj-jābālo-paniṣat*.

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¹ The word Haṭha-yoga really signifies the union of the *ha*, *i.e.*, the sun and the *ṭha*, *i.e.*, the moon. Vide, *Haṭha-yoga-pradīpikā*.

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² *karma kāmaś candraḥ sūryo'gnir iti pratyakṣa-karaṇa-pañcakam* (1.62).

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³ *agai-ṣomā-tmako deho vindur yad ubhayā-tmakaḥ* || Quoted in the commentary by Dravyeśa Jhā on the above aphorism. Cf. *agni-ṣomā-tmakaṃ viśvam ity agnir ācakṣate* | *Vṛhaj-jābālo-paniṣat*, (9.1).

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⁴ Cf. *gām āviśya bhūtāni dhārayāmy aham ojasā* | *puṣṇāmi cauṣadhīḥ sarvāḥ somo bhūtvā rasātmakaḥ* || *aham vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṃ deham āśritaḥ* | *prāṇā-pāna-samāyuktaḥ pacāmy annam caturvidham* || *Gītā*, (15.13-14),

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¹ kiñca sūryā-gni-rūpaṃ pituḥ śukraṃ soma-rūpañ ca mātṛ-rajaḥ, ubhayoḥ saṃyoge piṇḍotpattir, etc. Vide, Comm. referred to above.

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² ullolā, kallolinī, uccalantī, unmādinī, taramgiṇī, śoṣiṇī, lampaṭā, pravṛttiḥ, laharī, lolā, lelihānā, prasaranti, pravāhā, saumyā, prasannatā, plavantī | evaṃ candrasya ṣoḍaśa-kalā saptadaśī kalā nivṛttiḥ sā'mṛta-kalā | Siddha-siddhānta-paddhati (1.63). Cf. Tantrā-loka (3.138).

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³ tāpinī, grāsikā, ugrā, ākuñcanī, śoṣiṇī, pravodhanī, smarā, ākarṣaṇī, tuṣṭi-varddhinī, ūrmi-rekhā, kiraṇavatī, prabhāvatī'ti dvādaśa-kalā sūryasya, trayodaśī sva-prakāśatā nija-kalā | Siddha-siddhānta-paddhati (1.66).

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In the yogic texts in general the moon and the sun represent the two elements underlying physical existence,—viz., the element of creation and preservation and the element of change and destruction.⁴ The moon as the principle of non-change and immortality resides in the region of Śiva and the sun as the principle of change and destruction resides in the region of Śakti. The moon and the sun are thus associated with Śiva and Śakti. The moon is the depository of Amṛta or ambrosia which gives immortality, while the sun is the fire of destruction (kālāgni).¹ The moon is situated just below the Sahasrāra or the lotus of thousand petals in the cerebrum region,—it is facing downwards; and the sun is situated in the region of the navel or in the lowest plexus (Mūlādhāra) facing upwards.² It is held that bindu which is the quintessence of the body is of two kinds, viz., the yellowish white bindu (pāṇḍura-bindu) and the red bindu (lohita-bindu),—the former is of the nature of semen (śukra), while the latter is of the nature of ovum (mahā-rajas) ; the bindu (i.e. the white bindu or semen) is contained in the moon in the upper region, while the ovum is contained in the sun in the navel; this bindu is Śiva and that is the moon,—and the rajas is Śakti, which is the sun.² Thus it seems that the conception of the moon and the sun has been associated with that of Śiva and Śakti, and metaphysically the moon and the sun represent the nature of Śiva and Śakti, respectively. The sun, we have seen, is called Kālāgni or the fire of destruction, and it is also called Rudra (i.e. the Dire One) as opposed to Śiva (the All-good One). In the Kaula-jñāna-nirṇaya this Kālāgni as Rudra is associated with Śakti and is said to be seated in the lower region (Mūlādhāra) within the mouth of the Vāḍavā. It is held that there are seven lower regions called pātāla and seven upper regions called heaven. Creation lasts as long as the Kālāgni remains in the lower region, but when it burns upwards, dissolution starts.¹ In the Buddhist Tantras and the Buddhist Sahajiyā songs these principles of the sun and the moon have been conceived as the fire-force in the Nirmāṇa-kāya (i.e. the plexus of ‘the body of transformation’) and as the Bodhi-citta in the Uṣṇīṣa-kamala respectively. The fire-force in the Nirmāṇa-kāya (situated, according to the Buddhists, in the navel region) is described as the goddess Caṇḍālī. This point has been stated before in details.²

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⁴ In some places, however, the sun is not identified with the destructive fire,—it is described as situated in the middle as the middle principle. ūrddhve tu saṃsthitā sṛṣṭiḥ paramānanda-dāyinī || pīyūṣa-vṛṣṭiṃ varṣantī baindavī paramā kalā || adhaḥ saṃhārakṛ jñeyo mahān agniḥ kṛtāntakaḥ | ghoro jvālāvali-yukto durdharṣo jyotiṣāṃ nidhiḥ || tayor madhye paraṃ teja ubhayānanda-sundaram | avatāraḥ sa vijñeya ubhābhyāṃ vyāpakaḥ śivaḥ || paraspara-samāviṣṭau candre' gniṣṭītibhe śaśī | candram sṛṣṭim vijānīyād agniḥ saṃhāra ucyate || avatāro raviḥ prokto madhyasthah parameśvaraḥ | Quoted in the comm. on the Tantrā-loka (3.67) by Jayaratha.

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¹ bujhāile nā bujha guru yādrer (andher) lakṣaṇ | yamreta eḍiyā kara garal bhakṣaṇ || Gorakṣa-vijaya, p. 134. nābhi-deśe vasaty eko bhās̄karo dahanā-tmakah | amṛtā-tmā sthito nityam tālu-mūle ca candramāḥ || varṣaty adho-mukhaś candro grasaty ūrdhva-mukho raviḥ | jñātavyā karaṇī tatra jathā piyūṣam āpyate || Gorakṣa-paddhati, 2nd Śataka, verses (32-33). (Bombay Edition). Generally the sun is described in the navel: but in the Gorakṣa-saṃhitā (Ch. IV, verse 152) and the Kaula-jñāna-nirṇaya (Ch. II, verse 3) it is described in the lowest lotus or the Mūlādhāra.

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² sa punar dvividho binduḥ pāṇḍuro lohitas tathā | pāṇḍuraḥ śukram ityāhur lohitākhyo mahārajaḥ || sindūra-drava-saṃkāśaṃ nābhi-sthāne sthitam rajaḥ | śaśi-sthāne sthito hindus tayoḥ aikyaṃ sudurlabham || bindu śivo rajaḥ śaktiś candro bindu rajo raviḥ | anayoḥ saṅgamād eva prāpyate paramam padam || Gorakṣa-paddhati, p. 35 (verses 71-73). Also, Gorakṣa-saṃhitā (Prasanna Kaviratna's edition), pp. 29-30 (verse, 80-82). Cf. also, Gorakṣa-sāra-saṃgraha, p. 41,

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¹ Kaula-jñāna-nirṇaya, Ch. II.

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² Vide supra, pp. 115-124

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The sun and the moon as associated with Śakti and Śiva.

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The Sādhanā of the Haṭha-yogins consists, on the whole, in the act of combining the sun with the moon after getting complete mastery over them. In describing the yogic power of Hāḍi-siddha Mayanāmatī frequently refers to the fact that Hāḍi-siddha has made the sun and the moon his ear-rings.³ Though the statement is found in our literature only to describe the mythical power of Hāḍi-siddha, with whom everything impossible became possible, there is a deeper yogic significance behind it. These principles of the sun and the moon have been referred to in the *Gorakṣa-vijaya* under various imageries.¹

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³ cdeśiy hāḍi nāy baṅga-deśe ghar | cānda-suruj rākhche dui kāner kuṇḍal | Gopī-candrer Gān (C. U. Part I), p, 61. yam rājā hay yār nijer cākar | candra sūrya dui jan kuṇḍal kāner | Gopī-candrer Sannyās (C. U. Part II), pp. 440-441.

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¹ e.g.

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This act of combining the sun with the moon or the perfect control over them then implies many things in practical yoga. It implies, firstly, the retrogressive process of turning the cosmic manifestation back to its original form of rest, and this is effected by the yogins by rousing Śakti and uniting her with Śiva in the Sahasrāra. The combination of the sun and the moon implies secondly the yogic practice in which the male and the female unite and the combined substance of the seed and the ovum is sucked within by the yogin or the yoginī, as the case may be, through some secret yogic processes.² Again the practice of purifying and controlling the nerves like Iḍā and Piṅgalā by controlling Prāṇa and Apāna through processes of Prāṇayāma is what is meant by combining the sun and the moon. The three important nerves Iḍā, Piṅgalā and Suṣumnā in the left, right and the middle are frequently described in the yogic texts as of the nature of the moon, the sun, and fire (Soma or Candra, Sūrya and Agni), respectively. In the Nātha cult, however, the commingling of the sun and the moon has the deeper significance of transforming the material body of change to an immutable body of perfection. How can that be effected? It can be effected by a perfect control over the destructive force of the sun and then rejuvenating the whole body with the

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² Cf. *Vajroli-mudrā*.

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Various yogic implications of the union of the sun and the moon.

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śanivāre bahe bāyu śūnye mahātithi |
pūrve ule bhāskar paścime jvale bāti ||
nivite nā dio bāti jvāla ghana ghana |
ājukā chāpāi rākha amūlya ratan ||
ravivār bahe bāu laiyā ādya mūl |
āgun pāniye gura ek samatul ||
āgun pāniye jadi hac milāmili |
nivi jāiva āguni raiyā jāiva chāli ||
*Gorakṣa-vijaya*, p. 140.

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nectar oozing from the moon. We have seen that the sun represents the principle of destruction and the moon that of creation. The yogin tries to avoid both the extremes and have recourse to a principle of eternal conservation, which can be effected only by the perfect commingling of the principle of destruction and creation. This is what is meant by the real commingling of the sun and the moon.

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It is held in practical yoga that the quintessence of the visible body is distilled in the form of Soma or nectar (amṛta) and is reposited in the moon in the Sahasrāra. There is a curved duct from the moon below the Sahasrāra up to the hollow in the palatal region; it is well-known in yoga physiology as the Śaṅkhinī. This is the baṅka nāla (i.e. the curved duct) frequently mentioned in the vernaculars through which the mahā-rasa (i.e. Soma-rasa) passes.¹ This curved duck Śaṅkhinī is described in the Gorakṣa-vijaya as the serpent with mouths at both ends.²

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