Gorakhnath

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Gorakhnath
Matsyendranath
HonorsMahayogi

Gorakhnath (also known as Goraksanath (Sanskrit: Gorakṣanātha),

Matsyendranath. His followers are known as Jogi, Gorakhnathi, Darshani or Kanphata.[5]

He was one of nine saints, or Navnath, and is known in Maharashtra, India.[6] Hagiographies describe him to be a person outside the laws of time who appeared on earth during different ages.[7] Historians agree that Gorakhnath lived sometime during the first half of the 2nd millennium CE, but there is some disagreement about which century he lived. Estimates based on archaeological and textual evidence range from Briggs' estimate of the 11th to 12th century[7] to Grierson's estimate of the 14th century.[8]

Gorakhnath is considered a Maha-yogi (or "great yogi") in Hindu tradition.

Truth, but emphasised that the search for Truth and the spiritual life is a valuable and normal goal of man.[9] Gorakhnath championed Yoga, spiritual discipline and an ethical life of self-determination as a means to reaching samadhi.[9]

Gorakhnath, his ideas, and his yogis have been popular in rural India, with monasteries and temples dedicated to him found in many states of India, particularly in the eponymous city of Gorakhpur.[10][11]

Biography

Historian accounts

Painting from an 1830's Janamsakhi manuscript depicting a meeting and discussion between Gorakhnath (wearing orange) and Guru Nanak (wearing green).

Historians disagree on when Gorakhnath lived. Briggs estimates 11th to 12th century,

Baba Farid documents and Jnanesvari manuscripts place Gorakhnath in the 13th century.[12] Grierson, relying on evidence discovered in Gujarat, suggests the 14th century.[12] Gorakhnath is referenced in the poetry of Kabir and of Guru Nanak of Sikhism, which describe him as a very powerful leader with a large following.[13]

Historical texts imply that Gorakhnath was a

nondualism in medieval India as useless from a practical point of view. According to Banerjea, He emphasised that the choice is that of the yogi, and that spiritual discipline and practice by either path leads to "perfectly illumined samadhi state of the individual phenomenal consciousness.".[16]

Hagiographic accounts

The

Punjab, with some mentioning Peshawar).[17] Other hagiographies in Bengal and Bihar suggest he originated from eastern region of India (Assam).[17]

Available hagiographies offer varying records of the spiritual descent of Gorakhnath. All name

Matsyendranath, who was himself the direct teacher of Gorakhnath.[18]

Nath Sampradaya

Illustrated manuscript depiction of Gorakhnath with Ganesha

The

Vajreshwari temple about one kilometre from Ganeshpuri, Maharashtra, India.[19]
Legends state that Gorakhnath and Matsyendranath did penance in Kadri Temple at Mangalore, Karnataka. They were also instrumental in laying Shivlingam at Kadri and Dharmasthala.

The temple of Gorakhnath is situated on hill called Garbhagiri near Vambori, Tal Rahuri; Dist Ahmednagar. There is also a temple of Gorakhnath in the state of Odisha.

Gorakhnath Math

Gorakhnath mandir in Gorakhpur, India

The Gorakhnath Math is a monastery of the Nath monastic group named after the medieval saint, Gorakhnath (c. 11th century), of the Nath sampradaya. The math and town of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh is named after him. The monastery and the temple perform various cultural and social activities and serve as the cultural hub of the city. The monastery also publishes texts on the philosophy of Gorakhnath.[20]

A shrine existed at the site from older times which was converted into a mosque by Ala-ud-din Khilji.[21] A smaller shrine was built by Nath Sampraday's followers at a later time. Later additions were made in 18th, 19th and 20th century by devotees and yogis of the order. The math is situated in a Muslim majority area and is a centre of syncretism among devotees and visitors from diverse communal background.[22]

Influence

Hatha yoga

Some scholars associate the origins of

Dashanami Sampradaya of Advaita Vedanta[25] (Hinduism), the mystical figure of Dattatreya,[26] and the Rāmānandīs.[27]

While the origins of Hatha yoga are disputed, according to Guy Beck, a professor of Religious Studies known for his studies on Yoga and music, "the connections between Goraknath, the Kanphatas and Hatha yoga are beyond question".[1]

Langars (community kitchens)

Fresco depicting Gorakhnath from Udasi Chitta Akhara in Amritsar

According to Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, a professor in Asian languages and cultures, the Gorakhnath orders were operating free community kitchens in Punjab before Guru Nanak founded Sikhism.[28][29] Gorakhnath shrines have continued to operate a langar and provide a free meal to pilgrims who visit.[30]

Nepal

Main article: Gurkha

The

Gurkhas of Nepal take their name from Gorakhnath.[31] Gorkha
, a historical district of Nepal, is also named after him.

A cave exists in Gorkha with his paduka (footprints) and an idol.[32] Every year, on the day of Baisakh Purnima, a celebration known as Rot Mahotsav takes place in the cave; it has purportedly been celebrated for the last seven hundred years.[33][34]

According to William Northey and John Morris, legend states that a disciple of Machendra by name Gorakhnath once visited Nepal and retired to a small hill near Deo Patan. There, he meditated in an unmovable state for twelve years. The locals built a temple in his honour there.[35]

Siddhar tradition

In the Siddhar tradition of Tamil Nadu, Gorakhnath is one of the 18 esteemed Siddhars of yore, and is also known as Korakkar.[36] Siddhar Agastya and Siddhar Bhogar were his gurus. There is a temple in Vadukku Poigainallur, Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu which specifically houses his Jeeva Samadhi.[37] According to one account, he spent much of his youth in the Velliangiri Mountains, Coimbatore.

There are various other shrines honouring

medicine, philosophy and alchemy. He was one of the first to use cannabis in his medicinal preparations for certain ailments; as a result, it gained the name Korakkar Mooligai (Korakkar's Herb).[38]

West Bengal – Assam – Tripura - Bangladesh

The

Bengali Hindu community in the states of West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam, and the country Bangladesh have a sizeable number of people belonging to the Nath Sampradaya, named as Nath or Yogi Nath, who have taken the name from Gorakhnath.[39][40] They were marginalised in Medieval Bengal.[41]

Works

Romola Butalia, an Indian writer of Yoga history, lists the works attributed to Gorakhnath as including the Gorakṣaśataka, Goraksha Samhita, Goraksha Gita, Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati, Yoga Martanda, Yoga Siddhanta Paddhati, Yogabīja, Yogacintamani.[citation needed]

Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati

The Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati is a

Hatha Yoga Sanskrit text attributed to Gorakhnath by the Nath tradition. According to Feuerstein (1991: p. 105), it is "one of the earliest hatha yoga scriptures, the Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati, contains many verses that describe the avadhuta" (liberated) yogi.[42][43]

The Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati text is based on an

Atman) with the universal (Brahman).[31]
This idea appears in the text in various forms, such as the following:

The four varna (castes) are perceived to be located in the nature of the individual, i.e. Brahmana in sadacara (righteous conduct), Ksatriya in saurya (valor and courage), Vaisya in vyavasaya (business), and Sudra in seva (service). A yogin experiences all men and women of all races and castes within himself. Therefore he has no hatred for anybody. He has love for every being.

— Gorakhnath, Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati III.6-8 (Translator: D Shastri)[44]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Guy L. Beck 1995, pp. 102–103.
  2. ^ a b "Hatha Yoga". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  3. ISBN 978-0-8108-3327-2
    .
  4. ^ Briggs 1938, p. 228.
  5. ^ Briggs 1938, p. 1.
  6. ^ Briggs 1938, pp. 228–250.
  7. ^ a b c d Briggs 1938, p. 249.
  8. ^ Briggs 1938, pp. 228–230.
  9. ^ a b c Akshaya Kumar Banerjea 1983, pp. 23–25.
  10. ^ White, David Gordon (2012), The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India, University of Chicago Press, pp. 7–8
  11. ISBN 978-1438438900
    , pp. x–xi
  12. ^ a b Briggs 1938, pp. 230, 242–243.
  13. ^ Briggs 1938, pp. 236–242.
  14. ^ Briggs 1938, pp. 229, 233–235.
  15. ^ Akshaya Kumar Banerjea 1983, pp. xli, 303–307.
  16. ^ Akshaya Kumar Banerjea 1983, pp. xli, 307–312.
  17. ^ a b c Briggs 1938, p. 229.
  18. ^ Briggs 1938, pp. 229–231.
  19. ^ "Discipleship". Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2007.
  20. ^ Akshaya Kumar Banerjea 1983, p. [page needed].
  21. ^ Briggs 1938.
  22. S2CID 157212381
    .
  23. ^
    S2CID 161393103
    . That these Nāth Yogīs were the originators and foremost exponents of haṭhayoga is a given of all historical studies of yoga. But these Yogīs were in fact the willing and complicit beneficiaries of the semantic confusion which has caught out White and many other scholars
  24. ^ Gerald James Larson, Ram Shankar Bhattacharya & Karl H. Potter 2008, p. 140.
  25. ^ James Mallinson 2011, pp. 331–332 with footnote 22.
  26. ^ James Mallinson 2012, pp. 26–27.
  27. ^ James Mallinson 2012, pp. 26–27, Quote: "Thee key practices of hathayoga—including complex, non-seated āsanas [...] whose first descriptions are found in Pāñcarātrika sources—originated among the forerunners of the Dasnāmīs and Rāmānandīs.".
  28. ISBN 978-1-4411-1708-3
    .
  29. ^ "Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair: Bloomsbury Publishing (US)". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  30. ISBN 978-1-84553-234-5
    .
  31. ^ a b Gerald James Larson, Ram Shankar Bhattacharya & Karl H. Potter 2008, pp. 440–441.
  32. ^ "Gorkha: The Historical Landmark of Nepal". Nepal Sanctuary Treks. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  33. ^ Gauron, Julianne. "Nepal's Rot Festival at Gorhka's Durbar Palace". SNOW ON THE ROAD.
  34. ^ "Brief Introduction". District Coordination Committee Office Gorkha.
  35. ^ Northey, W. B.; Morris, C. J. (2001). The Gurkhas: Their Manners, Customs, and Country. Asian Educational Services.
  36. ^ R. N. Hema (December 2019). Biography of the 18 Siddhars (Thesis). National Institute of Siddha.
  37. ^ "18 Siddhars". www.satsang-darshan.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  38. ^ R. N. Hema (December 2019). Biography of the 18 Siddhars (Thesis). National Institute of Siddha.
  39. ISBN 978-81-208-0564-4
    .
  40. ^ Bhaṭṭācārya, Āśutosha (1978). Folklore of Bengal. National Book Trust, India. p. 124,132.
  41. S2CID 259185097
    .
  42. ^ Feuerstein, Georg (1991). 'Holy Madness'. In Yoga Journal May/June 1991. With calligraphy by Robin Spaan. Source: p. 105 (accessed: 29 February 2011)
  43. ^ Gerald James Larson, Ram Shankar Bhattacharya & Karl H. Potter 2008, p. 453.
  44. ^ Gerald James Larson, Ram Shankar Bhattacharya & Karl H. Potter 2008, p. 440.

Sources

Further reading

External links

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