Yogi Heroes and Poets: Histories and Legends of the Naths

Introduction

7. Matsyendra’s “Golden Legend”: Yogi Tales and Nath Ideology Adrián Muñoz 109 8. What Should Mīnanāth Do to Save His Life? Lubomír Ondračka 129 9. The Matsyendrasam ִ hitā: A Yoginī-centered Thirteenth-century Text from the South Indian Śāmbhava Cult Csaba Kiss 143 Notes 163 Bibliography 199 List of Contributors 219 Index 221 vi CONTENTS Preface Much scholarly work has been done in recent years on Sanskrit texts about yoga philosophy and yoga practices. Fewer discussions have appeared on the religious sect that has been the main carrier of yoga traditions in India, the sect known as the Nath Panth or Kanphata Panth. The principal aim of this collection of essays is to help redress this imbalance with discussions about the history of the Nath yogis and about the vernacular folklore and poetry that they have produced. The primary source materials for the essays include folktales, songs, verses, didactic texts, and oral interviews and recitations. These sources were written or spoken in a variety of languages: modern Hindi, old Hindi, Rajasthani, Bengali, Oriya, and Sanskrit. The editors would like to thank all the contributors for their help in organizing the collection and editing their own essays. Thanks in part to the wonders of the Internet, it has been possible to efficiently assemble a team of scholars from several different countries: the Czech Republic, Great Britain, India, Mexico, and the United States. Short biographical notes on each of the contributors are found at the end of this book. Not all the authors of the essays have used diacritics to transcribe Indian words, but where diacritics are used they follow standard practice for the languages concerned . In most chapters, personal names and non-italicized words in Hindi or other vernacular languages appear without diacritics. However, words of these languages written in italics (including book titles) do normally have diacritics. Sanskrit words (e.g., hat ִha yoga), usually do have diacritics, even when not in italics. Sanskrit words that are common in English sometimes appear in their common English spellings (e.g., Shiva, Shakta, Vishnu, Vaishnava, Krishna, Shankaracharya) but in vii essays using mainly Sanskrit sources appear in their more scholarly form with diacritics (e.g., Śiva, Śākta, Vis ִn ִu, Kr ִs ִn ִa, etc.). The non-aspirated “ch” sound in vernacular words is usually written as “ch” (e.g., Chand), but in Sanskrit words it is usually written as “c” (e.g., Candra). Palatal “ś” and cerebral “s ִ” in non-italicized Hindi words are both usually written as “sh.” Much help has also been received from our colleagues in the Centro de Estudios de Asia y África of El Colegio de Mexico and from its administrative staff. We particularly would like to thank the director of the Centro, Benjamín Preciado Solís, and its administrative assistant, Adriana Villanueva. Many thanks also to Nancy Ellegate and her team at State University of New York Press. viii PREFACE Introduction David N. Lorenzen and Adrián Muñoz All disciples sleep, but the Nath Satguru stays full awake. The Avadhuta begs for alms at the ten gates. —Gorakh Bānī pad 53 The Hindu religious path or sect of the Naths is variously known as the Nath Panth or the Nath Sampraday. Its followers are called Nath yogis, Nath Panthis , Kanphata yogis, Gorakhnathis, and Siddha yogis, among other names. Sometimes the term avadhūta is used, although this term is applied to ascetics of other Hindu groups as well. Most Nath yogis claim adherence to the teachings of the early yogi, Goraks ִanātha (in Hindi Gorakhnath). The school of yoga most closely associated with the Naths is the well-known one of hat ִha yoga. In more general terms, the combined religious and yogic teachings of the Naths are called the Nāthm ārga (the Path of the Naths), the Yoga-mārga (the Path of yoga), or the Siddhamata (the doctrine of the Siddhas). The term siddha means “someone perfected or who has attained [spiritual] perfection .” A Siddha (from the Sanskrit root SIDH, “to succeed, to perfect”) is an ascetic who has gained different perfections or “successes” (siddhis), the most famous being the eight magical siddhis achieved through intense yogic practice. The word nāth or nātha literally means “lord, master; protector, shelter,” and in the present context designates, on the one hand, a follower of the sect founded by or associated...