Goraksanatha and Natha Sampradaya

[Full title: An insight into Mystical and Esoteric Aspects of Lakulisa-Pasupatas: Goraksanatha and Natha Sampradaya]

Regarding the importance of Gorakhnath in Natha Sampradaya Deshpande^[1] writes;

“Gorakhnath, the disciple of Matsyendranath, was a great organizer and by his strict adherence to the path of sadhana he spread the Natha yogic order in almost all parts of India. He is such a familiar saint in many parts of India that he is claimed to have hailed from Punjab, Bengal and Maharashtra by the people of the respective provinces.”

The philosophy of Natha Sampradaya can be traced to Sankhya philosophy and it seeks to establish complete identity between pinda and brahmanda. And this total identity can be intuitively experienced by a yogi in a state of Samadhi after his kundalini is aroused and it reaches the highest cakra after passing through six cakras. Very much like ascetic aspirants of Lakulisa-Pasupatas they too believed in strict body regimen like (hathayoga), breathing exercises (pranayama), meditation (dhyana) etc.

Their major difference with early Lakulisa-Pasupatas is in the extreme importance they pay to Sakti. According to them Sakti resides in Siva and likewise Siva in Sakti and they are inseparable like the moon and moonlight. Moreover they consider all classes and castes as equal.

Later various Mathas of Natha Sampradaya spread over in different parts of India compiled their own list of Natha Siddhas. Among such lists, a short list of nine Nathas became important in various parts of the country. These nine were viz:

1. Gorakhnath,
2. Jalandharanath,
3. Charpatinath,
4. Adabanganath,
5. Kanifnatha,
6. Matsyendranath,
7. Chouranginath,
8. Revananath and
9. Bharthaharinath.

Shah^[2] brought to light an important Natha Sampradaya centre at Dabhoi in district Vadodara and published his findings in Nagari Pracharini Sabha (62^nd yr vol 2 and 3). He noticed almost thirteen Natha Siddhas represented on one of the magnificiently carved doorways(Mahudi or Champaner gate) of Dabhoi town datable to 13^th CE.This again hints at the continous importance of Siddha cult in and around Baroda.

The interesting overlap between, Buddhist Siddhacaryas teachers of Kapalika sect and Nathas of Natha Sampradyay points at certain similarities between these highly esoteric cults. The fact that the same Siddha is considered as a Natha and also as a Kapalika teacher talks of a common spiritual tradition followed by these great masters irrespective of the religion they followed or the religion with which they got associated. It throws light on the mutually exclusive nature of spiritual lineages and religion in India.Interestingly Natha Siddhas consider the five main Nathas to be emanations of Adinatha very much like five Dhyani Buddhas are emanations of AdiBuddha.

Table: 2

[Overlap between, Buddhist Siddhacarya, Kapalika sect and Natha Sampradaya]

Buddhist Siddhacarya	Natha	Kapalika teacher acc. To Sabaratantra
Nagarjuna		Nagarjuna
Luipa or Luhipada	Matsyendranath	Minanath
Goraksa	Gorakhnath	Goraksa
Carpati	Carpti natha	Carpata
Jaladhari pa	Jalandhar natha	Jalandhara

In this context the cave temples of Panhale-Kaji located in Konkan region in Maharashtra come across as a very important site. Regarding the site Deshpande^[3] writes:

“Since Panhale lies in the Konkan region and was celebrated centre of Natha sampradaya, one is tempted to suggest that Konkananatha, a name appearing in the list of Navanathas according to Kadali matha may be a Nath yogi who popularized the order in this region”

It is further interesting to note that according to Gode^[4] even in the 17^th CE, Nathism was practiced in the Konkan region. Now the fact that earlier caves at this very site are dedicated to fierce Vajrayana deites like Mahacandarosana talks about it being sacred to these Vajrayana followers too.Regarding the shift from Vajrayana to Natha worship Deshpande^[5] observes:

“While the Vajrayana followers were entrenched at Panhale, Saivism seems to have made its appearance on the scene with deities like Siva, Ganesha, Saraswati, Kali, Bhairava whose loose as well as fixed images have been found at Panhale.”

Cave 13 particularly occurs as an interesting case study. It seems that followers of Natha Sampradaya took over this early Vajrayana cave and transformed it into one dedicated to Goraksanatha. Similarly in others caves too later interpolated images of various Nathas can be seen.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Deshpande M.N, Natha Sampradaya: An Anthropological Approach,

[2]:

Shah U.P as quoted by Deshpande

[3]:

Ibid.

[4]:

Gode P.K., ABORI, vol 19,pp49-60

[5]:

Deshpande M.N.above cited