Gorakhnath

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

Historians vary in their estimate on when Gorakhnath lived. Estimates based on archaeology and text range from Briggs' 11th to 12th century[7] to Baba Farid documents and Jnanesvari manuscripts leading Abbott to connect Gorakhnath to the 13th century,[12] to Grierson, who, relying on evidence discovered in Gujarat, suggests the 14th century.[12] His influence is found in the numerous references to him in the poetry of Kabir and of Guru Nanak of Sikhism, which describe him as a very powerful leader with a large following, thereby suggesting he likely lived around the time these spiritual leaders lived in India.[13]

Historical texts imply that Gorakhnath was originally a Buddhist in a region influenced by Shaivism, and he converted to Hinduism championing Shiva and Yoga.[14] Gorakhnath led a life as a passionate exponent of ideas of Kumarila and Adi Shankara that championed the Yogic and Advaita Vedanta interpretation of the Upanishads.[15] Gorakhnath considered the controversy between dualism and nondualism spiritual theories in medieval India as useless from practice point of view, he emphasised that the choice is of the yogi, that the spiritual discipline and practice by either path leads to "perfectly illumined samadhi state of the individual phenomenal consciousness", states Banerjea.[16]

The hagiography on Gorakhnath describe him to have appeared on earth several times.[7] The legends do not provide a time or place where he was born, and consider him to be superhuman.[17] North Indian hagiographies suggest he originated from northwest India (Punjab, with some mentioning Peshawar).[17] Other hagiographies on Gorakhnath in Bengal and Bihar suggest he originated from eastern region of India (Assam).[17]

These hagiographies are inconsistent, and offer varying records of the spiritual descent of Gorakhnath. All name Adinath and Matsyendranath as two teachers preceding him in the succession. Though one account lists five gurus preceding Adinath and another lists six teachers between Matsyendranath and Gorakhnath, current tradition has Adinath identified with Lord Shiva as the direct teacher of Matsyendranath, who was himself the direct teacher of Gorakhnath.[18]

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]

The math was established in the late 18th century with simultaneous grants of land to muslim holy man, Baba Roshan Ali Shah and Baba Gorakhnath by the Asaf-ud Daula, the Nawab of Awadh.The tomb of Roshan Ali and the Gorakhnath temple on the opposite sides of the city form the core of the identity of Gorakhpur.The math is situated in a Muslim majority area, and until 1980s the Math asyncretic identity with devotees and visitors from diverse communal background.[21]

Some scholars associate the origins of Hatha yoga with the Nath yogis, in particular Gorakhnath and his guru Matsyendranath.[2][22][23] According to British indologist James Mallinson, this association is false.[22] In his view, the origins of hatha yoga should be associated with the Dashanami Sampradaya of Advaita Vedanta[24] (Hinduism), the mystical figure of Dattatreya,[25] and the Rāmānandīs.[26]

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]

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.[27][28] Gorakhnath shrines have continued to operate a langar and provide a free meal to pilgrims who visit.[29]

The Gurkhas of Nepal take their name from this saint.[30] Gorkha, a historical district of Nepal, is named after him.

There is a cave with his paduka (footprints) and an idol of him.[31] Every year on the day of Baisakh Purnima there is a great celebration in Gorkha at his cave, called Rot Mahotsav; it has been celebrated for the last seven hundred years.[32][33]

A legend asserts, state William Northey and John Morris, that a disciple of Machendra by name Gorakhnath, once visited Nepal and retired to a little hill near Deo Patan. There he meditated in an unmovable state for twelve years. The locals built a temple in his honour there, and it has since been remembered with.[34]

In the Siddhar tradition of Tamil Nadu, Gorakhnath is one of the 18 esteemed Siddhars of yore, and is better known as Korakkar.[35] Siddhar Agastya and Siddhar Bhogar were his gurus. There is a temple in Vadukku Poigainallur, Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu which specifically houses his Jeeva Samadhi.[36] According to one account, he spent much of his youth in the Velliangiri Mountains, Coimbatore.

There are various other shrines in respect of Korakkar; located in Perur, Thiruchendur and Trincomalee, to name a few. Korakkar Caves are found in both Sathuragiri and the Kolli Hills, where he is noted to have practised his sadhana. Like his colleagues, the 18 Siddhars, Korakkar also penned much cryptic Tamil poetry pertaining to Medicine, Philosophy and Alchemy. He was one of the first to use Cannabis in his medicinal preparations for certain ailments, and as such the plant has another less well known name, Korakkar Mooligai (Korakkar's Herb).[37]

The Bengali Hindu community in Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam and the country Bangladesh have a sizeable number of people belonging to the Nath Sampradaya, variously named as Nath or Yogi Nath, who have taken the name from Gorakhnath.[38][39] They were marginalised in Medieval Bengal.[40]

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.[41][42]

The Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati text is based on an advaita (nonduality) framework, where the yogi sees "himself in all beings, and all in himself" including the identity of the individual soul (Atman) with the universal (Brahman).[30] 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)[43]