Matsyendra Nath - The Great Natha Siddhas

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Introduction

Adi Nath the First of Nathas

Matsyendra Nath

Jalandhar Nath

Goraksh Nath

Kanipa Nath

Chorangi Nath

Raja Rasalu

Charpat Nath

Raja Bhartrihari

Raja Gopichand

Jnanesvar and Nivritti Nath

Balak Nath

Masta Nath

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Matsyendra Nath

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paramnanda vande svnandavigraham|yasya sannidhyamtrea cidnandyate tanu||1||antarnicalittmadpakaliksvdhrabandhdibhiyo yog yugakalpaklakalantattva cajegyate |jnmodamahodadhi samabhavadyatrdintha svayavyaktvyaktagudhika tamaniarmnantha bhaje || 2 ||(Goraka ataka verses 1,2)

Verse 1 Praise (vande) to the Venerable Guru(r gurum), the embodiment of the Supreme

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Bliss (param nandam), who grants(vigraham) the bliss of experiencing oneself asthe Supreme Eternal Self (sva nanda), bymere nearness (sannidhya mtrea) to whom(yasya) the body (tanu) becomestranscended (ayate) as pure and blissful mind(cid nanda). Verse 2 To that (yad) Yogi(yog), who being steadily fixed (nicalit)inside (anta) the light (dpa) of the flame(kalik) of his soul (tma) by the virtue of hisyoga practice (sva dhra bandha dibhi),also (ca) sing praises repeatedly (jegyate) theTrue Principle (tattvam) causing (kalan) thetime (kla) of ages (yuga) and eras (kalpa).To that (tad) venerable (r) Mna Ntha (mnantham), the Great (mah) Ocean (udadhi)of knowledge (jna) and joy (moda),surpassing (adhikam) the qualities (gua) ofexistence (vyakta) and non existence(vyakta), where (yatra) the Foremost Lord(di ntha), himself (svayam) has merged inequability (sama bhavat), [I] worship (bhaje)continuously (aniam).

The name of Matsyendra Nath is one of mostremarkable amongst the yogis of the NathSampradaya, as well as of the wholeMahasiddha Tradition. He has wide recognitionas the Guru of Goraksh Nath, and less knownas one of the founders of the tantric KaulaSdhan. Matsyendra Nath is the veryimportant person for the Natha Yogis, becausehe is the Guru of the Founder of theirtradition. Although they support the view thatit was Guru Goraksh Nath, who actuallyfounded the Natha Order, the names ofMatsyendra Ntha and Jalandhar Nathaprecede him in the list of Acharyas,parampara - the lineage of the direct passingon of the Tradition. Duty this reason


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Matsyendra Nth is also known as the Dd(Guru) Matsyendra Nth, where dd meansGrand Father Guru. While the Guru GorakshNath is unanimously accepted as their Guru byall Natha Yogis, Matsyendra Nth, in his turn,recognized as the preceptor of their guru, andtherefore as their Grand Father Guru.

The Great Yogi

There exist lot of legends, in India and Nepal,describing the supernatural abilities andmiracles performed by Matsyendra Nth. It iswidely believed that as the Guru GorakshNath, he also is an immortal, endowed withthe extraordinary magical powers, and muchmore than the term ordinary human beingcan express. He is mentioned by the author ofHYP Swaatmarama as one of the GreatSiddhas, who destroyed the hold of the timeby the power of Hatha yoga, and became ableto wonder in the Universe as they wish: HYP 1.9 itydayo mahsiddh haha-yoga-prabhvata |khaayitv kla-daa brahme vicarantite|| 9||

Sometimes Matsyendra Nth is compared withShiva in the Indian Natha Tradition, and in theBuddhist tradition of Nepal he is worshiped asAvalokiteshvara- the divinity of the BuddhistPantheon. One of the most remarkable fromhis miraculous powers mentioned in thelegends about him, was the ability to live ownbody and entering into other bodies by freewill, and remain there for prolonged period oftime or permanently. If we accept this as true,then he is actually immortal, and keeps onpassing from one body to other. It is believed


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that in his knowledge of the occult sciencesand magic, he was second to no one amongstpeople, probably excluding only his GreatDisciple. He also has reputation as the famoustantric practitioner, for example in one legendof Nepal, he appeared as the great sorcerer,who has exterminated by the power of hismagic the army of the King of Nepal, whichlater was restored by Gorakh Nath. He ishonored as their Guru and as an ideal ofsadhaka by many modern practitioners oftantra, especially by those who try to followthe Path of Kaula Shakti Marga.

The Path of Nathas

Some legends showing him as the fallen yogi,who become enamored by women and forgotabout his yogic past, and it was Goraksh Nathwho came to rescue him from this situation.Yet some other sources say that he done allhis mistakes only for the benefit of the worldand his great disciple, being totally unaffectedby all what he was doing (if we suppose thathis spirit was free from his body then it couldbe accepted as true); indeed, being the guruof the Supreme Lord was not difficult task forhim. The relations of Matsyendra Ntha andGoraksh Ntha are considered as an idealexample of the relations of guru and disciple,and form the Path to follow for others; allthose who have attained their ultimatefreedom and immortality walked by this pathonly. One of the greatest experts of the HathaYoga, the great yogi of the Natha TraditionSwaatmarama has assigned credit of all hispersonal achievements to the grace ofMatsyendra-Gorak:

haha-vidy hi matsyendra-gorakdy


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vijnate |svtmrmo'thav yog jnte tat-prasdata|| HYP 1 || 4||

There exist lot of the different lists of the NineGreat Nathas, and Matseyndra Nath appearingin almost all of them. Amongst the membersof the Nine Great Nathas, he is known asMy Svarup or My Pati Dd MatsyendraNath, the names which have the symbolicalmeaning behind them. My Svarup can betranslated as being the form of My (illusion)and My Pati means the master of it. In thiscontext he appears not like limited humanpersonality, but rather more like universalprinciple of the yogic transforming power.After awakening of Kundalini (Personal DivinePower), it is not the individual guru only whois guiding yogi on his path, but the entireexistence becomes his guru, My changesfrom her role as merely illusion and becomesYoga Maya, the power of transformationleading towards the Spiritual Self.

Around the Natha Tradition there existnumerous devotional folk songs presenting theideas of the Natha yogis, composed in thevarious old and modern dialects of India,some of theme are widely popular, especiallyin the Northern part of the country. The mostof them are written in the form of monologueof Matsyendra Nath addressing to his discipleGoraksh Nath and usually ending with words,'Kahate Matsendar Baba, suno Jati Goraksh,'which means 'Matsendar Baba is saying, listenO perfect brachmachari Goraksh!'

Geography The roles of Matsyendra Nath and the Guru


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Goraksh Nath in the spreading of the Shaivaworship all over India, are yet to be studiedproperly. Most legends about him connect hislife with the areas of Bengal, Assam, Nepaland locality near the city Mangalore ofKarnataka. In accordance with Caturati-siddha-pravitti, he was born in the EasternIndia, was a fisherman by caste and lived nearan ocean. Another place usually associatedwith his name is place Kama-rupa situated inthe modern Assam State.

Names In course of time, the name of MatsyendraNth came through numerous distortions, andhe became recognized under many differentnames, from which Matsyendra Nth andMachendra Nth are two most popular andgenerally used by the yogis of the modernNatha Sampradaya. There exist quite a lot ofspellings and translations of these two namesin the various local dialects of India, whichwere current there at the various periods oftime. In Nepal he is identified with the divinityof the Buddhist pantheon Avalokiteshvara,whose other two names: Loka Natha (the Lordof the world) and Karunamaya (theembodiment of compassion) are also appliedto him. He also famous there as RatoMacchindra Nath, where Rato means red andworshiped by Newars as the God of rain. Thistradition limited only to the area of Nepal andnot supported in the other Buddhist regions.

In the different stories of the book Caturati-siddha-pravitti, he was called Minap,Vajrapada and Achintap (Achintya or worry-less). Abhinava Gupta called him MachandaVibhu in his of his works called Tantraloka. In


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the work Kaula Jna Niraya his names varyfrom chapter to chapter (called Paalas); he ismentioned as Macchaghnapda in Paalas III,IV,V, VI,VII, VIII, IX, X; as Macchendrapdain Paalas XIII, XV, XVII; as Matsyendrapdain Paalas XVI, XXII, XXIII, and Mnapda inPaalas XIX, XX, XXI. Two more namesappearing in KJN are Matsyodara, whichmeans born of fish and Macchaghna thekiller of fishes. The first name comes from theversion of legend, which says that he wasborn from the womb of fish, and second basedon Vajrayana version of his life story, inaccordance with which he was a fishermenbefore being swallowed by a fish. Even in thissense, he can be looked on as reborn fromfish, because he came out of its stomachentirely different person then he was beforeentering into it. In two different versions ofAkulavira Tantra, he is mentioned asMnantha and Macchendrapda. In Kulnandahe called Matsyendra and in JnakrikMacchindra Ntha Pda.

Historical perspective

The researchers were unable to come to theunanimous agreement about the exact datewhen Matsyendra Nath was flourishing. Inaccordance with various opinions, he lived notearlier than 7th century and not later than12th century. The earliest date is based on theaccepting as fact that he lived at the sametime with the king of Nepal Narendra Deva,who ascended to throne in about 640 A.D. andruled till his death in year 683 A.D. The latestdate is based on the biography of the SaintJnaneshwar, in accordance with which he livednot long time before him.


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There exist few more accounts suggestingother possible periods of his life. Most of themwould be discussed in more details inconnection with the lives of Goraksh Nath,Jalandhar Nath and Kanipa Nath and thereforeI omitted them here. Because Matsendra Nathcan be accepted as contemporary with all ofthese yogis, the time mentioned for them willbe same for him. Here I will present only fewhistorically documented references peculiar forhim.

Chronology in accordance with the timeof Narendra Deva

The earliest probable date of the historicalMatsyendra Nath usually calculated on thebasis of the legends connecting him with theking of Nepal Narendra Deva. In accordancewith some historical records, the King of NepalNarendra Deva, ruled Nepal at the same timewith the Tibetan emperor Srong TsangGampo, to whom he has married his daughter.Srong Tsang Gampo, was born in the year 617A.D. and died 698 A.D. He became the king ofTibet in 630 A.D., when he was only 13 yearold child. Under his rule Tibetans conqueredBurma and in 640 A.D. occupied Nepal. Bothof these kings were historical personalities,lives of which relatively well documented.

Narendra Dev was the son of Uday Dev II,who was the King of Nepal in exile, under thepatronage of the Tibetan Kings, after thethrone of his ancestors was taken over byJishnu Gupta and puppet kings installed byhim. Narendra Deva, with the help of hisTibetan patron Srong Tsang Gampo, tookrevenge against the enemies of his father andrestored his ancestral throne by overthrowing


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Bishnu Gupta, who was the son of JishnuGupta. Thus, he ended the double rule andbecame the 7th king of the Lichchhavi dynastyof Nepal. He ascended the throne in about 640A.D., about the same time with the occupationof Nepal by the Tibetan army.

In accordance with the legends popular inNepal, it was he who brought the patron deityMachchhendra Nath from Kamarup around647 A.D. The legends agree that MatsyendraNath came in Nepal in the period of his rule,therefore the time of his life can be placedsomewhere around the middle of the 7thcentury.

Chronology in accordance with the timeof Abhinava Gupta

The famous exponent of Kashmiri Shaivism,Abhinava Gupta, who lived at the tenthcentury A.D., has mentioned Matsendra Nathas Macchanda-vibhu in one of his workscalled Tantraloka. It is clearly evident, throughnumerous historical testimonies that this workwas composed in the period between the endof 10th and beginning of 11th centuries A.D.Therefore his statement can prove thatMatsendra Nath was living some time prior tohim, which is before the end of the tenthcentury.

rgrua granthi-bilva-kra yojlamtna-vitna-vtti |kalombhita bhyapathe cakra stn me samacchanda-vibhu prasanna ||1|7||(Tantrloka 1.7 by Abhinava-Gupta)

Are Luipa and Matsyendra Nath weresame persons?


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Theideathat

Matsyendra Nath and Vajrayani MahasiddhaLuipa were the same persons, was introducedfor the first time by the Doctor Baggchi in hisbook Kaulajnaniraya of the School ofMatsyendra Nath. Later it was supported bythe Doctor Kalyani Malik in her book SSP &OWNS. The both authors based theirassumptions on the proposal that Luipa andMatsendra Nath were accepted as the first(Adi) acharyas of their traditions, one ofTibetan, and other of Indian lineages of theMahasiddha yogis; as such they can be easilyaccepted as being the same persons. Anotherargument presented by the both researchers,was that name Matsyendra is nothing else, butthe corrupted form of word Matsntrda (theeater of inner parts of fishes or one who eatsintestines of fishes), which is one oftranslations of different Tibetan spellings ofname Luipa into Sanskrit. This appears asrather logical, because the pronunciation ofMatsntrda sounds more near to Matsyendrathan to Mina Natha. And if we assume thatname Matsyendra Nath was derived from Mina


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Nath, then it should be pronounced as MatsyaNath or Maccha Nath without the endingendra. There few more arguments presentedby these researchers in support of theirtheory, one of which is that the both yogisappearing on paintings as being surroundedby fishes.

The opinion expressed by these two eminentscholars gained popularity and becameaccepted by many others researchers astrustworthy. Although I highly respect theircontribution to the field of the studies aboutNathism, here I cant agree with their point ofview. It seems that at the time when both ofthem were preparing their publications, theywere unable to access the full text ofCaturati-siddha-pravitti, because it waspublished as the one complete text as late asin 1979 A.D., much later after their workscame to light. Before the full text of CSPbecame available in the printed form, therewas existing lot of uncertainty about thisquestion, which was settled by its publication.After going through the full text of the book itbecome obvious that both yogis were twoentirely different personalities and havenothing in common excluding their relations tofishes. The fact that story of Luipa stand onfirst place in Caturati-siddha-pravitti doesntmean that he was the first of Mahasiddhas andtherefore Adi Siddha. After reading the book,it becomes obvious that 84 stories ofCaturati-siddha-pravitti doesn't appear inthe chronological order, and it is rather Sarahathen Luipa, who often recognized as being thefirst amongst Mahasiddhas.

Besides in the verse 151 of Nath Siddho kiBani, the Natha Siddha Charpat Nath


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addresses to Luipa as his disciple: carpakahai, sunau re Lo. Because the NathaTradition places Charpat Nath amongst thedisciples either of Matsyendra Nath or GuruGoraksh Nath, this also can be accepted asthe valid testimony.

Are Minanath and Matsyendranath weretwo different persons?

Another popular misconception prevailsaround the question: Were Mina-pa andMatsyendra Nath two different individuals, orthese are only two different names of oneperson. There is nothing impossible that therecould be two yogis with the names Minapa andMatsyendra Nath, which were differentindividuals and lived at different periods oftime. In the Natha Sampradaya many times ithappening that the names of yogis arerepeated again and again in course of time,and there is not exist any rule not allowingthis happen. But after analyzing the contextsin which these two names appear in thevarious texts, it appears clearly that it wasone and the same person.

In accordance with the tradition accepted bythe Natha yogis, there are only three personsin the lineage of transition: Adi Nath,Matsyendra Nath, Goraksh Nath. In this lightall other variants of Mastseyndra Naths namecan be accepted as being his name. However,the yogi Svaatmarama in his book Haha YogaPradpik, gives the list of the great siddhas,in accordance with which Goraksh Nth isplaced as the fifth or sixth in the spiritualdescent from Matsyendra and as the directdisciple of Mna:


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r-dintha-matsyendra-varnanda-bhairav |caurag-mna-goraka-virpka-bileay ||5||HYP 1.5

This verse could lead to conclusion thatMatsyendra and Mna were two differentindividuals and that Gorakhnth lived morethan a hundred years after Matsyendra, butthe list of HYP by any means cant be acceptedas chronological.

In accordance with some variations of thepopular story of Matsendra Naths life, Minapawas the name of Matsendra Naths son, bornfrom queen of Triya Rajya, but this point alsocant be accepted, because Mina-pa is onlydifferent interpretation of the same name.Moreover, the different versions of legendabout his life mention the different names ofhis son (sons). Names of Minapa or Mina-Nathand Macchendra or Matsyendranath arevirtually the same, because both Matsya andMna in Sanskrit meaning fish, and Maccha isnothing else but form which word Matsyatakes after being translated into Prakrit.Second part of the word endra, is wordindra, which after transformation inaccordance with rule of sandhi, has acceptedthis form, used simply as adding to the name,in sense of the best, excellent, the first, thechief, what is common practice in Hindi andSanskrit names. Besides, in Bengal, MatsyedraNath is traditionally recognized under nameMina Nath. Still, in accordance withG.W.Briggs, in Nepal there exists traditionwhere they were accepted as the two differentpersons.

Matseyndra Nath in the Bengali Tradition


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In Bengal, there exist two books written in theBengali language, which having differentnames, but narrating about same events andhave the similar linre of narration. One ofthem composed by Shyama-das called Mna-cetan (The awakening of Mina), and othercomposed by Shaikh Faijulla Gorakh vijaya(The Victory of Goraka). The both authorsbased their narrations on the local folklore ofBengal and ballads sung by the wonderingminstrels. The Doctor Sukumar Sen haspresented the summary of the story in hisbook called Bagl Shityera itihs (History ofthe Bengali literature). Later, DoctorH.P.Dvivedi partly reproduced it in his bookafter translating it into Hindi. Also, somefragments from this book were presented byD.Kalyani Malik in her work SSP & OWNY. Summary of 'The Victory of Goraksha'

Adya (primordial male principle) and Ady(primordial female principle) were two ancientGods who have started creation. Afterwardsfour Siddhas were born, after them young girlwas born, whose name was Gaur. Beingordered by Adya, iva married her anddescended on the Earth. The names of thosefour Siddhas were Mn Nth, Gorak Nath,Hip (Jalandhar Nath) and Knhap. Fromthe time they were created, they becameabsorbed in the yoga practice and weresustaining merely on air. Goraksh Nath was inservice of Mn Nth and Kanpha Nath was thepeople of of Hip.

Amar Katha (Bengali version)

One day Gaur saw the garland of human


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sculls on the ivas neck, and asked him whyhe was wearing them. He answered that inreality all those skulls belonged her, in herprevious lives. Gaur became shocked to learnit. She asked iva, what were the reasonsduty which she has to die again and again, buthe was immortal. iva answered her, that thiskind of knowledge was secret, and not for earsof every body. He told her that before he willanswer they should go in the middle of theKir Samudra (the Ocean of Milk) on a boat,and then discuss it there. When they havereached the middle of the Kir Samudra, atthe same time Mn Nth, who has acceptedthe form of a huge fish, has reached undertheir boat and stopped below it.

Listening, listening Devi gone to sleep andMn-nth was saying yes, listening all time, sothat iva complete narration. When Devibecame awakened by the sound of his voice,she told that she didnt listened the GreatKnowledge, iva was narrating. When ivahas applied his yogic sight to find who wassaying, yes I am listening, he has found thatit was Mn Nth, sitting under the boat. Hebecame angry and cursed him by saying thatonce day will come when he would forget theGreat Knowledge, because it was acquired bythe unfair means. Tests

After this, Adi Guru iva has gone to KailashMountain and started live there. Gaur wasrepeatedly asking him to arrange themarriages of Siddhas, so that they can bringforth progeny. iva answered her that Siddhascant be affected by lust. Gaur has told that itis impossible that human body can be free


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from the sensual desires, and if iva wouldgive his order, she will test all of them. Beingpersuaded by her, iva allowed her to do this.

The four Siddhas were performing theirpenances in four quarters: Hiph went tothe East, Knph was in the South, in Gorakshwas in the West and Mn-nth in the North. Togive Gaur an opportunity to perform her test,iva has invited the four Great Siddhas to hisplace. When they came, Gaur after takingform of Bhuvan Mohin (the seducer of theworld) served them food. All four Siddhasbecame charmed by her form in differentways: Mn-nth thought in his mind that if hewill get such beautiful women, he would spenda night with her. Devi curst him that he wouldforget his Great Knowledge and in CountryKadli would spent nights enamored bycompany of sixteen hundred beautiful femaleattendants. Hiph thought that for the sightof such beautiful women he would becomeeven street sweeper, and as result he gotcurse that he would become sweeper in thehouse of queen Mayanmat. The disciple ofHiph, Siddha Gbhr, thought that if hewould get such a woman, then even if his footand legs would be cut away it is not bigmatter. As result of his thoughts, he wascursed that his stepmother would put him indisgrace, as result of which his legs and legswould be cut away. Knph thought in hismind that for getting such a woman evensacrifice of life is not too mach. Becouse ofthis, Devi cursed him by saying that aftergoing in Turmn country he would becamehuk? Goraksh thought that if such womenwould be his mother, he would be happy sit inher laps and drink milk from her breast.Amongst other Siddhas, Goraksh Nath alone


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has passed the test, and instead of curse, hegot a blessing as reward, but Devi not beingsatisfied on this, determined in her mind tomake more severe tests for him in future.

After tests were completed, all Siddhas startedfor the places they were assigned to go. OnlyGoraksh Nath remained free. Once when hewas sitting under Banyan tree absorbed indeep meditation, Dev applied all her means tobring him down from his state of yoga, but hepassed through all her attempts till theyended. Other day, she lay naked on his way,pretending that she was sleeping, but suchher state not created any wrong thoughts inthe mind of Goraksh, and he covered hernakedness with a big leave from a fig tree.Then she has accepted the form of fly andentered in his stomach trying to cause pain tohim. Goraksh Nath has stopped his breathing,and she became badly harassed by it. After allthese tests, Dev accepted her terrible formand started killing countless human beings.Being ordered by iva, Goraksh delivered Devfrom her state, and established a statue onher place. The legends say that it is the samestatue, which worshiped in Calcutta in the Kalitemple. After all these tests, Dev beingpleased by him, blessed him by granting himbonus to get most beautiful woman everexisted. To fulfill her blessing the Lord iva byhis power of his Yoga-Maya (illusion), createdyoung woman, who determinedly acceptedGoraksh Nath as her husband. Goraksh aftercoming in her house became child of sixmonth old and started annoyingly cryingdemanding milk. After short time, the girlbecame greatly absent by the situation.Goraksh Nath told her that it is impossible forhim to be affected by a sensual desire, but if


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she would wash his kaupn or karpa (loincloth) and drink water, which remains after it,she will get a child. She did in accordance withhas advice, washed his karpa and drunkenwater left after it. Some time later, son wasborn to her, which was named Karpa Nth.

Goraksh Nath and Knph

One day, Goraksh Nath was sitting underBanyan tree absorbed in Samadhi. Knphwas flying through sky to somewhere, and hisshadow felt on Goraksh Nath. When GorakshNath noticed it, he turned his face up andafter seeing him, became angry. He took hiskhau (wooden shoes) and through it atKnph, who was caught by it and draggeddown to the place Goraksh Nath was sitting.In such way, he was punished for carelesslyflying over his head.

Being disappointed by happened, Knhaptold him with sarcasm, If you have become sogreat Siddha, then why you do not knowwhere your guru is? He is now in the countryof Kadl, engaged with women, after he forgetall his Mah-Jn (the Great Knowledge). Hispowers became extinguished now, and after Ihave made an enquiry in the office ofYamarja (the God of Death), I came to knowthat his span of life is only three days more. Ifyou such a great Siddha Yogi, then go andsave him from this misfortune and disgrace.

Goraksh Nath answered to him, You aregiving me instructions what I should do, butdid you have any news about your guru? Hewas buried under ground by the son of wisequeen Mayanmat, Raja Gopcand.


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Rescuing the Guru

In such way, both yogis came to know aboutthe situations in which their gurus were, andstarted for rescuing them. First of all GorakshNath gone to office of Yamarja and madethere arrangements for prolonging the lifeterm of his guru. Then he returned to thesame tree, and after taking with him twodisciples, Lag and Mahlag, he entered intoKadal forest for rescuing his guru. Yogis werenot allowed to enter in Kadal country;therefore, he disguised himself as Brahmin. Byseeing him, people were making himobeisance, thinking him to be Brahmin, and inresponse he has to give bless them incustomary manner. However, in reality, thoseblessings were not blessings of ordinaryBrahmin, but of the Great Siddha, whichGoraksh Nath was, therefore they were havingextraordinary power. All those whom heblessed, even the worst of sinners, at oncewere becoming free from all their sins andretribution for them. On seeing this, GorakshNath understood that accepting theappearance of a Brahmin was not good forhim, therefore he returned to his normalappearence of a yogi. He sat under Banyantree situated on the bank of some lake atKadal country, and entered in samadhi. Alocal woman came there and after seeing him,became charmed by his look. From her hecame to know that his guru Mn-nth wasspending his time in the company of twoqueens Mangal and Kamal by name,surrounded by sixteen hundred femaleattendants. Yogis were not allowed to enterinto the palace under the treat of the deathpenalty, and only female dancers werepermitted to access the premises of Mn-nth.


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For delivering his guru, Goraksh Nath hasdisguised himself as a female dancer, butqueens Mangal and Kamal being informedby a female doorkeeper that he was notproper female, prevented him from entering inthe residence of Mn Nth. At last, GorakshNath has started make sound with his drumfrom behind the door. On listening the sound,Mn-nth called for the person who wasmaking it. Being brought in front of him,Goraksh Nath by sounding of his drum, hasmade him recollected him his past andrestored his Mah-Jna (the GreatKnowledge); after listening it, Mn Nth hasremembered who he actually was before. Onseeing him preparing to go, the queensdesiring to avoid this, brought in front of himhis son Bindu Nath, and attempted to play onhis filings, trying to change his mind. GorakshNath responded on it by making Bindu Nathdead and then bringing him back to the life,and Mn-nth once more became determinedto go. Queens of Kadal, attempted to createconspiracy to kill Goraksh Nath, but after itfelt, they were curst by him and both becamebats. At last, Goraksh Nath with his guru andBindu-Nath returned to Vijay Nagar.

The Life story of Guru Mna-p.

This is the Vajrayana version of the life storyof Matseyndra Nath, the story number 8 inCaturati-siddha-pravitti or 'The Life Storiesof the Eighty Four Siddhas' by Abhaya Datta.This is one of the oldest written records aboutthe life of Matsyendra Nath. The text below isthe translation from Hindi made by Yoga Nath.

Guru Minapa was born in the Eastern Indiaand was a fisherman by caste. His Guru was


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Mahadeva (Shiva), who blessed him withmundane siddhis (powers).

At some distance from Kamarupa (modernAssam), there was an ocean, Ita by name(modern Bengal Bay). Fishermen who livedthere, were daily catching the fishes from theocean, and selling it on local market. One day,one of them fitted a hook into the net made ofcotton, fixed a peace of meat on it and castthe net into the ocean. A very huge fish hasentered into it. When he tried to draw it out ofthe ocean, he was not able to do it; insteadthe fish dragged him deep into water, until hefinally sunk down. Then the fish swallowedhim, but miraculously he, protected by his(good) karma, didnt die.

About the same time, Uma Devi asked fromMahadeva (Shiva) to narrate her lesson ofDharma, on what he answered that his


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teaching was very secret, and not for eachand every body, You make a house deep intothe ocean (where nobody will listen us), then Iwill initiate you there, he told her. Uma Devidid this, and after they both reached there,Shiva started narrating his lesson. While hewas speaking, the fish (the same fish thatswallowed the fisherman) came there andstopped right under the house (they weresitting in). Shiva not finished his lesson yet,but Uma became overpowered by sleep. Shivawas narrating and from time to time he wasasking her, Do you understand what I amsaying? And it was the fisherman, who whilelistening (from the stomach of the fish), wasanswering, Yes, I understand.

When Mahadeva completed his lesson ofDharma, Uma Devi awakened from her sleep,and started to say, Now you shall continue.

Mahadeva answered, I had finished thelesson, what else you want to know?

On what Uma has told, I was listening tillsome moment, but later I gone into sleep anddidnt listen duty this.

Puzzled Mahadeva has asked her, Then whowas saying, Yes I am understood?

Uma answered, No, it was not me.

When Mahadeva has applied his yogic vision,he has found that the a man who was into thestomach of the fish under the house, theywere sitting in, listened all the Teaching, frombeginning till end. He thought, Now he hasbecome my disciple. But he will have to wait,till his time has come. So he ordered to


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fisherman to practice sadhana he has learned(without taking him out of the fish), anddeclared him as accepted as his disciple. Fortwelve long ears the fisherman was practicinghis sadhana, sitting inside the fish.

One day at the place called Shree Tapri, otherfisherman has caught that big fish anddragged it out of the water. After seeing its(unusual) heaviness, he thought that it mighthave in its stomach some gold or silver. Withpurpose to take it out, he cut her belly, andsaw a man sitting there. Being shocked bythis, the fisherman asked him, Who you are?And was answered, I am also was afisherman like you are. At the time of theruling of the King Amuk, this fish dragged meinto the ocean and swallowed afterwards.

When people (gathered to see him), calculatedthe time, elapsed since that moment, theyfound that twelve ears have passed by. Allpeople were greatly astonished to see thiswonderful event. Since that moment, hebecame famous under the name Minapa.Afterwards, the people started praise him, andwhen he at once started dancing, his feetwere entering deep into the earth, like if itwas wet. When he continued his dance on thebig stone, his feet also were entering deepinto it, as if it was wet and soft mud. Allaround were amazed to see this miracle. Onseeing their astonishment, Minapa hasuttered: Because of previously accumulated goodkarmaAnd as the power of chanting the SacredMantraI have got these wonderful qualities, Hey ho,


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my Mind Jewel!'

Later he spent five hundred ears performingvarious deeds for the uplifting of thehumanity. Minapa, Vajrapada and Achintapa(Achintya), these are three names underwhich he became famous in different places.At first he got mundane Siddhis (supernaturalpowers), but later he entered the True Pathand became dissolved into the Eternal Void.

Comment

The story of the fisherman Minapa is the niceillustration what can man reach, if he leftalone for long period of time, without anydisturbances, and if he initiated into thepowerful techniques of meditation. Actuallyevery body can reach such extraordinaryprogress on the Yoga Path, if he left alonewithout any disturbance, and all possible kindof activities he may indulge in, are cast away.Then only one can turn own sight from theoutside world towards the inner reality, andfirst become aware of its existence, and thenbecome established there permanently. Suchcondition of the mental quietness even todaysome spiritual aspirants try to approach bygoing into retreats. But as a rule, in the dailyreality of the modern life, we neither haveenough time, nor can we go out of the circleof our daily routine. We have no time to stopand sit down, and even if we try to meditate,still mind continues to larking somewhereelse. It is happening because hobbit of theendless, restless activity has became deeplyrooted into our nature, has became its naturalpart. This is the main reason, why the Minapaof the modern days doesnt appear on thetodays horizon. To make meditation


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successful it must be continuous andinterrupted for long, long time and this can beaccomplished only if God willing let it happen.Today we have on our disposal all possibletechniques of meditation, which previouslywere kept highly secret, were dispersed indifferent places all over the earth, and weretaught only to initiate. But in spite of all thisapparent abundance and diversity, the peopletoday have to attend so many things at oncethat they simply have no time to stop and sitdevotionally for while.

Rato Matsyendranath foto report

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Matsyendra Nath - The Great Natha Siddhas

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Transcript of Matsyendra Nath - The Great Natha Siddhas