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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
rguru
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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