Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati

Author(s): Kalyani Mallik
Publisher: Poona Oriental Book House Poona

Page 27

king Gopichandra. In Western India songs of Bhartṛhari are as widely sung as those of Gopichandra in Bengal.
Bhartṛhari was initiated by Jalandhari, who according to the tradition of the Yogis, was the prince of Hastinapur in Northern India. The same guru Jalandhari is known in Bengal as Hādipā, the menial and the miracle worker in the capital of Maynamati, who was the mother of Gopichandra. Later on Hadipā, became also the guru of king Gopichandra. Cauranginath, another Natha Yogi, initiated by Matsyendranath, was the son of king Devapāla of the Pāla Dynasty of Bengal.
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That Gorakhnath and other Natha Gurus were not mythical persons can be proved from Kabir's verses. Kabir was a well-known Sant poet (A Sant is one who has realised the Only Reality), philosopher and preacher of the sixteenth century. He highly praised Sree Gorakhnath, Bhartṛhari and Gopichand, United with the Universal Mind they revel", said he. Kabir, Kamal and Dadu among the Sant poets were known as Nirgunis as they worshipped the nirguna or the supreme aspect of God which is beyond the pale of attributes. But they are indebted to the Natha Yogis for certain practices of Yoga, e. g., Śabda Yoga, Shad-chakras etc., and they have avowed their indebtedness to the Yogis. The terminology used by both these sects as found in Hindi poetry, is remarkably alike. But the Nätha cult, like many other cults in India, lost its popularity in time, and is now confined to a small esoteric group of worshippers. While it is found that verses by the Sant poets are published by different compilers, we rarely find the verses and books written by the Natha Yogis being published. Scholars like Grierson, Levi, Tucci, Grunwedel, Briggs etc. have studied the legendary and partly the historical aspects of the Natha School but not much of their writings. Shastri, Kaviraj, Bagchi, Sahidullah, Singh and some other scholars have tried to secure MSS. and study the underlying philosophy. The language used in these MSS. is often a mixture of languages, hence difficult to comprehend. Often the authorship of the same book is contested, therefore, it is difficult to ascertain the real author. But numerous books and MSS., exclusively on the Natha cult, are found in well-known libraries and in possession of some Natha Yogis who are loathe to part with