Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati

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

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Jālandharnāth was also known as Jalandharipā or Hādipà. One opinion is that he was the king of Jālandhar, and another is that he was born in Sind. He was by caste a Sudra and learnt Yoga at Uddiyana, the great centre of Buddhist tantrikism and magic. We have already described the great powers of Hãdipā. Jalandhar was praised in sixteen different books written by his follower Mánsingh, the ruler of Jodhpore. In the literature of the Siddhas, Jālandhar is known as Vicharnāth and Gopichandra, his disciple, as Sțingāripāva. In the Siddhanta Vakya we find some questions and answers between Jālandhar and Gopichandra in which the ideal of Nātha cult is described. Jālandhar is a disciple of Gorakhnāth and the guru of Gopichandra, so we may place him in the eleventh century.
Jnâneśvar has been dealt with before, and it is sufficient to mention here that he was a Mahārastra saint and his books Jininesvari and Yogi-sampradayaviskrti have earned the fame he deserves. Jñănesvar belonged to the thirteenth century and we have given our reasons when discussing the date of Gorakhnäth.
We shall now deal with a Yogi of modern times. He is Yogīrāj Sree Gambhirnāthji who passed away not so long ago in 1917 A.D. He was initiated by a Mohant of Gorakhpore Temple. Gainbhirnāth was a non-Bengali, yet he had about six hundred Bengali disciples. Gambhirnāth was in charge of the Gorakhpore Temple, but he never accepted the Mohant's post, which was offered to him. The character of this saint was spotless, and he was well-known for his charities at Kumbha Melas and elsewhere. In Gorakhpore a small but beautiful temple of white marble with a life-size image of the once handsome Gambhirnāth done in white marble too, has been erected by his Bengali followers. Santinath and Nivrittināth, two of his Bengali disciples, still reside in the temple grounds and carry on their studies of religious books. Thus the cult which originated with Matsyendra and Gorakhnāth, is still a living source of inspiration to many. Matsyendranath, Minanāth and Luipa
Are they Identical ? The names of the gurus and their sishyas (i. e. preceptors and their disciples ), as found in the different lists, are often confusing. In the history of the 84 Siddhas as found from