Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati

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

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Tibetan sources, we find the mention of practically all the important Natha gurus. Matsyendra is often called Minanath and even Luipă. Luipa belonged to the East and was in the service of king Dharmapal of the ninth century, and was the author of five books. By another version he was an employee of the king of Uddiyana, which Bagchi has proved to be the same as Swat Valley in the N. W. Frontier of India. But how could Luipa belong to the East and at the same time be employed in the N. W. and compose verses in Bengali ? It is well-known that Yogis in ancient times travelled on foot all over India, which might explain the position. On the other hand, the mystic cult with which his name was associated, was in vogue in distant parts of India. So Luipä's name was associated both with Uddiyana and Bengal. The name Luipa in Tibetan means the intestine of a fish. According to Bengali legends Matsyendra was found in the womb of a fish. Tibetan pictures show that he was fond of eating the entrails of fish and was surrounded by fish. Shastri in a Bengali novel has given a vivid description of Luipa's fondness for the entrails which were supplied by a king of Bengal, who was Luipa's disciple.
Luipa is considered to be the Adiguru or first guru by the Tibetans; while Matsyendra is looked upon as such by Indians. So, we may conclude that Luipa and Matsyendra both looked upon as Adigurus and both having some connection with fish, are identical persons.
The word Mina also means fish, and in the colophons of Kaula-jana-Nirnaya we find the name of Minanath once and at the end, that of Matsyendranath. Bagchi has concluded from other MSS. that they are identical persons, the one name being a synonym of the other, and they are not related as father and son, as may be supposed from the above colophons.
The river Bramhaputra in Assam is known as 'Lohit' because of its red water. Matsyendra who preached in Kamarupa, may have been known as 'Lohipada ' i. e., belonging to Lohit. Luipa was probably the shorter form of 'Lohipada'. In Bengal a small fish-catching contrivance made of cane is known as Lui, which may also account for the name Luipa as the 'catcher of fish with a lui'. In the