Illustrated manuscript depiction of Gorakhnath under a tree outside his hut. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Folio from Hindi MS 371 kept in the Wellcome Library)
Nov 21, 2024 15:30 IST First published on: Nov 21, 2024 at 15:30 IST
Now comes news from one of the biggest Hindi dailies that a case of impersonation and cheating under section 319 (1) of the penal code has been slapped against three Muslim men from the village of Atarsanwa in Ghazipur district. The SHO told the media that the men were singers and, dressed in saffron robes of jogis, had long been earning a living by singing Gorakhpanthi bhajans as they wandered from village to village. The men claimed to be Gorakhpanthi jogis, saying this was an ancestral vocation. But the villagers, led by a powerful BJP leader, were adamant that they could not be yogis or jogis, which most now claim is a Sanatani sect. The singers were caught and subjected to a “hard” quizzing, with the police being told that they were impersonators looking to make money by acting as Gorakhpanthi yogis. The three were then presented in the court of the SDM area, and have been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
How do we judge who is a real Gorakhpanthi yogi?
Most people who participate in Yoga Day events are given to understand that yoga is an ancient Hindu practice created by a sage named Patanjali and that it helps blend body and mind and soul and leads to perfect peace within. But in its long history, yoga has undergone many mutations and the form that is practised today was shaped out of Patanjali’s version after the 11th century, following a rebranding by one Raja Matsyendranath (known in folklore as Raja Machhinder). The Raja, it is said, was a great yogi and alchemist who renounced his kingdom and Vedic traditions, opting for the life of a wandering sadhu. Such heresy and diversity have always been part of India’s sectarian landscape and interesting things happen when religious thoughts and practices meet and mutate. Under Matsyendranath, there was a new bridge between the Tantric Shaivite rituals (the Kaul tradition) and Tantra-inspired Buddhism. The result was the Nath Siddha tradition.
This tradition created by Guru Matsyendranath was further fine-tuned by his prime disciple Gorakshanath, better known as Guru Gorakhnath. Gorakhnath was a great traveller and is believed to have travelled to Joshimath in Uttarakhand, one of the great centres of Sanatan Dharma founded by Adi Shankara. As a great unifier of religions and breaker of caste taboos, Guru Gorakh also created a centre for Gorakhpanthis in Joshimath. His dhooni (sacred flame) is still kept alive by his many followers, local and as well as bands of Gorakhpanthi pilgrims.
The current narrative about Gorakhnath being a protector of cows leaves out much of this story, as well as his aesthetic side as a creator of verses and adroit player of percussion and stringed instruments. According to the Gorakshanath Stotra, the name Gorakhnath means a man who is virtuous (ga), beautiful (ra) in form and with an eternal soul (kha).
When the British arrived in India, they accepted many of the prevalent biases in mainstream Hinduism against heretic sects like the Gorakh Panth. The image of a yogi on a bed of nails and pictures of naked fakirs and sadhus brandishing tridents and swords became symbols of a degenerate and dangerous tribe. This was not the Nath Siddha cadre that Guru Gorakhnath had raised. The Guru wished for the sect to be free from the cloying and degenerated form of bhakti that the Brahmanical clergy had fattened itself on, while also defying divisions based on caste, creed and gender. Gorakhnath’s was a pure unwavering rationalism of the mind (“Gorakh tyago bhog, bhagayi bhakti, jagayo jog”). He came down hard on the use of foul language and inducted both Hindus and Muslims (mostly weavers) into the sect, along with women.
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According to the scholar Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, in time, as sectarian and political polarisation grew, some Hindu disciples tried to induct Hindu gods and goddesses into the pantheon of the sect that hitherto only worshipped Adi Nath (a form of Shiva). At that point, the Gorakhpanthis from lower castes opted for Islam, but continued to call themselves Nathpanthi jogis. Up until the 1921 census, there were 6,29,978 listed Hindu yogis, 31,158 Muslim jogis and 1,41,132 Hindu fakirs all associated with the Nath Panth.
By the 14th century, the Nath jogis had acquired military muscle and with that Mutt building and politicisation of the Mahant as the Head also gained ground. Jogis in Gujarat had reportedly become so aggressive that they would forcibly convert men by tearing off their ear lobes. In the 16th century, there were violent clashes between them and the Sikhs. Kabir scoffs at these tendencies for violence driven by greed: “Brothers, never seen a yoga such as this, stalking the land, full of idiocy/ When did Narad Muni fire a gun or (Ved)Vyas lob a bomb like them?/ In the name of asceticism, let not these duffers create divisions and give a bad name to jogis! (Aisa jog na dekha bhai, bhool firai liye gafilai/ Narad kab bandook chalava? Vyas dev kab bomb bajava?/ Karain larai mati ke manda …/ Bhaye virakt lobh man thanaa…”[Bijak])
Prescient words from the poet!
The writer is former chairperson, Prasar Bharati
