Nath Renunciatory Traditions in Story and History

Nath may be simply defined as "master" and the Naths as "'Masters' (of yogic powers)" (Vaudeville 1974, 85). Other sources report various complex etymologies deriving from possible syllabic deconstructions of the word nath , producing meanings such as "form of bliss established in three worlds" or "he who removes ignorance of Brahm and is absorbed in truth-consciousness-bliss" (Lalas 1962–78).^[8] A yogi is an adept, a practitioner of yoga—deriving from a Sanskrit root meaning "yoke," carrying implications of self-discipline as well as union. Yoga

[6] Classifications and descriptions of various and variously organized groups of Nath renouncers are available elsewhere (Briggs 1973; Dvivedi 1981; Oman 1905, 168–86; Sinha and Saraswati 1978, 113–14; Tripathi 1978, 71–74); Nath traditions, rather than monastic organization, are my focus here.

[7] For two interesting examples see Bradford 1985, a discussion of how the South Indian Lingayat caste maintains its renouncer identity through historical and social changes; and Bouillier 1979, an ethnographic study of a renouncer caste in Nepal. On relatively recent fieldwork with other North Indian Jogi performers see Champion 1989; Henry 1988; Lapoint 1978. That a number of Jogi groups are nominally Muslim is a phenomenon well worth investigating, but I lack data and space to do it justice here.

[8] For other definitions and etymologies of Nath see also Dvivedi 1981, 3; Singh 1937, 1; Upadhyay 1976, 1–6.

is one of the six darsanas or major classical philosophical systems known in Indian thought.^[9] But in relation to Nath traditions it refers particularly to various physical and meditative techniques for selfrealization. ^[10]

Most scholars treat the terms Nath and yogi as interchangeable when dealing with the sect and its teachings (for example Vaudeville 1974, 85–86).^[11] Many, for the sake of clarity, settle upon one or the other to use when speaking of that tradition.^[12] The terms Nath and yogi are far from exhausting the descriptive designations applied to Naths. Briggs discusses "Gorakhnathi," "Darsani," "Kanphata," and "Natha"—all categorizations with identical or overlapping references that at times designate members of the sect(s) with which he is concerned (Briggs 1973, 1 2). Whereas the first in the series refers to the founding guru, the second two highlight the most visible and distinctive emblem of the group—their large earrings (darsani ) worn in split ears—the descriptive meaning of kanphata .^[13]

The origins of Nathism dissolve in the mists of a presumed selective merging of Buddhist and Hindu tantra, Shaivite asceticism, and yoga philosophy and practice that took place somewhere in the tenth or eleventh century (Briggs 1973; Ghurye 1964; Schomer 1987). A shadowy but imposing figure looming in those mists is Gorakh Nath—who probably lived but whose biography is totally overlaid with myth and magic.^[14] Although some locate Gorakh's birthplace in northwestern India (Sen 1954,74; Singh 1937, 22) and his lore certainly flourished in Punjab, merging with indigenous tales much as it has done in Rajasthan, most cultural historians agree that the real Gorakh came from the east. Briggs, who mustered most of the sources available in his time in admirably systematic fashion, concludes that "Gorakhnath lived not later than A.D. 1200, probably early in the 11th

[9] Sources for yoga as philosophy include Dasgupta 1924, 1974; Woods 1972; Raju 1985, 336–76.

[10] See Eliade 1973; Varenne 1976; Sinh 1975.

[11] Yogi, of course, may and often does have myriad associations unconnected with Naths.

[12] Ghurye uses "jogi" (Ghurye 1964, 114–40) and Oman "yogi" (Oman 1905, 168); Dasgupta prefers Nath (Dasgupta 1969, 191–210).

[13] I follow Dvivedi 1981 and Sundardas 1965 in spelling the sect name; others use kaphata (Briggs 1973) or kanphata (Ghurye 1964).

[14] For a full hagiography of Gorakh Nath (also Gorakhnath; Goraksanath) in simple Hindi see Gautam 1986; see also Briggs 1973, 179–207; Dikshit n.d.; Pandey 1980; Sen 1960, 42–54.

century, and that he came originally from Eastern Bengal" (Briggs 1973, 250; see also Dvivedi 1981, 96–97).

Sukumar Sen characterizes the Nath cult as "an esoteric yoga cult based on austere self-negation and complete control over the vital, mental and emotional functions" (Sen 196O,42). But as Nath teachings spread within popular Hinduism, both their content and mode of transmission changed. From secret instructions imparted by guru adept to select disciple, Nath ideas passed into folklore. There, these teachings are strongly associated with the "perfection of the body" (kaya siddhi ) and the quest for immortality (Eliade 1973; Maheshwari 1980, 101).^[15]

There exist numerous and conflicting stories of the origins and guru-disciple lineages of the early Nath gurus. One popular version with which Madhu Nath's tales coincide is that Gorakh was a disciple of Machhindar Nath who obtained his knowledge directly from Shiva (known as the Adi-Nath or original Nath), although he did it by trickery.^[16] This association of the founding Nath guru with a wily coopting of divine power fits well with the general character of most Nath gurus in popular lore. In part 4 of Madhu Nath's Gopi Chand we see Gorakh playing all kinds of tricks on his own guru, Machhindar himself. Although he acts thus for the guru's good, such behavior nonetheless runs counter to ordinary Hindu piety that prescribes nothing but diligent obedience in the disciple role. Most striking of all in the Gopi Chand tale, Gopi Chand and Bharthari obtain immortality only through Gorakh's devious tricking of Gopi Chand's angry guru Jalindar.^[17]

There exist texts, including technical manuals of esoteric yogic practice in Sanskrit and the vernaculars, whose authorship is attributed to Gorakh Nath himself, and to others closely associated with his teachings.^[18] The connection between Gorakh the folk trickster

[15] Some expounders of Nathism as philosophy explicitly bar such vulgar physical aspirations (Singh 1937, 28).

[16] For summary versions of the story of Machhindar Nath (also Macchendranath, Minanath; Matsyendranath) see Bhattacharyya 1982, 285; Mahapatra 1972, 82–83; Sen 1960, 43–44.

[17] Jalandhar.

[18] For extensive catalogs and discussions of literary works attributed to Gorakh Nath and his disciples see Briggs 1973, 251–57; Singh 1937, 35–39; Upadhyay 1976, 134–79. An English translation of one important text is Sinh 1975. For the Goraksa Samhita in Sanskrit verse with a simple Hindi explanation see Gautam 1974.

hero and Gorakh the author of esoteric yoga manuals may seem slim but has relevance for an understanding of the folk traditions. The popular reputation of Nath yogis is of persons who have benefited, mysteriously but enormously, from their secret knowledge of just such techniques. If the epic texts presented in this volume make little or no reference to specific techniques, they nevertheless assume their results: magical powers and physical immortality.

Madhu's texts posit some crude but handy stereotypes for what a yogi is and does. These tales reveal two kinds of yogis: the powerful, well-known few and the powerless, nameless many. Thus, the yogis' world can seem as hierarchical as that of householders, with rank based not on birth or wealth but on ascetic prowess. Ordinary yogis, if they are described at all, are often portrayed in most unflattering ways (Gopi Chand parts 1 and 3). A polite way for a householder to greet a yogi is to tell him he doesn't look like just any old yogi.

What all yogis have in common is a lifestyle outside the domestic and social realms of marriage, work, and caste and a dedication to meditation or divine recitation. Thus all yogis sit by a campfire (dhuni )—understood as an ascetic act in a tropical climate—with lowered eyelids (palak lagaya ) and repeat divine names (samaran ). When ordered by the guru to do so, they go into villages, towns, or castles and beg for alms (bhiksa mangna ). The powerful among them—Jalindar, Machhindar, Gorakh, Kanni Pavji,^[19] Charpat, and Hada, whose names and characters (except for Hada) are part of wider Nath traditions—possess the capacity to perform miracles. They can bring the dead to life and turn rocks to precious metals. Madhu's audience loves it when Charpat Nath whacks a stone with his tongs and it glitters as pure gold, or when Jalindar casually restores flesh and breath to a crumbling heap of bones.

An obvious cause-and-effect relation exists between the lifestyle and miraculous capacities of yogis. The primary conditions for, if not the sole sources of, yogis' miraculous powers are their ascetic practices or ardor (lapas ), often simply construed as unbroken meditation by the campfire. The ability to pursue such activity singlemindedly is in turn grounded in detachment from the worldly snares of women and wealth. If the hundreds of nameless, faceless, sheeplike disciples have not attained such powers, the tale suggests—if only obliquely—that

[19] Kanhupa, Krisnapad, or Kanpha.

it is because they have not fully overcome the physical and mental snares that bind mortals to an illusory world.

In physical appearance the yogis of Madhu Nath's tales look very much like members of the Nath sect described in earlier ethnological accounts (Ghurye 1964, 134; Risley 1891; Rose 1914). Their emblems of identity include a begging bowl (khappar ), a deer-horn instrument (singi nad ), a "sacred thread" made of black wool (seli ), iron tongs (chimta ), wooden sandals (pavari ), a body smeared with sacred ash (bhabhut ), and thick crystal earrings (darsani; mudra ). The earrings are especially important. For Naths, full initiation is marked by cutting the disciple's ears, and this cut is said to allow a yogi to bring his senses under control.^[20]

Less frequently referred to in the tales is the one emblem that the present-day Nath caste in Rajasthan retains, although only in the token form of their turbans: the wearing of ochre-colored cloth, called bhagva . Reference to yogis as wearers of bhagva occurs only in part 4 of Gopi Chand, when Gorakh Nath is prohibited from entering Machhindar Nath's kingdom because the roads are closed to all those clothed in ochre. Unlike the deer-horn instrument, which figures in almost every mention of a yogi's appearance, ochre robes are of course worn by many non-Nath renouncers, which might account for their relative neglect in the texts.

None of the yogis in Madhu's tales, including the gurus, are particularly well spoken; indeed they curse more freely than any other characters in the epic. They never attempt to impart wisdom or enlightenment through reasoned or impassioned words; rather their language is blunt, direct, and action-oriented. They give abrupt commands, and recalcitrance is met with shocking demonstrations of miraculous power. Beyond miraculous power, yogis also assert and exercise brute physical strength. When Jalindar's superiority in hurling spells is challenged by the lady magicians of Bengal, he rouses his cowardly disciples by proclaiming, "Well, sister-fuckers, if you can't win with magic and spells, then use your tongs, give those sluts your tongs, beat them." And indeed, more than once in the tales an angry

[20] Not all Nath renouncers wear darsani . The term aughar —although it has a number of general meanings evoking such qualities as "lazy," and "carefree"—refers to a Nath yogi whose ears are not split. Briggs understands this as a "first stage" (1973, 27), but it can also refer to particular sects whose practices are less "restrained" and closer to Tantric.

yogi wields his tongs—worshiped symbol of ascetic practice by the campfire—as a club. Beyond that, all the yogis like to smoke hashish and eat sweets. And even the greatest of the gurus are not above quarrelling with, competing with, and deceiving one another.

Clearly, Madhu Nath's tales of Nath yogis do not teach their audiences any practical or spiritual disciplines. Nor do they focus on relationships between human beings and God. Although Madhu Nath invariably utters a fervent "Shiv! Gorakh!" or "Victory to Mahadev!" at the close of each sung portion of his performance, thus framing it in devotion, references to divine grace and religious emotions are scant within the stories. Yet like the framing prayers, presuppositions of spiritual discipline, human-divine relationships, devotional feelings, and grace form the backdrop before which audience members see and evaluate the yogis' actions. This evaluation is clearly based on moral standards different from those appropriate to householders—or perhaps more accurately, on a clearly defined but unresolved tension between householders' dharma and renouncers' paths.^[21]

Teachings of yoga philosophy and techniques, attributed to Gorakh Nath and his followers, are not of immediate relevance in understanding Nath folk epics. On the level of allegory, popular Nath stories may indeed contain some mystic messages. For example, the unusual name of Bharthari's queen, Pingala, suggests an association with yogic physiology where the subtle channel called Pingala represents the right side, the sun, and violent action.^[22] Such an association, however, never surfaces in Madhu's explanations or in any villagers' reception of the tales, to the extent that I have investigated these.^[23]

The stream of Hindu thought most strongly and consciously associated with Nath teachings in rural Rajasthan is not esoteric yoga but nirgun bhakti or devotion to a God perceived as "without qualities." Nirgun bhakti is important to village religion, and one of the sects that promotes it is led by Naths (Gold 1988). The diffusion of Nath yogis and their lore antedates by several centuries the emergence of nirgun bhakti as preached and sung by medieval poet-saints called sants .

[21] I discuss this irresolution more fully in the afterword.

[22] David White (personal communication 1990) suggests that Gopi Chand's many women and his struggles to come to terms with them may have to do with the "awakening, taming and sublimation of the female energy within the yogic body."

[23] Members of Nath bhajan parties and their listeners will, by contrast, readily discuss esoteric, mystical, or subtle interpretations of the language of hymns.

Because of this chronology, the relation between Nath and Sant traditions is usually seen in terms of Nathism's influence on the iconoclastic teachings of the fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Sants.

The external trappings and postures of Naths were denigrated by Sant poets, who found them as false as any other exterior forms of religion.^[24] Most scholars of medieval Hindi literature acknowledge, however, that early Sant poets such as Kabir were conversant with Nath teachings, and that Nath esoteric imagery is important in Sant poetry (Barthwal 1978; Gold 1987; Schomer 1987; Vaudeville 1974, 88–89). Barthwal cites a respectful reference to Gopi Chand and Bharthari in Kabir's verses (Barthwal 1978, 141).

In the village where I recorded Madhu's tale, the situation is curiously reversed. Rather than an active Sant tradition retaining traces of Nath influence, in Ghatiyali the Naths as caste, as leaders of a local sect, and as members of loosely organized hymn-singing groups, seem to have appropriated and become the purveyors of a somewhat altered Sant tradition. Their "bhajan parties" have an extensive repertoire of hymns including many with the signature of Kabir; others are stamped by Gorakh and Machhindar. Sometimes, the same bhajan will bear on different occasions either a Sant or a Nath signature, probably depending on the orientation of the lead singer. Madhu, living as he did in another village, was not often a participant in the nirgun bhajan sessions in Ghatiyali. However, several times during his Gopi Chand performance he presented interludes of nirgun bhajans . Clearly he felt his repertoire of Nath tales and Sant compositions to be unitary.

But Nath and Sant traditions can seem profoundly different. Sants teach surrender to divine grace; Naths, although they invoke Shiva as the original Nath and first guru, stress not devotional feeling but austere practice and a transformation of the physical being. The quest for bodily immortality with which popular Nathism is strongly associated would appear to be a very different enterprise from the spiritual development fostered by the Sants. Yet in village traditions Nath and

[24] See for example Kabir's poem translated by Hess and Singh, that begins "How will you cross, Nath, how will you cross, so full of crookedness?" (Hess and Singh 1983, 76). Centuries earlier than Kabir, the South Indian poet-saint Allama is said to have demonstrated to Gorakh Nath the superiority of his inner devotion to the yogi's "solid diamond-body" (Ramanujan 1973, 146–47; thanks to David White for reminding me of this example).

Sant teachings blend together, are referred to loosely as nirgun bhakti , and are taught by Nath gurus.

Several significant cosmological and practical elements common to the two traditions help explain their close merging in popular thought. Foremost among these would be the concept of divinity as formless and indescribable (niranjan; nirakar; alakh ), and the idea that only a guru can help human beings to realize their identity with that unknowable divinity. The reliance on a guru is greatly stressed in Nath nirgun hymns, where the "true guru within" may be invoked as in Sant poetry. Reliance on and submission to an external guru inform the plot structure of both of Madhu Nath's tales. The single element of practice stressed in the epic tales, that of samaran or divine recitation, is also an important part of the meditative practice that Sant poets taught and followed.

Madhu Nath and participants in his sect identify themselves simultaneously as worshipers of Shiva and followers of nirgun bhakti . They do not see these two persuasions as incompatible. And indeed, Naths' worship is iconographically and mythologically unelaborated, in keeping with nirgun ideas. Shiva does appear as a minor character in both Bharthari's and Gopi Chand's epics, but he appears as a yogi, or just another guru, a step higher up in the power hierarchy and chain of command from Gorakh or Jalindar Nath, and lower than an unnamed bhagvan —the Lord.^[25]

Both Nath and Sant traditions disdain social norms and caste ranking, at least in relation to God.^[26] Gorakh, like most of the early Sant poets, is said to have come from a low level of society.^[27] However, teachings of human equality are notably absent from village Nath lore. Village society in the 1980s was still caste-ruled in many respects, and radical messages, publicly proclaimed, would probably not have been welcomed. Although Bengali traditions explicitly identify Gopi Chand's guru as a sweeper, Rajasthani versions give no indication

[25] The third long tale in Madhu's repertoire, "The Wedding Song of Lord Shiva," is almost solely concerned with deities in mythic time. This tale is not usually included in general Nath traditions, but many versions figure in Shaivite mythology (O'Flaherty 1973). When speaking of or invoking Shiva, Madhu Nath often calls him Lord Shankar; less frequently he says Mahadev or Bhola Nath.

[26] For examples see Gokhale-Turner 1981; Zelliot 1981.

[27] See Singh 1937, 23–24. The pervasive legend that Gorakh was born from a pile of cow dung testifies, some suggest, to humble origins.

that Jalindar is an untouchable. Yet a secret cult (of which I have no evidence beyond much gossip from many sources) with which Naths were often associated was said to feature as its central rite intercaste eating from a single pot. That this significant defiance of hierarchical codes should be elevated to powerful but hidden ritual speaks both for its importance to Nath belief and its untenability in the public domain of ordinary village life.

The influence of Nath sects on community life in Rajasthan has varied greatly over time and space. But it does not seem ever to have been a radical one, in the sense of undermining the socioeconomic status quo. However, the history of the Nath sect in Rajasthan is not divorced from political events. Indeed, in Rajasthan as elsewhere in India, historical research uncovers more and more political and economic roles played by supposedly otherworldly monks and yogis.28 Madhu Nath's texts propose that kings may be influenced by yogis, and such has certainly been the case at times.

Stemming from their reputed powers as religious adepts, miracle workers, and gurus but obviously supported also by a skillful command of statecraft and diplomacy, some members of the Nath sect have acquired considerable influence over ruling families and have been directly involved in affairs of state. The most notorious instance of Naths' political activities in Rajasthan unfolded during the rule of Raja Man Singh of Jodhpur.

Man Singh, the Maharaja of Marwar in western Rajasthan from 1803 to 1842, initially obtained the Jodhpur throne with the powerful aid of the yogi Ayas Dev Nath. Whether this aid was effected by prayer or by poison is unclear. Whatever the case may be, Man Singh's grateful resolve was to "rule Marwar strictly in accordance with the advice of the Naths" (Sharma 1972, 155). During Man Singh's reign, members of the Nath sect acquired unprecedented wealth and power in his kingdom, and their numbers swelled (1972, 177). That some at times abused their privileged position, indulging in luxury and sensuality, is history. The story of how the British attempted to diminish Nath influence in Jodhpur, even as the Maharaja's own behavior

[28] Historical studies discuss worldly parts played by many renouncer sects, including Naths; these include active participations in trade, politics, and diplomacy as well as military ventures (Bayly 1983, 183–85; Ghosh 1930; Sarkar n.d.; Singh 1937, 23–24).

became more yogi-like, is not the tale I have to tell here.^[29] Yet Man Singh's case demonstrates that the gap between story and history is not so great as it may appear to Western readers of Madhu Nath's tales.

The last few lines of Madhu's performance of Gopi Chand include some auspicious predictions for the followers of Jalindar Nath (as opposed to those of Kanni Pavji who have been degraded to nomadic snake-charmers). One of these predictions is: "When armies die then we make the king a disciple and bring his army back to life. We bring it back to life, and make the king a disciple." The history of Man Singh's Jodhpur demonstrates that yogis have indeed at times swayed the beliefs and actions of kings, and when the tale-teller boasts of his sect's potential temporal influence he is not just spinning fantasies.

But let us beware of reading either story or history one-sidedly. Another lesson from Man Singh's reign is that yogis are susceptible to corruption, and this could serve as a cautionary tale about the alluring world of illusion to which yogis are not immune (the theme occurs too in Gopi Chand part 4). With the accumulation of wealth and property come worries over inheritance—increasing the temptation to abandon celibacy, beget a lineage, and return, even if only partially, to a householder's existence.^[30]

Horace Rose complains in his discussion of Jogi divisions and subdivisions (in an ethnographic survey of Punjab and the northwestern provinces compiled at the end of the nineteenth century) that "Though professing Jogis are forbidden to marry, many of them do so, and it is impossible to disentangle the jogis who abandon celibacy from those who do not profess it at all and form a caste" (Rose 1914, 410). Rose, as a surveyor who must produce a neat alphabetically organized glossary of castes within his appointed region, is evidently peevish over these blurred categories. But his failure to "disentangle" yogis who form a caste from renouncers who have abandoned celibacy highlights one of the perpetually shifting boundaries between householding and renunciation.

[29] At one point a British officer, Ludlow, observed that "the Maharaja would have passed anywhere for a 'religious mendicant'" (Singh 1973, 82–83). See D. Gold 1992 for a full discussion of this revealing drama of cultural confrontations.

[30] For processes of "sedentarization" among Ramanandi monks of Ayodhya see van der Veer 1988, 126–30.