Life of Guru Gorakhnath

Traditionally, Guru Gorakshanath is believed to have been born sometime in the 8th century, although some believe he was born hundreds of years later. He traveled widely across the Indian subcontinent, and accounts about him are found in several places, including Afghanistan, Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Assam, Bengal, Kathiawar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and even Sri Lanka.

Gorakshanath’s life and works are extraordinary. Tradition maintains that he was not born from the union of male and female as in the ordinary course. His works were also divine. The Nath Rahasya, which translates as ‘The Mystery of the Masters’, recounts the birth, work, and death of nine such Naths; and Guru Gorakshanath was the ninth Nath, preceded by his Guru, the eighth Nath, namely, Matsyendranath.

There is no confirmed report of Gorakshanath’s birthplace or date of birth. However, several theories have arisen from different parts of India where the locals of distinct ethnic regions claim that Gorakshanath was born in their area. One myth says he was born in Tilla, near Jhelum, in Punjab, while another claims that Gorakshanath initially had been a Buddhist named Ramnavajra. Another theory is that he was born in Assam, and a fourth theory claims that he was born in Uttar Pradesh. A fifth theory is that he was born in the Kathiawar Peninsula of Gujarat.

According to a legend, Shiva and Parvati quarreled, and Parvati, with a vain mind, told Shiva: ‘Adideva, everywhere you are, I am. You do not exist without me. You do not exist apart from me!‘ Shiva answered: ‘Maheshvari, wherever you are, I am. That is true. But to say that everywhere I am, you are – that is not true. It is like when there is a jar, there is always earth, but when there is earth, there is not always a jar.‘ 

To give a lesson to Parvati, Shiva divided himself into two parts, one as himself and the other as Gorakshanath. Gorakshanath, the true form of Shiva immaculate, went to a remote location and entered into deep meditation. Shiva and Parvati later approached the place, and Shiva told the goddess that there was a great Yogi who had been meditating there for a long time. Upon seeing a Yogi as radiant as a thousand suns, Parvati understood that he was a form of Shiva and wondered if he was not a creation of Mahadev intended as a response to her previous assertions. She thus decided to test the Yogi. 

‘If the acts of Maya are irresistible, moreover Maya herself must be irresistible‘, she said. ‘My name is Maya. My power is superior.‘ Using the power of her maya, she filled the universe with her presence. But Gorakshanath remained unprovoked and did not turn from his meditation. 

Parvati then went back to Shiva and said, ‘Lord, you were right. You can be without me. I have seen it. Who is this Yogi who did not consider my power and stayed in samadhi?‘

Shiva answered, ‘This Yogi you saw is Gorakshanath. He is superior to all gods and men. He is free from maya; he is the death of death. I am Gorakshanath. Gorakshanath is my essential form – we have no difference between us. Light is not different from light. I took the form of Gorakshanath for Veda, Cow, and Earth to be safe. Whosoever knows yoga can conquer death.‘ 

Gorakshanath went to look for a Guru and found him in Matsyendranath. So the divine Guru Shiva incarnated as Gorakshanath and then became the disciple of his own [Shiva’s] disciple Matsyendranath to help him in his efforts to propagate the doctrine of yoga.

Another legend states that when Lord Kartikeya left home, as per the legend, mother Parvati came down to the earth to meet her son Lord Kartikeya (aka Muruga or Kumara). Mother Parvati requested him to come back home. He agreed but said I will take birth on the earth for my Bhaktas (Devotees). Lord Kartikeya asked Mother Parvati to find a Guru for him when he would take birth on the earth. Mother Parvati suggested Guru Gorakshanath. Mother Parvati said Gorakshanath is a yogic manifestation of Shiva himself. Hence there was no duel between Guru Gorakshanath and Balaknath. Lord Kartikeya incarnated as Balaknath and simply accepted Guru Gorakshanath as his Guru, as listed in the list of 84 Maha Siddhas as per the Nath tradition, founded by Shambhujati Guru Gorakshanath.

According to another legend, Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva came to Gorakshanath to obtain powers to create the World. Gorakshanath used sacred ash (vibhuti) from his akhanda-dhuni and blessed those three gods to create, maintain, and destroy the Manifested Phenomena. Therefore, Gorakshanath is perceived as Yogesvara, the one who protects the yogis.

Nathas believe that Gorakshanath appears in each Yuga (epoch) in various parts of Bharata (India), teaching yoga. According to some Gurus, Gorakshanath, Paramatma (Supreme Soul) is ever-present everywhere and incomprehensible. However, embodied beings cannot see Him as Paramatma; this is why he appears to ordinary people in his temporal form. Yogis claim that Gorakshanath paved the way to achieve the highest goal of yoga, which is moksha (liberation).

One section of the Nath lineage believes that Gorakshanath is not born of a human womb and is a Siddha Yogi with an immortal body that manifests in each of the four Yugas. He manifested in the Peshawar province of Punjab in the Satya Yuga, after that in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh in Treta Yuga; in Dwapara Yuga, he manifested at Harmuj, which is farther away than Dwarka on the western coast of India and now under the sea, and in Kali Yuga, he appeared as Gorakh Madhi on Girnar Mountain in Saurashtra area of Gujarat. It is believed that in Dwapara Yuga, Gorakshanath was a contemporary of Lord Krishna.

In a legend known throughout northern India and Nepal, Gorakshanath is himself the product of ashes and cow dung – whence his name Go-Rakh (cow-ash). As the story goes, Matsyendranath enjoyed the hospitality of a Brahmin couple, and upon hearing they were childless, as a sign of appreciation, he gave the woman a piece of magical ash to eat. Matsyendra instructs her to eat it together with milk, following her purificatory bath after her next menses. However, instead of eating the ash, persuaded by her friends not to eat it, she throws it onto a heap of cow dung behind her hut. Twelve years later, Matsyendra returns and asks for the news of his son. When the woman avows that she had discarded the ash, Matsyendra scoops away twelve years of accumulated cow dung to reveal a perfect 12-year old child yogin – for the boy has been practicing his sadhanas (spiritual practices) there since birth – whom he names Goraksha (the Master who protects the cows and ‘cow’ is to be understood as an expression of ‘senses’) and makes him his disciple. Just as Matsyendra exhumed Goraksha from his ashes, Goraksha does the same to his disciples, first creating them from ashes and then initiating them with more of the same.