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The Sanskrit word Nath is the proper name of a Siddha Sampradaya (initiatory tradition); the word itself means Lord, Protector, or Refuge. The related Sanskrit term Adi-Nath means first or original Lord and is, therefore, a synonym for Shiva, Mahadeva, or Maheshvara, and beyond these mental concepts, the Supreme Absolute Reality, the originator of all things.
When Lord Krishna was about to leave his body, he called Dattatreya. He spoke to Datta because Dattatreya was the Yugacharya for the Dwapara Yuga (or the teacher of the era of Lord Krishna). He spoke to Lord Datta, and said, “After I leave the body, what I incarnated for (dharma) will not be followed, because people are going into the Kali Yuga. There’s no alignment, and therefore you must create a tradition which will preserve what I came for.”
He realized that the purpose of His incarnation, which was the preservation of Dharma, would be forgotten. His death would spark the beginning of the Kali Yuga (the Dark Age), and all those that would come after would be full of greed and lust. Therefore, Lord Krishna called upon the Nava Narayanas, otherwise known as the Navnath Saints from the celestial plane, to take birth on earth and thus guide humanity. He then instructed Lord Dattatreya to codify a system to preserve his teachings. Lord Dattatreya went on to codify a tradition with one purpose, that is ‘total liberation.’
Liberation has two sides. One while living, you are not affected or bound by anything around you. And while leaving, we have very few desires. You are entirely free. These are two aspects of liberation.
Lord Krishna’s (and all divine avatars and Masters) purpose of the incarnation was to ensure that there would be no obstructions to those who wished to follow dharma (dharma means righteous lifestyle, or ground rules of existence – Sanatana Dharma – ground rules of existence; on this basis, the universe is created).
That is why Lord Dattatreya created and codified the Nath tradition based on the state of Shiva. He used the eternal state of Shiva – totally in Bliss, completely detached and existing as a Source. That is why in the Nath tradition, enlightenment is only one part. It is not the end; it’s only one stage. You don’t see many traditions where enlightenment is only a stage. Most of the traditions end in enlightenment. Then what do you do?
In the Nath tradition, you have to become Shiva. That means total dissolution – Mohanji
In total dissolution – even the seed form (which is the subtlest form) falls into the ocean and becomes the ocean. Total expansion. Becoming Shiva. That’s the pattern or structure of the Nath tradition which Datta created.
Ultimately, there is no differentiation between the Nath tradition and the Dattatreya tradition. The teachings of the Dattatreya tradition offer seekers the Royal Road to Liberation. A route encompassing the four paths of Bhakti, Jnana, Karma, and the Dhyana of Lord Shiva. In the Dattatreya tradition, the masters that came afterward were all unique even though they possessed the same Shakti (power). Unique and special incarnations differentiated each and everyone before them. Each master was an Avadhuta (someone who has reached a stage beyond worldly concerns). Therefore, the Dattatreya tradition is also known as a tradition of Avadhutas. Today Brahmarishi Mohanji, whose sole aim is to liberate beings from the cycle of birth and death, is leading this tradition.
Two Major Nath Traditions
The Nath tradition originally began thousands of years ago with Adinath, commonly known as Lord Shiva. Shiva then passed on the secret of liberation to his wife Parvati, who then passed it on to their children Ganesha and Muruga. Ganesh was a child who did what any child does, and tells their secrets to their best friend. Ganesha did precisely that and told the secret of liberation to his best friend, Nandi, a great devotee of Lord Shiva. It was then passed on from them through the ages, and eventually merging into the Dattatreya tradition.
Two major traditions exist, the Nandinatha Sampradaya founded by Maharishi Nandinatha [ca 200 BCE] and the Adinatha Sampradaya founded by Matsyendranath further developed by Gorakshanath [ca 900 CE]. These latter two individuals are also revered in Tibetan Buddhism as Mahasiddhas (great magicians) and credited with extraordinary powers. The Adinath Sampradaya has also become known as the Navnath [nine Naths] tradition.
The first Navnath saints were established on earth by Lord Dattatreya Himself. They were Matsyendranath, Gorakhnath, Jalandharnath, Kanifnath, Gahininath, Bhartrinath, Revananath, Charpatinath, and Naganath. Their mission was to spread the message of unconditional love throughout the world and help those from all walks of life to unite with the Supreme Consciousness. The Nath Saints spread the message that God exists everywhere, and not just in one particular place or form. Their teachings emphasize that the Supreme Reality can only be realized when one breaks free from the mind’s shackles. The teachings of the nine Navnaths continued over the centuries, thus becoming elaborate in complexity and assuming different forms in different parts of the world.
It is said that there were four disciples from each of the nine Nath Saints from whom the teachings worldwide propagated. Each of the Navnaths was unique and spread the same message in different ways. Some laid emphasis on Bhakti devotion, others on Jnana knowledge. Still others on Yoga, the union with the ultimate. The Nath Sampradaya (tradition), which later became known as propounding that the entire creation is born out of Nada – Sound – the Divine Principle, Light – the physical principle, and Shiva – the supreme reality from which these above two principles emanate from. According to them, liberation is the merging of the soul into Shiva, the Vilaya (dissolution) of the human ego, and the sense of I-ness.
The Nath Siddha aims to attain a non-dual state through the attainment of immortality in a perfect and divine body. The teaching of the Naths was a continuation of the Tantrik synthesis, but the Naths introduced new theories in the sphere of yoga. For example, Naths believe the microcosm is an echo of the macrocosm, and everything found in creation has a parallel in the body. Therefore the body can be and should be used to gain ultimate liberation.
The Nath yogis are also called ‘Sahajiyas’ (natural ones) because they are adepts of spontaneity, following a simplicity of heart and mind.
Nath Yogis place themselves in close relationship to Shiva: they regard Him as pure Consciousness, whereas Shakti, his energy, is the source of change and the varied experiences related to it. For the Nath yogis, the achievement of liberation in life is the primary goal. Outer religious practices and scriptural knowledge are considered to be of lesser value. Their only emphasis is on a direct way, as short as possible, following a path through which a mystic discovers within himself an experience of the energy of the Universe. The Naths believe in the possibility of immortalizing human life by transcending the “lower” self (through control of mind and Prana – vital breath and life force energy) into the “upper” state of higher Consciousness.
In the initial stages of yogic practice, the control of vital air is a crucial key for transcendence of Self in Itself. Controlled breath and mind naturally lead to the state of true spontaneity, sahaja, and then finally merging into unmani – the state of self-transcendence(when the limited Self merges with the true “I”). Through sahaj samadhi, thought becomes still, calming all senses. The false sense of objectivity and duality weakens and ultimately disappears. The yogi recognizes the spontaneous inner sound (anahata nada) and keeps on listening to it, directing prana into the median way. Kundalini awakens and rises to the highest center uniting with Shiva. It is a natural or sahaja way of attaining unmani (the state beyond thought), and that’s how one becomes an avadhoot (“a-vadhu” means unattached or “without a bride”) and achieves liberation.
Those interested in this tradition will need to find a true Guru who belongs to an Avadhoota Siddha lineage and is revered as equal to Shiva himself. At a certain point of his sadhana (practice), the seeker starts to absorb the given teaching by the intuitive or beyond-intuitive approach; logical, discursive, and ritual methods become secondary, as the persona of spiritual teacher carries utmost importance and meaning.
Natha yogis express the goal of their sadhana in Shaiva terms (to be united with Shiva, to attain his paradise, and to experience the union of Shiva and Shakti). This Shaiva allegiance finds a more concrete and visible representation in the temples visited by the Yogis, where they address their worship to a triad consisting of Shiva as Gorakshanath, Bhairav, and the Goddess. Even though today, the shrines owned by the Nath Yogis often have statues of Gorakshanath on the altar, he was more traditionally represented by his charan-paduka, the footprints inscribed on a marble pedestal by the dhuni, the ascetic fireplace that burns perpetually.
Among the 51 Shakti piṭhs or Devi pilgrimage places, Nath Yogis act as officiating priests. Among these places are the spots on which the dismembered limbs of Devi are said to have been scattered. There are three that are of particular importance for the Nath Yogis: Jvalamukhi (where her tongue fell), Devi Patan (where her left shoulder fell), and HingLaj (where the crown of her head fell). Jwalamukhi, a place devoted to the Devi with ‘the tongue of fire’ in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, is still visited regularly by the Nath Yogis who are in charge of the Gorakhdibbi (box of Gorakh). It is a kind of cave with a pool of bubbling underground water where the Devi manifests herself as ‘tongues of fire’, or blazing flames. The Yogis, especially the roaming ascetics, gather there during the Autumn Nine Nights of the Goddess (Navaratri). This is also the case during the spring Navaratri festival held annually in Devi Patan (close to Tulsipur, Gonda district UP). HingLaj is located in modern-day Pakistan on the Makran coast with difficult access.
Even at a local level, we notice that the Goddess is present in most temples and places owned or worshiped by the Nath Yogis. Names may be different according to the local form taken by the Goddess – she is called Jvala Mai in places like Kadri and Jwalamukhi, and Bhagavati in Nepal – but her shrine is included in the temple compound and her puja is made every day.
In the legends prevalent in Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Nepal, Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat (and even as far as Sindh and Balochistan regions of Pakistan), they talk reverently of the Navnaths or Nine Masters, who are venerated as Lord Shiva incarnates. They are said to be those who defied death and all other shackles of nature and dwell esoterically beyond the perception and comprehension of ordinary humans. Their stories are similar to the narrative popular in Tibet and Bhutan regarding the founder of Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism), Guru Rinpoche, who is popularly known as Padma Sambhava in India.
The renowned master Nisargadatta Maharaj was asked in an interview about the Navnath saints. This is what he had to say:
“The teaching of the Nine Masters is simple, both in theory and practice. One becomes a Navnath neither by initiation nor by succession, for the tradition is like a river — it flows into the ocean of reality, and whoever enters it is carried along. There is a succession of Gurus and their disciples, who train more disciples, and thus, the line is maintained. But the continuity of tradition is informal and voluntary. It is like a family name, but here the family is spiritual.
The Adinath Sampradaya came to be known as Navnath Sampradaya when sometime in the remote past, the sect’s followers chose nine of their early Gurus as exemplars of their creed. But there is no unanimity regarding the names of these nine Masters.
The most widely accepted list, however, is as follows:
Of these nine Masters, Gahininath and Revananath had large followings in the southern part of India, including Maharashtra.
Unfortunately, India has a poor tradition of maintaining historical records accurately, and the emphasis has always been on the content rather than the records of time and events. Malcolm McLean, a world-renowned author on Indian subjects, points out that “India is not interested in historical detail but in the kinds of meaning that the lives of the saints had for the devotees, and which only the true devotees comprehend.”
“Shri Navnath Bhaktisaar” is a holy text on the Navnath saints compiled by Dhundisuta Narhari Malu, the son of the great saint Narahari. It has 40 chapters with almost 7600 ovi or verses. Typical devotees complete the reading of this text or grantha in 9 days. To provide the ordinary person with solutions to mundane life problems, the chapters are arranged as per functions of life. Innumerable people have benefited through this ritual of worship, which is a testimony in itself.
The work was composed by Dhundisuta Narahari Malu after intense sadhana and chanting mantras in a cave (now known as Narhari Malu cave) towards the north of the ancient and powerful temple of goddess Saraswati established by Sage Vyasa at village Basar in Adilabad District of Andhra Pradesh. This temple has eight holy ponds in its eight directions and was renovated by Jagadguru Shri Vidyadhar Swamiji of Shringeri Mutt.
It is mentioned in the Navnath Bhaktisar that by Lord Krishna’s direction, the Nava Narayanas (who were nine among the 100 sons of Rishabhadeva) were ordered to descend as follows:
1) Kavi Narayan reincarnated into Matsyendranath
2) Hari Narayan into Goraksha Nath or Gorakshanath
3) Antariksha Narayana into Jvalendra Nath or Jalandharanath
4) Prabuddha Narayan into Kanifnath or Kanapa
5) Pippalayan into Charpatnath
6) Avirhotra Narayana into Nageshnath
7) Drumila Narayana into Bhartarinath
8) Chamas Narayana into Revannath and
9) Karbhajan into Gahininath, respectively.
History of the Nath Sampradaya
The Nath Sampradaya can be considered a development of the earlier Siddha or Avadhoota Sampradaya, an ancient lineage of spiritual masters whose founding is traditionally ascribed to Shri Bhagavan Dattatreya, considered by some to have been an incarnation of Lord Shiva. However, the establishment of the Naths as a distinct historical sect began with Maharishi Nandinatha around 200 BCE and establishing itself in Southern India through Thirumoolar, followed around the 8th or 9th century in Northern India with a simple fisherman, Matsyendranath (sometimes called Minanath, who may be identified with or called the father of Matsyendranath in some sources).
The Nath Sampradaya does not recognize caste barriers, and their teachings were adopted by outcasts and kings alike. The heterodox Adinath tradition has many sub-sects, but all honor Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath as their originators and supreme Masters. It is possible to be an individual householder Nath, which does not necessitate the abandonment of caste, normal occupation, or family.
There are multiple legendary stories of the origin of the Naths.
One of them goes this way: In the beginning, there was only shoonyata (void). From this manifested a bubble that was the hiranyagarbha (golden egg). In that hiranyagarbha the unmanifest Purusha manifests as Adinatha. Adinatha performs tapasya or penance for an enormous length of time. After that, from him emerged a goddess or Devi named Ketaki. From her mouth arose Brahma, from her chest arose Vishnu and from her womb appeared Rudra.
The three deities were taking a stroll along the celestial Ganga when they encountered a corpse on its banks. The corpse was actually Adinath, who had placed himself there for the emanation of the mahayogins. The gods look at the corpse – Vishnu and Brahma declare it is defiling and suggest that they leave it alone and move on. However, Rudra declared that no corpse should be left uncremated and that he would perform the task of cremation. For this purpose, Vishnu becomes the firewood; Rudra hauls the corpse of Adinath, places him atop the pyre, and sets it alight with Brahma in the form of the funerary fire.
As the corpse is burning away, from its navel first arose Matsyendra, from its jata (matted hair) emerged Goraksha (colloquially Gorakh), from its bones emerged Jalandhara (often referred to as Haddi-pada, haddi meaning bone), from the limbs, emerged Chaturanga (Chaurangi) and from the ears emerged Krishna (called Kanifnath or Kanerinatha; in the colloquial, etymology kan meaning ear).
Upon his emergence, Chaturanga ascends to found Siddhaloka, from where he would return later to perform magic on earth as the son of the legendary Andhra King Shalivahana. Then Rudra takes Ketaki as his wife, and the four emergent Nathas who are left behind are taken as their children. Matsyendra acquired the mantra and yoga shastras first by hiding in a fish and hearing their transmission in the conversations between Shiva and Ketaki. He became the guru of Jalandhara, who initiated Goraksha, who further transmitted them to the others.
Then Ketaki, also called Durga or Gauri, tested their yoga-nishtha (integrity) by attempting to delude them. All of them, except Goraksha, who sees her as his mother, failed the test and are variously cursed: Matsyendra lost his interest in performing the feats of yoga and instead retired to a grove of banana plants, where he was to enjoy a dalliance with 1600 beautiful women. Krishna (Kanifnath) was exiled to wander amongst mlecchas and other tribes (the Bengali version says to a country called Dahuka identified by some as Sri Lanka). Jalandhara right away became a sweeper who had to clean the royal toilets. But all of them were to recover their yogic splendor after undergoing tribulations. In their recovery, Goraksha was to be the central hero, and other great yoga practitioners, both male and female, were to emerge in the process. For his yoga-nishtha, Goraksha was rewarded with a son named Sharvarinatha (Charpati or Charbaripa in some eastern sources). He was later to attain the state of complete yoga mastery.
A similar story of the origin of the Naths is that a fish swallowed Matsyendranath. While inside the fish, he overheard secret instructions given by Lord Shiva to his wife, Parvati, given to her at the bottom of the ocean not to be overheard. After being rescued from the fish by another fisherman, Matsyendranath took initiation as a sannyasin from Siddha Charpati. It was Matsyendranath who has become known as the founder of the Adinath Sampradaya. Matysendranath’s two most important disciples were Chaurangi and Gorakshanath. The latter came to eclipse his Master in importance in many of the branches and subsects of the Nath Sampradaya. Even today, Gorakshanath is considered by many to be the most influential of the ancient Naths. He is reputed to have written the first books dealing with Laya yoga and raising the kundalini-shakti. He is also reputed to have been the original inventor of Hatha yoga.
MYSTICAL FOUNTAINHEAD OF SHAIVISM
The Natha Sampradaya, “the masters’ way,” is the mystical fountainhead of Shaivism. The divine message of the eternal truths and how to succeed on the path to enlightenment are locked within the Natha tradition. A Natha is a knower of the Self who has mastered the intricacies of his inner bodies and states of mind. Through the millennia, Nathas have been conveyors of esoteric knowledge and wielders of siddhis, powers of the soul. Natha Siddhas delve deep into the mind, invoking Siva’s grace and controlling the kundalini shakti.
The roots of this venerable heritage stretch back beyond recorded history when awakened Natha mystics worshiped the Lord of lords, Śiva, and in yogic contemplation, experienced their identity in Him.
The Natha Sampradaya has made a unique contribution to the spiritual history of mankind. It is driven by the search for the innermost divine Self. It is balanced by temple worship and fueled by kundalini yoga. It is charted by monistic theism and illuminated by a potent guru-śiṣya system. It is guided by soul-stirring scriptures and awakened by sadhana and tapas. Thus it has given humanity the mechanics for moving forward in evolution.
The Nandinatha Sampradaya dates back to Maharishi Nandinatha [ca 200 BCE], followed by his disciple Tirumular, who made the trek from the Himalayas to the Tamil area in Southern India. In recent times this parampara [lineage] of gurus began with the Rishi from the Himalayas [ca 1770-1840], continuing to Bodhinatha Veylanswami, who currently is the head of the Hindu Monastery on Kauai.
The Adinatha Sampradaya’s earliest known exemplars were Maharishi Adinatha, Matsyendranatha, and Gorakshanatha (ca 950), expounder and foremost guru of Siddha Siddhanta Shaivism and founder of the well-known order of Kanphata Yogîs.
In the twenty-first century, the Adinatha and Nandinatha Sampradayas are both vibrant and vital. They share a common ground of theology, principles, sadhanas, and many scriptures—including the Vedas, Agamas, and Patanjali’s Yoga Sûtras, although historical, societal, and geographical forces over the past 1,000 years have shaped differences between them. It is important to highlight these differences because much of what is written or discussed today by scholars about the Nathas refers to the northern Gorakshanatha school and lifestyle, rather than the Tirumular school, which is followed in South India and Sri Lanka.
Major differences are:
The primary philosophical difference concerns the means of liberation from rebirth: Adinathas hold that liberation is entirely dependent on our own thoughts and actions. At the same time, Nandinathas believe it cannot be attained without Shiva’s grace.
The Nandinatha Sampradaya highly values the necessity of a living preceptor who keeps the channels open to Lord Murugan, the first renunciate and traditional progenitor of the lineage. The Nandinatha Sampradaya is part of the Siddha yoga tradition (Siddha means “attainment”), and its gurus have often demonstrated extraordinary mystical abilities and wisdom. These teachers have realized their oneness with the Supreme God Siva and have merged as completely as humanly possible with this Divine source of all. With such realization comes limitless bliss and direct command of every power in the universe. There are many accounts of miraculous powers demonstrated by the masters of this lineage. The aid, even the glance, of such a highly realized Siddha can quicken spiritual practice. Without the Diksha (initiation) of such teachers, human instincts will always fail to lead to this highest realization.
The Natha Sampradaya is an initiatory guru-shishya (student) tradition. Membership in the sampradaya is always conferred by initiation from a Diksha guru, either the lineage-holder or another member of the sampradaya whose ability to initiate has been recognized by his Diksha-guru. The Natha initiation is conducted as a formal ceremony in which some portion of the awareness and spiritual energy (shakti) of the guru is transmitted to the shishya. The neophyte, now a Natha, is given a new name with which to support his new identity.
THE TWELVE NATH PANTHS
The Adinath Sampradaya is traditionally divided into twelve streams or Panths. According to David Gordon White, these Panths were not a subdivision of a monolithic order but rather an amalgamation of separate groups descended from either Matsyendranath, Gorakshanath, or one of their students. According to Rajmohan Nath (1964, quoted in Bandyopadhyay, P. K. (1992)), the twelve Natha Panths are as follows:
However, there have always been many more Nath sects than can conveniently be fitted into the twelve formal Panths. Thus minor wandering sannyasin sub-sects are typically either ignored or amalgamated into one or another of the formal Panths.
The notion of Panth is intended to indicate the major branches of the lineage. The most populous Panth is the Gorakhnath Panth. Most of the other Panths came after Goraknath, created either by the Nath after whom they are named or more likely by his followers, who preferred to distinguish themselves from the broader Gorakhnath tradition by indicating which branch descended from Gorakhnath they belonged. Some of the Panths may likewise have branched earlier, from the Minanath or Adinath Panths and the Balaknath Panth, which claims descent from Dattatreya.
It is always quite challenging to speak about the lives of most Nath Siddhas, such as the exact time and the place of their birth and the minute facts of their biographies. There are a few reasons for this; one of the most important of them is that yogis usually don’t like to discuss the details of their lives and speak about who they were before becoming ascetics. Renouncing the world and undergoing the ceremony of entering into the order of ascetics was always taken very seriously in India and was considered no less than dying and taking a new birth, accepting the old personality as dead. Therefore, the adepts entering the order and passing through the initiation ceremony were considered ‘double born,’ as if they had died and taken a new birth. After the ceremony, a new name would be given, and a ceremony would be performed symbolizing his death. After it, he (ideally) was obligated to break down all his previous relationships with the society he lived in before and with his own family, literally ‘to become dead’ for them and himself and start a new life from point zero. From that moment, he was compelled to leave behind all his attachments and ambitions he was cherishing before and became totally absorbed in his guru’s yoga and service practice.
Even today, amongst the Natha Yogis, it is considered bad practice to ask a Yogi about his previous life and even his last name if he was not willing to tell it. Due to this reason, the details of the Natha Siddha lives available through few different sources are usually covered with obscurity and full of uncertainty and contradictions. Therefore, although sometimes one can find some written information about the matter, it is nearly impossible to make the right judgments about the place of birth and the family status of most of the Natha Siddhas.
Similarly, it is difficult to speak about the exact place of death of most Nath yogis. Even today, Nathas usually do not write names of deceased yogis on most of their tombs; this is a very ancient tradition. Considering it as useless, they never would say that some of the Natha yogis had died. If you say so, they immediately correct you by saying that yogis never die but only change their clothes, which means that he left only his external appearance but had not actually died. It is a critical point not to be ignored that they identify themselves not with their physical bodies but with their spirits. It is an accepted belief that after death, the soul of the liberated yogi may take or not take a new birth, depending on his wish.
The other reason for so much uncertainty around this matter is that the details of the lives of the most well-known Natha Siddhas were circulating in the form of legends and folk songs for a long time and existed in such a state for hundreds of years. During this time, they were transmitted from person to person as an oral tradition and were put on paper quite recently.
When listening to the same story from two different people, we can notice how much their accounts could differ. Something would be omitted or forgotten by the narrator, something would be added to dramatize the story, or something would be exaggerated. Often the storyteller would insert the details of some other story into the tale he is narrating, or mess the names, doing it by mistake (forgetting), or knowingly with the purpose to dramatize it and make it more exciting.
Approximately the same things have happened with most legends about the Natha Siddhas. Each time the same story was repeated, it would accept a new form, slightly different from what it was before, and often become mixed with the regional colors of the areas where it was narrated. Due to this reason, there are many versions of the same legends depicting the lives of the Natha Siddha circulating in different parts of India. They are all telling the same events. Still, they are often so different and intermixed that it is challenging to make the proper judgment about the original story before undergoing all these transformations.
Sacred Places:
There are a number of caves and shrines of antiquity dotted across the Indian subcontinent associated with the Naths and Siddhas.
Several of these in India are dedicated to Gorakshanath. According to tradition, his samadhi shrine (tomb) resides at the Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur. However, Bhagavan Nityananda has stated that the samadhi shrines of both Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath are at the Nath Mandir near the Vajreshwari temple about a kilometer from Ganeshpuri, Maharashtra, India.
Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda of Mysore, a contemporary guru of Datta tradition, has established nine temples for the Navanaths in India.
There is also an ancient temple called ‘Navamukunda Temple’ in Thirunavaya, Kerala, said to date back to ‘Dvaapara Yuga.’ The following is the story connected with the temple:
The nine spiritually enlightened sons of King Rishabha, known as Navayogis (nine ascetics), were constant travelers. During their sojourn, they reached the confluence of the rivers Bagmathi and Gandaki, from where the eldest son, Kavi, got a salagrama of Vishnu. Salagramas are stones found in the Gandaki river basin in Nepal, with special marks like spiral, chakras, thread, etc. formed on them and considered sacred with God Vishnu’s presence.
“Install this Salagrama at the holiest place for the welfare of mankind,” Kavi heard an asareeri (divine prompting voice).
Kavi travelled all over India in search of the befitting place for the installation of the salagrama and placed it on the north bank of Bharatappuzha (Nila) river at Thirunavaya in Kerala where Vishnu himself, whom the salagrama represented, had stayed during a yaaga (also yajna or fire ritual) conducted by Brahma on the south bank.
Kavi left the place confident that his duty was over, but the salagrama sank into the earth. Then his seven brothers brought other salagramas of Vishnu and repeated the process, and these also sank deep into the ground.
At last, the youngest of the brothers, Karabhajan, came to the same place and knew of the futile attempts of his brothers. He knew that this happened because the necessary, proper rituals for the idols’ installations had not been performed. He installed the salagrama, as Mukunda bestowing Moksha to the departed souls with all necessary rituals. This time the installation was successful.
Later these nine brothers (Navayogis) came to this place and performed a yaaga for the appeasement of the gods and the welfare of the people. The place was thus known as Tiru-navayogi, in memory of the nine brothers, and the word transformed, as time passed, to the present form Tirunavaya.
Sources:
External Links:
https://www.internationalnathorder.org/nath
https://sites.google.com/site/nathasiddhas/natha-sampradaya
The Nath Sadhana: https://qawithmohanji.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/the-nath-sadhana/
Source: Hinduwebsite.com
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