Matsyendranath’s date and place of birth have many interpretations from different sources of text and research and historians. One legend goes this way: Karthikeya, son of Lord Shiva, threw away the Aagman Tantra of Shakti into the ocean. So, Lord Shiva had to go into the sea to get it back. But a big fish had swallowed the Aagman Tantra. For twelve years, the Aagman Tantra was inside the stomach of a large fish. To get the Tantra back Lord Shiva had to dive into the ocean where he saw brightness radiating everywhere; he saw the Aagman Tantra inside the fish stomach and removed it. Out came Masyendranath.

Another legend is the Buddhist Vajrayana version of the life story of Matsyendranath, story number eight in Chaturaśīti-siddha-pravritti or ‘The Life Stories of the Eighty Four Siddhas’ by Abhaya Datta. This text is one of the oldest written records about the life of Matsyendranath. Below is the translation from Hindi made by Yoga Nath: 

Guru Minapa was born in Eastern India and was a fisherman by caste. His Guru was Mahadeva (Shiva), who blessed him with mundane siddhis (powers). 

At some distance from Kamarupa (modern Assam) was an ocean called Ita (modern Bengal Bay). The fishermen living there were daily catching fish and selling them on the local market. One day, one of them fitted a hook into the net made of cotton, fixed a piece of meat on it, and cast the net into the ocean. A colossal fish entered the net. When he tried to draw it out of the sea, he could not; instead, the fish dragged him deep into water until he finally went under. The fish swallowed him, but miraculously, protected by his (good) karma. He didn’t die.

About the same time, Uma Devi asked from Mahadeva (Shiva) to narrate her the lesson of Dharma, to which he answered that his teaching was very secret, and not for everyone, ‘If you make a house deep into the ocean (where nobody will hear us), then I will initiate you there,’ he told her. Uma Devi did, and after they both reached there, Shiva started narrating his lesson. While he was speaking, a large fish (the same fish that swallowed the fisherman) arrived and stopped right under the house they were sitting in. Shiva had not finished his lesson yet, but Uma became overpowered by sleep. Shiva was narrating, and from time to time, asked her, ‘Do you understand what I am saying?’ And it was the fisherman, who, while listening from the stomach of the fish, was answering, ‘Yes, I understand.’ When Mahadeva had completed his Dharma lesson, Uma Devi awoke from her sleep and said, ‘Now you can continue.’ Mahadeva answered, ‘I have finished the lesson; what else do you want to know?’ Uma replied, ‘I was listening for a while but later fell asleep and didn’t listen.’ Puzzled, Mahadeva asked her, ‘Then who was saying, “Yes, I have understood?”’ Uma answered, ‘No, that wasn’t me.’

When Mahadeva applied his yogic vision, he saw that a man in the fish’s stomach under the house they were sitting in had listened to the teaching from beginning till end. So he thought, ‘Now he has become my disciple. But he will have to wait till his time has come.’ So he ordered the fisherman to practise the sadhana he had learned (without taking him out of the fish) and declared that he had accepted him as his disciple. So for twelve long years, the fisherman practised his sadhana inside the fish.

One day at Shree Tapri, another fisherman caught that big fish and dragged it out of the water. After seeing its (unusual) heaviness, he thought that it might have gold or silver in its stomach. With the intent to take it out, he cut open her belly and saw a man sitting there. Shocked by this, the fisherman asked him, ‘Who are you?’ The answer came: ‘I was a fisherman like you. At the time of the rule of King Amuk, this fish dragged me into the ocean and swallowed me.‘

When people who had gathered to see him calculated the time that had elapsed, they found that twelve years had passed. All were astonished to see this miraculous event. Since that moment, he became famous under the name Minapa. Afterward, people started to praise him, and when he started dancing, his feet were sinking deep into the earth, as if the ground was wet. When he continued his dance on a big stone, his feet also entered deep into it, as if it was wet and soft like mud. All around were amazed to see this miracle. On seeing their astonishment, Minapa uttered: 

‘Because of previously accumulated good karma 

And the power of chanting the Sacred Mantra

I have received these beautiful qualities; hey ho, my Mind Jewel!‘

Later he spent five hundred years performing various deeds for the uplifting of humanity. Minapa, Vajrapada, and Achintapa (Achintya) are three names under which he became famous in different places. Initially, he had mundane Siddhis (supernatural powers), but later, he entered the True Path and became dissolved into the Eternal Void.

Another legend tells that Matsyendra was born under an inauspicious star, leading his parents to throw the baby into the ocean. The baby was swallowed by a fish in which he lived for many years. At one time, the fish swam to the bottom of the ocean, where Shiva was imparting the secrets of yoga to his consort, Parvati. Upon overhearing the secrets of yoga, Matsyendranath began to practice yoga sadhana inside the fish’s belly. After twelve years, he finally emerged as an enlightened Siddha. This story is often given as the origin of his name ‘Lord of the Fishes’ or ‘He Whose Lord is the Lord of the Fishes.’ Other versions of the legend exist, including one in which Matsyendranath was born as a fish and turned into a Siddha by Lord Shiva.

Tibetan renditions of the story tell of a fisherman-turned-Siddha named Mina, who was eaten by a fish while working in the Bay of Bengal. Another legend says that when Gorakshanath visited Patan in Nepal, he captured all the rain-showering serpents of Patan and started to meditate after being disappointed by the locals as they did not grant him any alms. As a result, Patan faced drought for a long time. On the advice of his advisers, the king of Patan invited Matsyendranath, Gorakshanath’s guru, to Patan. When Gorakshanath learned that his teacher was in Patan, he released all the rain-showering serpents and went to see him. As soon as the rain-showering snakes were set free, Patan again got plenty of rainfall every year. After that day, the locals of Patan worshipped Matsyendranath as the god of rain.

Yet another legend says the virya or sperm of Brahma is responsible for the birth of various saints and prophets on earth. Brahma’s virya or sperm fertilised any living form and carried the utmost principles and moral values within it. It fell on various parts of the earth at the advent of Kali Yuga. The Supreme Godhead, Brahma, had decided to spread moral values (righteousness, devotion, knowledge, and yoga). The Virya fell into the mouth of a fish that became pregnant. The fish and egg inside its stomach reached a secluded spot where Lord Shiva happened to teach the principles of creation to Mother Parvati. When Parvati asked Shiva, ‘What is the base of all Illusionary Creation (Maya)?’ an answer came from the egg of fish, ‘Brahma Tatva’ or ‘God Element.’ Lord Shiva, dazzled by the correct answer, started looking into the river and saw a child inside the egg. He immediately recognised the child as ‘Kavi Narayan,’ the poetic avatar of Lord Krishna. He then blessed the child and told him that he would give him a benediction once he was twelve years old. In due course, the fish washed ashore on the banks of a sea in Maharashtra. A fisherman couple who had no child saw the egg pecked at by storks. As soon as the egg cracked, a baby came out crying loudly. The fisherman then realised this miracle and, full of compassion, took the baby home. The baby was named Machhindranath – Macch (meaning fish), Indra meaning (God Indra), and Nath (meaning Lord – thus Lord of the Sea Fish). The child was much loved in the fisherman community. From four to five years, he started going with his father fisherman to the river bank to fish. But due to the knowledge he had received from Shiva, he could not witness the pain of fishes caught. So he started to throw them back into the river. His father said to Matsyendranath that he would become a beggar if he didn’t know how to make a living. The enlightened child judged it better to beg and eat sinless food than to make a sinful living in the killing. 

After that, Matsyendranath ran away from home and went to Badrinath and meditated there, living on fruits and water for twelve years continuously. What remained of him was skin over bones. Then he had a divine vision of Lord Dattatreya. Lord Dattatreya gave him Mantra Diksha (Mantra Initiation), and instantly Matsyendranath’s ignorance disappeared. Lord Datta also asked him, ‘Where is Ishvara?’  Matsyendranath answered, ‘Ishvara is everywhere!‘ to which Lord Datta nodded in agreement. Lord Shiva also gave him a divine vision and reminded him of how he had attained the Atma Jnana (Self Realisation) when in the womb of the fish. He told Lord Datta, ‘Give Matsyendra the efficacy and power of siddhis (spiritual powers).’ Lord Datta asked all Gods to grant him this boon. He guided him to gain victory over the Pancha tattva (Five Elements). Matsyendra received special blessings and distinctions shown by Shrungi (wearing ornaments made out of animal horns), Karnavedha (Hindu sacraments of ear piercing), plus other attributes, along with authority to lead the Nath community. Thus, Matsyendranath received complete spiritual realisation!

Lord Shiva (Rudra) taught him all the mysteries of warfare and miracles, which he used for uplifting humanity and saving it from the evil that Kali Purusha was spreading. From then on, Matsyendranath became a Siddha who could see from the beginning until the end of time.