Jai Singh
Associate Professor, Department of English Literature, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21659/jsae/v1n2/v1n116
[Article History: Received: 19 Feb 2024. Revised: 30 Feb 2024. Accepted: 18 Mar 2024. Published: 30 Mar 2024]
Abstract
Most of the images of Nāth Siddhas and Kānphaṭa Yogis floating in the popular culture are negative and aligns them with various kinds of superstitious and criminal activities. However, the intensive research done by many scholars foregrounds that historically Nāths and Kānphaṭa Yogis were associated with various philosophical schools and they were also trained in alchemy. The research shows that there is an amalgamation of alchemy, medicinal expertise, and philosophies made them popular among the rulers and aristocracy of the time. Ontological and epistemological self in the philosophy of Nāths and Kānphaṭa Yogis revolve around three lines—the divine, the perfected, and the human. The major Nāth Siddhas and Kānphaṭa Yogis who deal with the ontology and epistemology of self through alchemy are —Gorakh Nāth, Matsyendra Nāth, Carpati Nāth, Dattātreya, Nāgnāth, ādināth etc. Their works abound in treaties on alchemical findings and yoga, and their role in understanding the self.
Keywords: tāntrikas, mercury and sulfur, Lord Śiva, transmutation, alchemy and medical science, rasayana sastra, amalgamation.