MASTERS OF MAGICAL POWERS

334 Pages·2009·12.16 MB·English

MASTERS OF MAGICAL POWERS:
THE NATH SIDDHAS IN THE LIGHT OF ESOTERIC NOTIONS
by
GORDAN DJURDJEVIC
B.A., The University of Belgrade, 1989
M.A., The University of British Columbia, 1999
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in
THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES
(Asian Studies)
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
May 2005
© Gordan Djurdjevic, 2005
ABSTRACT
The Nath Siddhas are North Indian yogis with tantric associations who claim guru
Gorakhnath, their founding adept, to be an incarnation of the god Siva. They strive to
obtain the eternal body through a regime of yogic practices, which are aimed at
transmutation of sexual fluids into elixir. The masters of this yoga are the siddhas, the
possessors of the siddhis, which are occult powers that culminate in immortality and
deification. The Sayings of Gorakh (Gorakh Bant) is a collection of medieval Hindi
poetry attributed to their founder.
Scholars have noticed the importance of the occult in the lifestyle of the Naths.
The category of the occult is, however, rarely given appropriate theoretical
considerations. The academic discipline for the study of Western esotericism, conversely,
directly engages the study of the occult but in a culturally and geographically limited
setting. I demonstrate that there are heuristic advantages in applying the conceptual
vocabulary and theoretical conclusions of esoteric studies to the investigation of tantra
and the yoga of the Nath Siddhas. To do so, I employ the model of esotericism developed
by Antoine Faivre. I make evident that all its major elements are applicable to the theory
and practice of the Naths. The contextual focus of my exposition is The Sayings of
Gorakh, partially translated by Shukdev Singh and myself.
I apply the model of esotericism to the Naths by making a threefold thematic
division of the subject matter. I investigate their understanding of body and sexuality,
speech and rhetoric, and mind and ideology. I propose that yoga is comparable to magic
understood as a quest for power (where power is taken to be the sacred), based on the
cultivation of imagination (which I compare to yogic meditation) and the principle of
eros (the drive towards union). Other esoteric notions such as correspondences (between
micro- and macrocosm), living nature (understood as sakti) and transmutation (what the
yogis call the reversal, ulta sadhana) are shown to be equally essential in the yoga of the
Naths. I conclude suggesting that esotericism should be seen as a cross-cultural
phenomenon.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract ii
Table of Contents iv
Acknowledgments vi
Co-authorship Statement viii
INTRODUCTION 1
The Nath Siddhas, Magic, the Occult and Esotericism 5
The Nath Siddhas 10
The Model of Esotericism 16
Components of Esotericism 18
Power 23
The Plan of the Work 28
CHAPTER 1: THE ESOTERIC CULTURE OF THE NATH SIDDHAS:
THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL
CONSIDERATIONS 34
The Occult and Esotericism: Theoretical Considerations and Definitions ... 37
The Nath Siddhas and the Occult 40
The Nath Siddhas and Esotericism 49
Magic 52
Alchemy 60
The Nath Siddhas and the Faivrian Model of Esotericism 63
CHAPTER 2: ESOTERICISM AND POWER OF THE NATH SIDDHAS
RELATED TO BODY AND SEXUALITY 69
The Esoteric Body: Microcosmic and Imaginal 73
Sexuality: Esotericism and Power 91
CHAPTER 3: THE NATH SIDDHAS AND ESOTERICISM OF SPEECH 112
Vernaculars and Esotericism 114
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Mantras 116
Sabad 119
Nad 124
Correspondence Between the Sabad, Nad, and Bindu 126
Rhetoric 132
Esotericism as a Mode of Discourse 145
CHAPTER 4: THE NATH SIDDHAS AND ESOTERICISM OF THE MIND 148
Ideology and the 'Religion' of the Nath Siddhas 150
The Concept of Unman: The Gnosis of 'No-Mind' 166
Ethical Dimension of The Sayings of Gorakh 171
Mind in Acton: A Correlation Between Concepts of
Imagination and Meditation 177
CONCLUSION: ESOTERICISM, TANTRA, AND
THE TRANSLATION OF CULTURES 182
WORKS CITED 190
APPENDIX: THE SABADS AND PADS FROM THE GORAKH BANI 200
A Note to the Translations 201
Sabads 203
Pads 259
v
ACKNOWLEDMENTS
During the process of researching and writing this Thesis, I received generous help and
support from numerous persons and institutions. I am grateful to each one of them,
including those I will inadvertently overlook in these acknowledgements.
In India, my thanks and deepest respect go to Dr. Shukdev Singh, formerly of
Benares Hindu University. He not only agreed to collaborate on the translation of The
Sayings of Gorakh, but also acted throughout that period as a wise patron and friend. I
cherish the memory of those mornings spent in his home, engaged in what he used to call
'fighting with the text.' I learned so much from our discussions, and I enjoyed and
admired his vast learning and his joie de vivre. I am grateful and indebted to him vastly.
In Canada, I benefited from lessons and conversations with professors and
students from various faculties at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. My
most sincere gratitude goes to the faculty and staff in the Department of Asian Studies.
This Thesis has benefited enormously from the feedback I received from my colleagues
and friends, Tanya Boughtflower, Harjeet Grewal, and Kathleen Wyma. They read the
early versions of each chapter and responded with intelligent and creative criticisms, and
they offered constant support. Tanya also generously helped my English with constant
advisement on grammar and style. Thank you all.
I am especially pleased to acknowledge the support and guidance I received from
my Thesis supervisors. Dr. Daphna Arbel, of the Department of Classical, Near Eastern
and Religious Studies, has been supervising and assisting my work for almost a decade,
urging me constantly to remain focused and contextualize my tendency to speculate. Dr.
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Harjot Oberoi, of the Department of Asian Studies, has been helpful on various fronts,
stimulating as both a lecturer and conversationalist, and inspiring through his scholarship.
Dr. Ken Bryant, also of the Department of Asian Studies, has given most generously both
of his time and of his advice throughout every phase of the writing of this Thesis. Ken
has supervised the work from the initial false starts and cul-de-sacs to the light at the end
of the tunnel, never interfering with my choice of destination, but always pointing out the
clashes I am bound to suffer if I don't clear the road. My gratitude and respect for his
guidance are immense.
I was also fortunate to receive constant help and support on the domestic front.
Sasha Paradis has collaborated on this project from the beginning. She has read and
commented on every aspect of this work and provided encouragement when all the ships
were sinking. Without her assistance, wisdom, and good taste this Thesis would be
greatly impoverished. Dragana Bozickovic Djurdjevic contributed constant moral support
and advice. Branko Vrbic helped through astute conversations and book lending. I am
thankful for all the above for their help and friendship.
The research on which this Thesis is based was funded by the Government of
India (Gol) through the India Studies Program of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute
(SICI). Neither the Gol nor SICI necessarily endorses the views expressed herein.
I acknowledge with many thanks the generous support from the Asa Johal
Fellowship in Asian Studies and the Goel Scholarship in South Asian Studies.
Any factual mistakes and errors of judgement in the text are my sole
responsibility.
This Thesis is dedicated to Ivan and Cailleach.
vii
CO-AUTHORSHIP STATEMENT
The Appendix of this Thesis, which consists of the translation of the sabads and pads
from the collection of texts known as the Gorakh Barn, has a joint authorship. These
translations are the result of collaboration between Gordan Djurdjevic and Dr. Shukdev
Singh, formerly of Benares Hindu University, Varanasi, India. More information on the
process of translation can be found in "A Note to the Translations" (pp. 201-2), to which I
refer the reader. Stated succinctly, Gordan Djurdjevic did the first rough version of the
translations from medieval Hindi and Dr. Singh checked the accuracy of these, corrected
errors, and provided commentaries and background information. The whole process was
envisioned and conducted in the spirit of mutual endeavour, as a joint enterprise.
Therefore, Shukdev Singh and Gordan Djurdjevic are to be considered co-authors of the
translations found in the Appendix (pp. 203-326).
viii
INTRODUCTION
How do we understand and represent the modes of thought and action
of other societies, other cultures? Since we have to undertake this task
from a Western baseline so to say, how are we to achieve the
'translation of cultures,' i.e. understand other cultures as far as possible
in their own terms but in our language, a task which also ultimately
entails the mapping of the ideas and practices onto Western
categories of understanding ... ?
Stanley Tambiah,
Magic, Science, Religion, and the Scope of Rationality
... by bringing together and juxtaposing two different, previously
unrelated things, we can gain new insights into both. I am by no means
searching for some universal archetype or deeper identity; rather,
I am simply employing comparison as a pragmatic tool or heuristic
device, which can help us to see new things that would otherwise
go unnoticed.
Hugh B. Urban,
"Elitism and Esotericism: Strategies of Secrecy and Power
in South Indian Tantra and French Freemasonry"
This study is intended with a twofold purpose in mind. On a less controversial level, I am
presenting a translation of the significant part of the vernacular yogic anthology known as
the Gorakh Bam, or The Sayings of Gorakh. This translation has a joint authorship; it is
the product of collaboration between Dr. Shukdev Singh and myself.1 We have translated
' For this translation and the description of the translation process, see the Appendix. I have to make it clear
that what I will be calling 'The Sayings of Gorakh' in this study refers only to the sabad and pad section of
the collection of texts compiled by Pitambaradatta Barthwal and issued as Gorakh Bam (Allahabad: Hindi
Sahitya Sammelan, 1955 (1st ed. 1942). These two sections are the most voluminous in the collection; in
Barthwal's edition they occupy pages 1-158. Occasionally, I make references to the other texts from this
collection. Their translations are not included in the Appendix. These translations are mine. Whenever I
the sabad and pad section of the text in Benares, India, in the period between November
2002 and April 2003. This text, The Sayings of Gorakh, is a collection of late medieval
Hindi poetry, traditionally ascribed to Gorakhnath: a celebrated adept of hatha ('intense')
yoga, and one of the founders of the order (sampraday) of the Nath Siddhas. On the level
of hermeneutical engagement with the text, in my conceptual approach to the theory and
practice of the Nath Siddhas in general, I am suggesting that our understand of these
yogis will be enriched if we conceptualize and theorize about the categories of
esotericism, the occult, and magic (soon to be explained). What follows, then, is my
attempt to elucidate the meaning of the text of The Sayings of Gorakh through the
application of the conceptual apparatus of esotericism. In this sense, this Thesis is, in
addition to the translation of texts, an attempt at the translation of cultures, in the light of
Stanley Tambiah's remarks quoted in the motto above. My central argument is two-
faceted: I propose that Indian tantra and hatha yoga stand in analogical relation to
Western esotericism and that the two traditions, although rooted in their respective
cultural environments and shaped by their particular historical trajectories, share a
number of formal similarities.
'Master of magical powers' is a possible translation of the Hindi designation Nath
Siddha. 'Nath Siddhas' is thus a generic term for a North Indian group of yogis who claim
spiritual descent from the god Siva, his human disciple Matsyendranath, and the
probable historical founder of their order, the great guru Gorakhnath. Popularly known as
the jogis, they are credited, inter alia, with the development of the discipline of cultivated
body, hatha yoga, the central practices of which concern the assumptions of various
refer to the Gorakh Barii, instead of The Sayings of Gorakh, it should be understood that the reference is
made to these other texts.
2